Time and time again, I hear preppers advising people to stock up on gold and silver, but not many of them seem to understand the importance of cash. I know it’s almost Taboo to say anything bad about gold, but in my opinion, during a complete meltdown scenario gold is going to be the last thing most people are worried about.
Yes, I do realize the same can be said about paper currency. During an extreme collapse situation, your cash is going to quickly become useless, but that’s not really what we’re talking about here.
What about during other disaster scenarios? Do you really think the local grocery store is going to take your gold or silver as payment for your goods? I doubt it; a lot of these people have a hard time counting back the change they owe you, so I’m pretty sure you’re going to get some weird looks when you try handing over a chunk of silver.
Natural Disasters: They’re not going to take your gold as Payment
All joking aside, I think we need to look at what happens during most natural disasters. One look at an event like Hurricane Sandy or Katrina will immediately show you the importance of always having cash on hand. During both of these disasters, millions of people found themselves unable to pay for things like food, water, and even gas for their vehicles.
The minute the power grid went down, credit and debit cards became completely useless. As our culture increasingly speeds towards a digital cashless society, people often forget how easily those digital items can be rendered useless. I recommend always having enough cash on hand to be able to make it safely through one of these types of disasters. From paying for gas during an evacuation to paying for hotels, extra food, or last minute supplies, cash will be one of the most important survival items that you can carry.
TOTAL COLLAPSE: Cash Will Still Be King during the initial Phase of the Collapse
Even during a total financial collapse, cash will still play a major role in how people buy and sell during the initial stages of the crisis. Should there be a run on the banks, people will be desperate for cash and will be willing to sell just about anything to get it.
Most people simply don’t understand how quickly a currency can become devalued, and most people will be clamoring for cash in the early stages of an economic collapse. People have been brainwashed into thinking this paper actually has some sort of value; so in the short-term, 99% of the country will still see paper currency as something that still has value.
WHAT TO CARRY: Small Bills are Best
When it comes to carrying cash for a survival situation, make sure you carry smaller bills — nothing larger than a 20. Even during the good times, a lot of stores are reluctant to take larger bills, so carrying smaller bills makes it easier to pay for what you need without worrying whether the business can break the bill. During a survival situation, you want to make things as simple and easy as possible. If you need to stock up on any last-minute supplies, you need to be able to quickly get in and out of the store.
Cash has its uses, but silver is a better option.
Keep reserve cash available but also buy silver for post-collapse. Cash will get the lest essentials you need during the very early stages of the collapse while silver is for later on.
Once there is economic collapse,gold, silver and currency will be worth what the person says it is worth who has the commodities you wish to buy. The only wealth once real economic collapse hits will be in the commodities and skills you have that others need. Food and water and maybe ammo will be worth whatever the person possessing them charges for them, unless you are stronger than them and will just take it from them.
Agreed. To me, all forms of currency are based on bartering principles. Value is in the eye of the beholder to a great extent, and also at least partially dependent on how hungry or thirsty they are.
I know that even more than gold and silver, items of value will be worth more than gold or silver. it is cliche’ to say “well you Can’t eat gold or silver” it is true. Food, supply items like seeds, grain, lead for fishing, bulk fuel. take half of that gold and silver and use it for something that will keep you alive in a crisis. I am not saying to sell it all but like I said earlier; you can’t eat it. I would rather trade ammo, food stuffs or useful items like a deep cell battery.
You’re a retard. Silver is so useful bla bla bla. Yea ok, if a nuclear bomb drops and everyone lives in sewers for 25 years and comes back out. Maybe silver will be useful. If there’s a short term disaster, I agree with the author 100%.
If fiat currencies collapse is will not be a short term disaster, simply due to the fall out of everything else that would be affected. Eventually some world wide currency that a gold standard can be fixed to will have to be sorted. That way all the different countries would have a point of reference to measure/value their own currency. That would mean that different countries would be able to deal direct with each party knowing the true value of both parties currency. Once confidence has been restored, normality can prevail. I would like to think that using silver (Maybe with a predetermined agreed ratio) might assist developing countries to participate in a world wide free trade environment.
I still think quality junk silver (from a reputable dealer like Money Metals) is going to be your best bet. Gold is pretty but what about buying a tank of gas? You would not want to give someone a gold coin worth, say, $1,000, for one tank of gas, right? This is where junk silver is still your best bet.
I took all my gold coins, except 1, to the local coin dealer shop and traded them for junk silver. More recognizable, easier to trade with, and a better deal all around.
A newer option are Gold notes. Goldbacks contain real gold but are flexible like dollars. They are accepted in thousands of stores, and I can sometimes convince the store owner to accept them. I use an Android Goldback calculator app to show the store owner the current value of the Goldback, which is $5.60 as of 2024-11, and pay in gold. It is useful today and should be more useful in the future.
Good points, but I think you fail to grasp the concept of playing the market. It’s speculated that a $15,000 investment into silver now could be worth upwards of $150,000 or more at the time of economic collapse.
I can take that investment, cash it during an economic meltdown, and walk out of the bank with wheelbarrows full of worthless dollars.
Hoarding dollar bills won’t do that for you – so I still think it’s better to prep with silver & gold rather than cash.
Everything is always a balance. It’s good to have gold, silver, and cash, but equity can be other places as well. Your property, home, vehicles, guns, etc. all have some form of equity. A friend of mine has several new guns that he has kept and have appreciated to a pretty $.
SEEDS AND BULLETS
Good points all!
Spread your wealth over a balanced set of goods and currencies!
Cash in smaller denominations is a viable idea, as the article said disasters come in spurts, and precious metals will not buy bread at the local “Foodmart”, or Fuel,etc.
When the long term,total, colapse, comes then will be the time to break out the more long term currensies(gold,silver,copper,etc),and use it to prepare for the times when only staples(Food,Clean water,ammo,etc) will be of value(You can’t eat gold.
These staple items will be the currecy after a period of economic disaster, so I believe that stocking the essentuals now is also an important part of future economic survival! I noticed that not much was mentioned concerning ammo, It’s always Guns,Guns, and Guns. Try to keep in mind, that your guns without the proper ammo is an awkward club at best, and you would probably be better of with a “Baseball Bat” once you run out of ammo!
Ammo,Non-perishable food,and Food seeds, in my humble opinion will be some of the most viable forms of wealth, and there fore, most used currencies!
I’m not being disrespectful but do you honestly think that someone in a collapse is going to bring you bread, a lump of flour and water and air? If you can’t figure that out at home, a bread machine, backup generator, you’re phucked! I’m sorry but I don’t think anyone is thinking here if they think they’re going to get bread! Did you ever think of corn, milk, propane, milk meaning dry milk; no one seriously can’t be thinkin’ bread; how about a can of beans! How about a jar of peanut butter; how about a can of tuna? Bread? Give me a break!
I would say that some physical gold and silver can still be a good thing to have even before having other things. But this would be a part of one’s savings. Rather than just having a 401(k) or some other retirement/savings fund, it is good to diversify for various reasons. And thus having some physical metals kills two birds with one stone. It allows you to prep should it be needed, and it allows you to diversify your savings/retirement to help protect your money.
You’re a smart man to have silver; I wouldn’t touch gold if I were a millionaire; it represents land; it’s totally impractical in a collapse; gold will be 35,000/oz and can you see going to a store to buy anything or barter with that? Yeah right! You’d be murdered and would’ve given your family up to the worst form of disaster; attack from those who now knew you had gold! If you haven’t gotten the basics in place and know how to use those basics, you might as well use your ammo to do yourself now and get it over with!
WOW! Finally Someone gets it! Pay down your debt and actually own something. Own your home, tools, guns. Gather knowledge on how to make water suitable for drinking-and how to store it. Learn how to grow your own food, how to raise and slaughter animals. I DON”T care about GOLD or SILVER! BUY durable tools and goods NOW and learn how to protect your family and your goods.
Really Ben, you think the bank is going to give you cash for silver during some kind of meltdown? Whisky Joe’s Pawn might, but I really doubt the bank will. They will tell you that silver is a commodity and that they don’t buy and sell commodities. Anything that is considered ‘money’ is only worth what you can trade it for at the time. Even your neighbor with some chickens may decide he’s got no use for silver at the time, and refuse to sell you eggs if he thinks he can trade them to someone else for beans. But then, who knows?
Rev. Dave, Do you think the banks will even open their doors in any crisis? Yes silver is a commodity and has value. A dollar is paper built on faith, but still paper.
But, to who? I lived through Hurricane Ike. There was no way I was giving up cans of Spaghetti O’s and juice drinks for silver.
Bob,
Please tell me your secret:) seriously.
I mean Ben.
ben martin says:
November 29, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Good points, but I think you fail to grasp the concept of playing the market. It’s speculated that a $15,000 investment into silver now could be worth upwards of $150,000 or more at the time of economic collapse.
Until SHTF paper money still talks and I prefer to be prepared for every emergency from something as small as an unexpected blown tire to my kid running off in a store. not every emergency has to do with the end of the world and I notice a lot of people forget to plan for the regular run of the mill emergencies.
I’m not dismissing precious metals for long term stock pile in a SHTF event but having cash on hand is what is going to help you to survive now if your house burns down, car breaks down, kid get sick or seriously injured unexpectedly (trust me we had 2 major medical issues in a month, someone looses their job or any number of other every day “normal” SHTF events that occur in life.
you will not be able to cash your investment during an economic meltdown, dum-dum. The banks will hold your money, “lockdown”.
You buy silver coins, best of both worlds, buy US currency silver, legal tender,
I don’t think this is about the market or precious metals.. it is about survival… Who is going to determine the worth of metals anyway .. Cash at the beginning is fine but building and protecting supplies is where it’s at. We need a “poor man’s forum” on building and hiding supplies.
G-ma is spot on.
If/when you find yourself dependent on your stored supplies for survival, that’s when the only acceptable bartering commodities will be food, water, medicine maybe, life-saving skills, and similar. No one will give a crap about metals or paper money etc. and that is partly because NO ONE will know the depth or length of the storm – and no one will agree on the “real” value of the metal anyway. Even with a barn-full of goods, who is going to trade even one speck of it for useless metal unless they’re willing to gamble with their family’s survival? Some might, but I know I would not.
Aside from all that, has no one considered that gold can be rendered valueless with a single governmental proclamation? It has happened before (FDR, 1933, Executive Order 6102) and can happen again with the stroke of a pen. If gov’t says the nation is about to collapse – or IS collapsing – and therefore requires by law that all gold be surrendered for $xx/oz by a certain date, and makes it illegal to own beyond that date – who is going to add gov’t hassles to their pile of concerns at a time like that? Who would trade even one loaf of bread for ALL your gold – knowing they will then possess a seriously illegal commodity (in 1933 the ownership penalty was up to 10 years prison) that no one else wants to own and which will likely be discovered and confiscated by gov’t thugs for $0 anyway?
G-ma is right. If survival is the concern, then continuing to focus on money/gold etc is a huge distraction. The value of food and water is always there and always a known factor. The value of any man-made bartering mechanism is always an unknown and outside our control. If you have gold, that’s fine of course, but you cannot view it as an investment any more than a trip to your local casino is an investment. It’s never more than a gamble. Buy some if you want, store it somewhere, and forget it. Maybe it will prove useful, and maybe not.
One other observation worth mentioning, I think, (and I seriously hope it doesn’t trigger a fire-storm of comment craziness that sometimes happens at the mere mention of religion), but for those of us who are Bible believers, KJV says “They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed.” I’m not an authority on Bible translation or any such thing, so don’t attack me for quoting that, please. It may be that the reference there is to the actual final days on earth etc., I don’t really know – but it does make you think about it, right?
Call me naive or whatever, but I suspect it’s better to focus on food/water/skills. Those are way hard enough for me anyway.
Gma: You are a very intelligent person! & so absolutely right!! I would love a “poor man’s forum”. One such forum is 40 years worth of Mother Earth News past articles on a CD. I am now printing the ones I find most useful for off-grid living for short or long-term situations.
Some people misunderstand the role of gold. It is not an investment. Over the long run, its purchasing power is not likely to increase dramatically (for very long). Gold will not go up, fiat currencies are coming down.
You hold gold so that if you make it our the other side of a collapse scenario (don’t think mad max, think grapes of wrath) you will not be completely wiped out and will have a nest egg to rebuild with.
People would do well to think of fiat currencies the same way you think of chips at a casino. You need them to play (participate in the economy), but you should be taking some of your winnings (earnings) off of the table and converting them to real money…gold. Given the Zero interest rate environment the Fed has created and the completely rigged state of capital markets, the only place the average person can keep his savings without it being eaten away by inflation is gold.
Yes, in a deflationary spiral, cash will be King. But most of us are not going to be going on a buying spree once this depression really picks up the pace. There will reach a point where people realize that the dollar is going to zero and there will be a rush to buy anything of real value with whatever dollars you have left…The prepared will avoid this scenario completely. Our cash may become worthless, but then if you area paying attention, you would be planning for that eventuality…by keeping most of your long term savings in gold.
Silver? Now that is a different animal altogether. I see silver as an investment, not a hedge. It may or may not be brought back into the monetary systems of the world, and the gold/silver ratio may or may not return to its historical norm. These are things none of us knows, but if you happened to have been smart enough to pick up some silver back when it could be actually bought for $12/oz, it might turn out to be a great investment…if not, it will never become worthless as it is an industrially important metal. So I don’t think anyone who already purchased silver before the COVID hoax is in any danger of “losing” on their investment.
How much cash do you think you should have on hand?
Gold and silver will be worthless. The ELITE have already planned a change to a ONE WORLD CURRENCY. I hear analysts all the time predict the value of gold and silver to go through the roof but do you honestly think for one minute our government wants a bunch of instant millionaires walking around when their agenda is depopulization? If banks and businesses close, where are you going to sell your gold and silver? If you have to “Bug Out”, what is more important to carry, a bag with clothes and food or a bag filled with gold and silver? The only way gold and silver prices will reach those levels is once the government has all of the precious metals in their possession. I would rather invest on items I need to survive and keep extra cash. Look at all of these other countries that have economically collapsed. Don’t you think that some of those people have invested in gold and silver and yet they are all homeless and starving!! Gold and Silver is the biggest fraud they have blinded you with. It will never get you where you think you will be.
I agree absolutely, far better to preserve you wealth till such times you need to benefit from it. Should a World wide gold standard be agreed (not likely to be the dollar) then as much or as little you need to convert can be done with an immediate purchase in mind. Maybe a Worldwide bank draft could be the way forward for high value purchases.
Cash that in huh. LOL.
I think your missing the point. If where I live Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant has an emergency and I need to hug out, Gold or Silver is not going to be used to buy gas, extra food, or hotel accommodations during the first 1-7 days if I’m on the road. If the ATMs are down, cash will be King in the beginning. For longer term situations or total collapse, sure silver and gold will probably rule. Most business owners no nothing about the value of precious metals or spot prices. If Comms are down, imagine a gas station attendant looking at a Silver Eagle, what does it say on the back? $1.00, guess I have to pay with 30 of them for my $30.00 bill. It only makes sense having a few hundred dollars stashed as part of a comprehensive emergency plan.
As previously pointed out by some others, there is no reason to be absolute on either side of this issue (all cash, no metals or no cash, all metals).
I have a certain amount of cash in my home for the short-medium term issue such as a natural disaster or power outage (of more than a few days). It would also server, as the original post mentions, in the initial stages of a more protracted collapse.
I also have silver (junk and investment grade) in my possession for use in both a collapse situation as well as a post economic meltdown/reset scenario.
Finally, I have some gold primarily for the post economic meltdown/reset scenario. Although I am firmly convinced that our current economic system is doomed, the nature of the ramifications are unpredictable. The reset could be as bad as a complete collapse or as mild as a reset to some sort of gold standard with the associated pain, scattered violence with relatively little else in the way of life threats.
The bottom line is that no one *knows* what will happen and therefore it is prudent to keep your eggs in a few different baskets.
Nobody said anything about worthless paper, bonds etc.. actual silver and gold in hand is what everyone here is talking about
Sure, “Cash is King” at least for the onset and initial period of an economic crash simply because the majority of people will still believe in honoring that specific face value.
IMHO, I also believe in an economic crash the value of ‘paper money’ will quickly diminish and the value of other items, such as silver, gold, food, supplies (all kinds) will increase until a more stable currency becomes established or re-established.
Diversification is key to ‘cover your bases.’
Meh. Fiat is money, until it isn’t. Then gold is king again. Lather, rinse, repeat all through history. Might not happen in your lifetime, but it always happens eventually.
Can anyone actually point out any time in history where an economy based on paper currency collapsed and people started buying and trading in silver and gold? If there is such an event, I haven’t been able to find it. You want something valuable to use for purchase power, stock up on alcohol, booze, wine.
You might not be finding examples because of the way you’re framing the question Will. Look at the history of paper money in the United States – Colonial Notes, Continental Currency, State Bank Notes, Demand Notes, and Greenbacks. All are examples of failed US fiat currencies, and would have resulted in a collapse of the US ‘dollar’ if not for minted gold/silver coins in circulation at the time. The French Franc in all its incarnations is another example.
Another approach is to look at the value of any paper currency in history, and what happened to its value once it wasn’t redeemable for gold or silver any longer.
Alcohol makes good barter material, unless you’re trading with two Baptists I suppose, but it’s not money. Too difficult to tell the purity, requires containers to carry it, and is too easily diluted among other reasons.
Your my kind of of guy. Absolutely right. During depression alcohol and cigarettes sold the most. When people lose their jobs or etc… it’s booze time
OK I got it, gold,silver all good and you should have that covered,however in my bugout bag that has been put into play more then 5 times for things like wild fires to brake downs, the last one was a Sat on a Holiday weekend and my bank card was not working and could not do anything about it until Tue. so happy I had my bug out cash, did not miss a step, so stock up gold,silver,cash… SHTF sometimes just for you, C.Y.A my friends.
This will all be irrelevant when they decide to base all buy/sell off of a micro-chip located convently in your hand…
If the financial networks crashes rendering credit/debit transactions moot why would a network tracking the RFID chip in your hand or forehead not suffer the same fate?
Of course they won’t imply this post shtf, theyll do it soon before so they can control what one buys, how much one buys, and track what things one buys. And I’m not saying it has to be a RFID chip, it could simply be a Q-R code imprinted on your skin. I’m just trying to line all of this up with what I know is the truth.
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a MARK in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the MARK, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13:16
Not to be the weird guy talking about video games, but look at the Fallout series. It’s set in a post apocalyptic world following a nuclear war. The currency there is in bottle caps. But then the major factions each try to make their own currency as well. The one that’s accepted everywhere though, is bottle caps. Who’s to say what the post SHTF currency will end up being? I would recommend stocking up on metals after you’ve got a good solid stockpile of the essentials: food, water, fuel, gear, guns and ammo, etc.
My thought on precious metals is that they’re good now, but come to my house asking to trade goods/supplies for gold or silver and I’ll tell you to move on. What am I gonna do with gold or silver? Ammo I can use for defense or hunting. Food, I can eat. Precious metals are just something shiny to look at.
I’m with you. Although gold and silver have historically been useful after economic collapses, why will they be in the future? I’m honestly looking for an answer. It’s like an accepted wisdom that gold and silver will retain value and be a useful currency but I’ve never read a good explanation of why. Sure they are rare, but so what. How do they help me survive? I think it depends on the collapse. If there are still people in the world or economies in the world that haven’t collapsed, they might be willing to trade for Gold and silver because they still have a functioning economy. If the US totally collapsed and the World went into a major depression, say a pandemic that leads to an economic collapse, and you approach me with gold and silver to trade for some of my supplies I won’t be interested because that gold and silver won’t keep me alive and won’t be useful unless others are accepting gold and silver or I thought the economy would eventually turn around before I needed the value of that gold and silver. That general acceptance of gold and silver sounds like the same problem that paper money has. It’s all based on enough people accepting it for trade. Now if enough people are accepting gold and silver for currency but not paper money, yes it makes sense that gold and silver are a good store of value. But what is going to make gold and silver any better than paper money. None of it has the usefulness of goods needed to survive.
The best currency in SHTF scenerio long term will be barter items such as coffee, cigarettes, toilet paper and booze. Even make-up for the ladies. What girl wants to go into armageddon without her Estee Lauder?
Those are the exact things I have been saving up too, for barter. Well I’ve been getting instant coffee, and hot chocolate mix and sugar cubes. Toilet paper is next on my list, but make-up, not too sure about that one yet. I don’t even wear a lot of make-up myself, but its fun for once in a while. I also stock up on bandages and medical dressings.
instant coffee? hot chocolate?
i believe they come with expiration date – food items do not hold their value as well as precious metals because they are perishable – although if you got nothing else i guess u will drink stale coffee
Antibiotics. Antibiotics. I have yet to see the first word about antibiotics. You can kill weaponized anthrax for $40.00. Fish antibiotics are made on the same production line as people antibiotics. USDA standards are stricter than FDA’s so they may be a little better. IN SHTF they will be worth their weight in gold.
Very smart.
I think that as our politicians continue to ignore the debt crisis, hyperinflation of prices and hyperdeflation of the value of the dollar becomes a real possibility. In the south, silver and gold are used at small markets on rare occasions but they are used. I think some cash is smart but precious metals have always had an intrinsic value and will continue to increase in value.
I do believe stocking up on “barter items” and precious metals is a great thing for the long term, but back to the point of the original post…
During the first 72-hours to two weeks, people and businesses will still consider cash as the most viable currency, even in an economic crash simply because the masses may not know anything different. So having “emergency cash” on hand for the short term loss of power where ATM and Credit Cards may not work, or from an evacuation of a localized situation, cash will still be good to have.
I cannot see trading a carton of cigarettes for a family meal at the start of a situation, while that may work farther down the road in time, but at the start, cash will still be king.
I have a question for all who read these articles and the comments that follow. What does anyone think about buying cases of whiskey or any distilled alcohol as an investment instead of cash or silver or gold? It seems to me that just about everyone would trade work or food or other essential items for this, wouldn’t they?……..Thanks for seriously considering this thought, because I have often thought of buying and storing alot of high % alcohol as an investment.
I include whiskey, bourbon, vodka, and my favorite scotch as part of my diversified stores.
Even during bad times the alcohol industry (manufacture or sales) is one that still prospers.
For barter items, the ‘pint’ sized bottles or smaller would probably be a good idea.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t know how to make gold or silver. You sure can make a still inorder to make booze. Food, clothing, ammo, meds first then what ever turns you on. You can age fruit juice with a little sugar in the sun and get drunk if that is what you want.
Instead of purchasing high grade alcohol, just have a distiller ready to go. That takes care of your water and alcohol situation
I would think that water,food alcohol,gasoline,propane,hunting and survival gear would be way more valuble than cash or gold(you cant eat or drink eiter). it seems to me that people are forgetting that gold and silver don`t have any real value. people just said this is rare thefore it`s valubale, but when you are starving you want food.
I just don`t understand why people would think that gold and silver would be a currency. It seems to me that bartering items would be way more valubal than a so called precious metal..
Btw sorry for any bad grammar, english is not my first language
What a mix.
Yes, I agree with most of you.
Smaller denominations of bills (and coinage) for the onset, AFTER you have your house in order (Beans, bullits and beverages), take your c-notes and turn them in for gold and silver and barter items for laterfor later ). I think food , gas, oil, socks and whatever else is unavailable that you have and others want is more valuable than cash or metals.
You want to stock something important, stock feminine hygene products. I did. You know what I would give to keep my women “content” in such a situation ? That’s wealth boy’s !
Aloha
“Survival” just means breaking even !
My belief on the matter is, keep an even value of precious metals and cash in the house, although the values will change in times of crises, you are set “money” wise. However, the true kings later on are gonna be: Bullets; Alchohol; Seeds; Lubricants(they will be desperate for a good jerk) and toiletries.
All good points and it is clear that everyone has given this much thought. That’s important because having a plan is better than having no plan. Paper or coin currency is easier to use now. Precious metals will only be effective later once there is a value established for current services and products made standard to whatever the form of trade is. How much silver or gold does a loaf of bread cost? Barter items will be the most likely traded in between the old and new currencies. Anything that YOU need to live with will be good for barter as other will need them too. There is no end to this list and even though alcohol and cigarettes seem like a good idea, do you really want to be trading with an alcoholic or other dependent person? I like silver, lead, copper and brass. Gold is just out of my reach. Personal hygiene items make better barter goods unless you think trading away your food for ammo or ammo for food is a good idea. Having skills that most people no longer have will allow you to barter service (work) for necessities and/or commodities. My plan: Keep as much small denomination bills on hand (smaller than a $20 and they should look well used. New consecutive numbered bills make you look rich. Acquire silver, copper, lead and brass. Have as much of what my needs are so that I can barter what I don’t need when I need something else. Never be a non barterer as it will make you a target for the very needy. Form a group and barter as a group. Bartering solo can lead to trouble. Never barter away security or safety.
Must have silver and gold. Buy some each month. Save it like you were saving money. When it goes parabolic, and rises to the moon, use it for real estate, stocks, vehicles, bank loans and more. Things of investment. Do NOT trade it back in for worthless Dollars! Again.
Water, food and bullets will be king…in that order.
If I have the last gallon of water, why would I trade it for your gold or silver? Unless of course I owned the water source…in that case, bring your own jug…the water will be free but I’ll charge for the containers if I supply it…LOL.
you are forgetting meds. vicodin, xanax & antibiotics will be better than cash, silver & gold.