Gold and Silver

I like to collect semi-precious metals, mainly lead and brass, blued or stainless steel, aluminum, certain polymers, scrap steel in useful shapes, and copper in wire form... I have some silver, I will probably buy some rounds if the price drops down into the $25 range, but if it doesn't that's fine too. I couldn't care less for the numismatic value of the coins. If I can't eat, shoot, wear, drive, get shelter or heat from it, or use it to support any of the things I just mentioned it's sort of secondary for us. I think ammo is very high on the list, especially .22, shotgun shells, and the more popular CF rifle rounds. I've picked up a lot of more obscure caliber ammo at estate sales even if I didn't have a gun that shot it, now I have to buy another gun? Oh, so sad...

If you haven't read the PATRIOTS series by Rawles they are a good read with a lot of info in them. He talks about silver a lot in a TEOTWAWKI scenario and it makes me wish I had a ton of junk silver, but I just don't, and at this point I'm not sure its the best place to put my money. Maybe in 20 years I'll wonder what the hell I was thinking, but I hope not.

I would not consider Silver to be "cheap". When one buys Silver, be prepared to spend a few bucks. As far as people selling or holding onto it, that is up to the individual. Myself I like to look at it as " buying real money with paper money" If at any time our "fiat" system fails, then you will be ready and in good shape. Every Fiat system from the beginning of time has failed. Ours is probably of the longest lasting, so far. It is held up by the Good Faith of the American Citizen. Have any of you out there see any "decline" in the quality of a lot of our American Citizens. ?? Definitely getting worse all the time. ....as far as pricing, that would be up to the buyer and the seller. If one wants to sell his eggs he will want something in return to feed his chickens & animals. Silver coinage would allow him to buy the necessary feed by using the silver or bartering. This is all part of a worse case scenario. The buyer & seller would work it out as it has been done over the last few thousand years.....and yes, one needs his lead to protect his silver, his family & his chickens. !!

rugnelli said:

The premium on gold in small denominations is ridiculous... to the point of not being a practical "investment".

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That is why you buy Silver.

Most people reading this will know what junk silver is. It is just a term. Junk Silver is NOT junk. It is meaning all constitutional US minted coins from 1964 and earlier. Quarters, half dollars, and dimes. These coins have 90% silver content and are valuable. If there ever was a trying time, they would be "invaluable" . Check around where to buy some. You want to pay as close to spot price as possible. Buy some and then buy some more.

Star43 said:

I will take $30 any day. A lot of people are selling their silver now causing some fluctuation. I don't. Sure stocks are great when they are high, but if a stock tanks, you have nothing. Then the silver and gold go high. We all know this. But again, silver will not go away. To me Silver is for the long term investment. If the market crashes, it is here to save us. Especially the 90% constitutional silver. It will not go away. At the very least it will be there for us now and when we go, now it will be there as that financial back up for our kids. It is a win win as a true long-term investment. One can not lose with Silver, especially if you buy it right. At my clubs, I see people pay too much, in the way of premiums at the auctions I attend. If you pay little or no premium, Silver is Silver!!

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If the market tanks, it will rise again, always has. The stock market is the best way to create wealth!! I speak from experience.

JackBull said:

If the market tanks, it will rise again, always has. The stock market is the best way to create wealth!! I speak from experience.

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It is the riskiest...other than perhaps going to Vegas....and not much different either.
I don't like to gamble against the house.

I buy silver coins now and use them as gifts to my children and their husbands, for Christmas and birthdays. Also buy US Silver Eagles awards for kids at my church.
And, during our life together, I gave Nita a Silver coin for gift giving occassions.

From my observation, silver coins generally bring greater value than silver rounds. For this reason Nita acquired a silver chest of coins, not only commorative US coins, but foreign coins as well. Most nations now offer silver bullion coins which are of interest.

While these are of some treasure, I can not bring myself to sell them now.

Bob Wright

Buy guns and plenty of ammo! Things go south. someone could say- Stick em up! Give me your Gold and Silver -
You could shoot them down
Bang bang, I shot you down
Bang bang, you hit the ground
You keep your Gold and Silver
He aint going to be around.

Land and houses. Nothing beats land and houses. But my 401(k) has done REALLY well over the last 30 years.

JackBull said:

If the market tanks, it will rise again, always has. The stock market is the best way to create wealth!! I speak from experience.

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Totally agree JackBull

My entire collection of silver coins. Given me on my 80th birthday celebration with the dates showing various 'events' in my life.

I believe in a true SHTF scenario where the dollar or other currencies are worthless so will gold and silver be. I would not trade a sack of potatoes for a silver coin if it it came down to that. If there is no industrial need for gold and silver and its only use would to be jewelry, I would rather have items that could be traded for other items I could utilze. In the long term there may be a need for precious metals again, but if society hits rock bottom a shiny ring or necklace will be the last thing on most people's mind. But if you invest in it just to buy low and sell high, it is no different than any other investment. Just my opinion...

Good comment, xtratoy.

I have a few gold coins and a little "junk silver", because it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I have a few guns and some ammo.

I fear that in the case of an actual, down and dirty TEOTWAWKI event the latter would be of considerably more value to me than the former.

I hope I never find out, for myself and my kids and grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Bob Wright said:

I buy silver coins now and use them as gifts to my children and their husbands, for Christmas and birthdays. Also buy US Silver Eagles awards for kids at my church.
And, during our life together, I gave Nita a Silver coin for gift giving occassions.

From my observation, silver coins generally bring greater value than silver rounds. For this reason Nita acquired a silver chest of coins, not only commorative US coins, but foreign coins as well. Most nations now offer silver bullion coins which are of interest.

While these are of some treasure, I can not bring myself to sell them now.

Bob Wright

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Those Silver coins are valuable and bring you joy. There is no reason to sell them now. I agree that a lot of Foreign coins are very interesting and look very nice. I also agree to hold on to them.

JackBull said:

If the market tanks, it will rise again, always has. The stock market is the best way to create wealth!! I speak from experience.

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And to go even further, if the US economy fails to the point we need to barter silver for chicken feed, then there are much bigger problems for everyone. It looks like @xtratoy is saying this better than I can.

Ale-8(1) said:

Good comment, xtratoy.

I have a few gold coins and a little "junk silver", because it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I have a few guns and some ammo.

I fear that in the case of an actual, down and dirty TEOTWAWKI event the latter would be of considerably more value to me than the former.

I hope I never find out, for myself and my kids and grandchildren and great grandchildren.

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Yes, Having that constitutional silver and the guns ammo are a good balance to have. I also agree that hopefully we will not have to deal with a bad scenario in our lifetime.

There are so many different reasons people buy silver (and gold).
As a safer store of value.
As SHTF currency.
As a commodity investor.
Because they are leery of paper assets.
Because they don't trust Federal Reserve notes.
Because it's not traceable so lawyers and gummit tentacles can't reach it.
Because they only want tangible assets.
And so on.

If people have a good 401K , great, they have money in the bank, great, if they have successful stocks and bonds, great, if they have ammo and guns, great, constitutional silver, great......We all need a balance of what works NOW, and what would work later, if things went bad. We need a balance. I would rather have green stuff compared to it just sitting in the bank, and silver in case the green stuff became worthless. It is all not complicated. You need a balance to make your life work. Good luck to us all.

If and when the crap hits the fan, paper money will last only a few days. Then people will barter their silver and gold to acquire what they want. However after a slightly longer period of time people with the chickens wont want silver or gold because you cant eat it and nobody will want anything that isn't useful at that time. However guns and ammo will be a long term bartering item because the person with the gun can use it to acquire deer, chickens and other "food". Also the gun is used for self and family defense too.

larry8 said:

If and when the crap hits the fan, paper money will last only a few days. Then people will barter their silver and gold to acquire what they want. However after a slightly longer period of time people with the chickens wont want silver or gold because you cant eat it and nobody will want anything that isn't useful at that time. However guns and ammo will be a long term bartering item because the person with the gun can use it to acquire deer, chickens and other "food". Also the gun is used for self and family defense too.

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Not only that, the money you have in the bank will be gone, and not even accessible. Besides the paper money would be useless anyway. Forget charge cards or debit card .....Cold hard cash as in Silver will be the saviour. Silver has always been used as "currency" for thousands of years. I haven't really mentioned it before, but the biggest reason why "Constitutional Silver" would be the way to go for everyone is because people already know and accept it as real money. In this case it really would be real money, because it is known and accepted entity. Even more so than bullion as again people will recognize those Washington quarters and the like. They are a known entity.