Joe over at Viking Preparedness has an interesting thought about buying silver or gold bullion for use as a hedge against inflation of more common currency. His basic conclusion is that it's OK to have some, but don't use anything other than extra money to buy bullion. If you don't have your basic needs provided for, such as food, water, security, etc., then don't spend good money on silver and gold for trading.
My take on it is that if the economy gets so bad that the local farmer or mechanic doesn't want to take greenbacks for food or skilled labor, they're probably not going to be interested in gold or silver. If we get to that point, then trading useful goods or labor will be more likely. Why trade for bullion when .22 cartridges will be more useful? A farmer is more likely to trade a few days labor in the harvest for some bags of potatoes or some grain than a couple silver dollars. A mechanic will probably get more use out of a bag of coffee or fresh vegetables than a gold coin in exchange for fixing some piece of machinery.
Just prior to Y2K, a co-worker who had lived through the inflation of the '60's and '70's decided to take all of his money, including retirement, and buy gold bullion. He figured that after the world came to a stop because the mainframes locked up, he'd be sitting pretty. On January 2, 2000, he watched all of that wealth become pretty much useless as the price of gold dropped. For his sake, I hope he held onto it until now so that he didn't take it as a total loss. I've tried not to follow his bad example as we do our preparations for bad times.
So, Irish Woman and I take care of our basic needs, make sure we have enough food and then some, and don't spend money on bullion. In the event of the world coming to an end, I'd rather depend on trading and working to get what I can't grow or make than the hope that someone will place value in precious metals.
1 comment:
It's true...if the world goes to s**t and you are trying to trade a bag of silver or gold coins for food, you know what will happen? They guy with the food is going to take the bag you've traded him, bash you over the head and take his food back...there is no sense in trying to trade a substance that is of no use to anybody. Most people we know that have invested in precious metals often get so nervous as the market fluctuates that they end up selling out of pure fear. It is far more logical to band together with like minded people and work together, not against each other. When it comes down to 'every man for himself' - it's going to be downright scary.
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