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Which would you be more willing to accept as payment in a SHTF scenario - or would be willing to pay for - 2015-2016 silver eagles or early Morgan/Peace Dollars? More silver in the Eagles but there is history to the Morgans/Peace Dollars that actually sell for more $$ right now than the eagles.
If we are talking strictly survival (hard) currency: Along with whatever 1oz rounds (at spot of course) I'd also say bagged pre-65 circulated junk silver. If you have only 1oz rounds it'll be very hard to make change by cutting them up.
When/if the sht hits the fan it will not matter what you have.
1 oz of silver will be worth 1 oz of silver. A box of rounds, seeds, water, food...etc. will be worth far more than their weight in it.
If you read the Bible it actually says that a bag of gold will not buy a loaf of bread. <<<that will be a really bad day.
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It has been documented both in Argentina's currency crisis and the siege of Sarajevo that gold and silver ingots (i.e. Krugerrands, etc.) are not accepted as easily as were jewelry and small items. In Argentina where commerce still functioned people could sell to gold and silver buyers. In Sarajevo food, cigarettes and bullets were of more value at least locally. For those who could get out a few bars of gold would probably help.
I don"t know about Venezuela which is the current near SHTF situation. I suspect those with cash, or at least dollars, are sill doing OK and probably you can sell precious metals, art, etc. to profiteers. We should be watching what happens there closely.
Unless there was a world wide SHTF EoW event people who trade for gold and silver are looking toward AFTER the SHTF. If you can turn a 50 lb bag of beans into 50 lbs of gold bars, SHTF might not be so bad. The people in position to trade during bad times are the ones who become well off when civilization returns. Unless someone slits their throat in the dark for being a profiteering slimebag.
In a permanent SHTF event gold isn't going to be any good probably for a lifetime. Then the person who can weld, or convert a truck to biofuel and run a farm, or field an army will be the new leaders.
The problem with gold and silver is that the public in general is not on board. Why would anyone want to enter a crisis with a currency that almost nobody else owns? For the first few weeks/months - and there's no saying that the crisis will last longer than that - US cash will be what everybody has, and what they'll want.
Until a commodity or currency is perceived as "money" by the general public, they will not accept it in trade. As of today, the general public does not own gold and silver and do not perceive it as having value except perhaps as jewelry. Jewelry will not be a high demand item in SHTF. You may argue till you're blue in the face that it's "real money", but it will be public acceptance that makes it so.
In a crisis situation, people will be looking to get food, medicine, ammunition, fuel, alcohol, tobacco, coffee, wool blankets, and such items for immediate needs. They will pay for, and buy with US dollars -the last known "money". What is perceived to be money has nothing to do with its real value.
This can change, but so far, the public has been tenacious in its preference for US dollars. The buyers of precious metals would do well to set aside a little cash for use in SHTF, while keeping tabs on what the public feels is money.
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I forgot the guy's name who wrote a blog about Argentina, but what he said ( paraphrasing here) was while the Argentine money was a inflating at like 1,000%, people could take a ring or some old fillings to a gold dealer and get some local cash for buying staples for a few days. I don't believe Dollars did much good, but were probably convertible.
I don't think there would be much trading of gold chains for steaks at the market. Maybe a trade for your life so someone doesn't shoot you. But a farmer doesn't want your gold. He wants ten gallons of gas for a lb of beef. So he can plant alfalfa to feed his other cows. And you can't eat gas, so $50 worth for $3 in beef would be a good trade to a hungry person.
Obviously in the US, dollars would be the currency of choice, excepting some foundational economic failure. Just as poor people today can hock their rings it would be the same. Just that in SHTF your security would be a lot tighter and options less.
In a real bad event you might be able to take jewelry, or maybe drugs to the new warlord or party boss with the foresight to seize the Walmart distribution center. Essentially what happened in the balkan wars and in the collapse of the USSR. Those will be the new rich afterward, if they aren't indicted.
But like Nor'easter says, it's unlikely you are going to see spot prices for your Double Eagles. More like 10¢ on the dollar, take it or leave it. Pretty much like it is today, only much worse due to less competition. I have a friend who owns a chain of pawn shops. He is very well off. And that is just dealing with present day needs of the poor. He is more or less their bank. Until he ran out of cash or was unable to move valuables to other areas to resell he'd be making a fortune - assuming rule of law and finance was reestablished. He could also get wiped out.
Like my friends survival store. He'd make a bundle in the first hours or days of SHTF, until he ran out of stock, or just got overrun and had to bail out.
If we are talking strictly survival (hard) currency: Along with whatever 1oz rounds (at spot of course) I'd also say bagged pre-65 circulated junk silver. If you have only 1oz rounds it'll be very hard to make change by cutting them up.
When/if the sht hits the fan it will not matter what you have.
1 oz of silver will be worth 1 oz of silver. A box of rounds, seeds, water, food...etc. will be worth far more than their weight in it.
If you read the Bible it actually says that a bag of gold will not buy a loaf of bread. <<<that will be a really bad day.
While Silver Dollars are nice, there are two basic draw backs.
First of all, they are more expensive to get than quarters and dimes.
Secondly, say you want to buy a loaf of bread (assuming our silver coins theory holds); how do you expect to get change if you pay with a silver dollar?
Be careful with junk silver, esp Washington quarters and Roosevelt dimes. They look exactly like modern coinage. Remember that we have a whole new generation of cashiers out there - young kids who were born long after the 90% coinage was withdrawn from circulation in 1965. They have no clue. You can argue with them all day long, that what you have is silver. It looks the same to them. They won't know what to do with it.
You also need to beware those who will want to give you 10 cents worth of stuff for a silver dime, as that's the value written on the coin. This is exactly what I mean by a currency not accepted or understood by the public. Silver coinage has not been money snce 1965. You're gonna have some fancy 'splainin to do, every time you want to use it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nor'Eastah
Be careful with junk silver, esp Washington quarters and Roosevelt dimes. They look exactly like modern coinage. Remember that we have a whole new generation of cashiers out there - young kids who were born long after the 90% coinage was withdrawn from circulation in 1965. They have no clue. You can argue with them all day long, that what you have is silver. It looks the same to them. They won't know what to do with it.
You also need to beware those who will want to give you 10 cents worth of stuff for a silver dime, as that's the value written on the coin. This is exactly what I mean by a currency not accepted or understood by the public. Silver coinage has not been money snce 1965. You're gonna have some fancy 'splainin to do, every time you want to use it.
Yes, exactly. I think in SHTF writings it is assumed that one would be dealing with people who have knowledge of such things. But like you say, young people won't have a clue. To them a dime is a dime. What it's made out of doesn't matter. It's the perceived value. And who's going to have a running account of what silver is worth by weight on the spot market three weeks into SHTF?
It's like I have a small bag of foreign coins from when I traveled a lot. It isn't worth but a couple of bucks, IF I was where I could spend it. Then there is my mexican coins from like three devaluations ago. Not even worth the metal they are made from. In fact I have absolutely no idea why I still have it other than there's couple of square coins and some with holes in the middle like washers, I think from Argentina - in fact I could probably get better value if I USED them as washers. LOL
Be careful with junk silver, esp Washington quarters and Roosevelt dimes. They look exactly like modern coinage. Remember that we have a whole new generation of cashiers out there - young kids who were born long after the 90% coinage was withdrawn from circulation in 1965. They have no clue. You can argue with them all day long, that what you have is silver. It looks the same to them. They won't know what to do with it.
You also need to beware those who will want to give you 10 cents worth of stuff for a silver dime, as that's the value written on the coin. This is exactly what I mean by a currency not accepted or understood by the public. Silver coinage has not been money snce 1965. You're gonna have some fancy 'splainin to do, every time you want to use it.
I know, thank you.
A great fear is that someone, looking to get fast food, will find my coins and spend them at face value.
On the other hand, a great fantasy is the reversal of Carla's Tip on Cheers where she berates a customer for leaving her 50 cents, "I'm on Easy Street now!" and put down something like that in silver. Ie, something like this, "Are you through? (to Carla). Hey, bartender, have some silver! At today's selling price, that's worth about (such and such) to you!".
A, B........ and C.
A: You know what they say about insurance. Once you have it, you don't need it.
B: As it is, I give silver coins as graduation and wedding presents. In the case of two sisters, one got a silver dollar but so her younger sister wouldn't feel left out, I gave her a silver half or quarter.
C: The standard Washington but in silver is nice and easy, but I prefer the artwork of standing and sitting Libertys.
Finally, I do prefer the culls and junk silver primarily because I like holding that money in my hand and wonder at what history they must have seen, which hands they have graced over the decades.
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This is not to say having a LITTLE bit of each thing isn't a good idea. Have a couple hundred bucks in silver coins. Most people have a little gold jewelry. If your budget allows maybe have a few gold or silver bars, proportionate to your net worth. Probably not over 1%. Such items are not investments. They are like ammo, simply to have just in case, and in the meantime you can enjoy them.
When I worked overseas I always wore a Rolex watch, and a gold chain and wedding band, and I kept about $1,000 in dollars on me all the time. That was my bribe, get outta jail or "look the other way while I beat feet over the border" funds. Never had to use it, and never got robbed for having it. But I felt better knowing it was available if needed.
And the women in my family think that toilet paper is also needed "just to live"! So yes, we store salt, sugar, ammo, and toilet paper!
don't forget bleach
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