Precious Metals

[Weedygarden]

I heard a story about a town before and after WW II. The poorest family were the junk dealers, until the war. After the war, they were the wealthiest family. People sold off all of their metal to survive. It may not have been precious metal, but it was a way to pay the bills when there was no other way. Iron fence? Silver service? (No one wants them now, people are giving them away!) Copper? These kinds of metal take more space and are more difficult to hide, but may be easier to sell of or to use for barter in tough times.

 

[joel]

I have much of this, I love plants & think plants & a few animals will be best.
But I collect the waste metal, no one wants also.
At least the granchildren can sale it off to get it off the land.
Copper, brass, aluminum,nickel, some bronze, stainless steel, mild steel, High carbon steel.
plan A family skills
plan B plants for food
plan C animals, insects, fish for food.
plan D scrap metal for tool making(with skill) & trade.
Plan E small amount of Precious metal & gun powder to fill the gap.

 

[Caribou]

PM's are a hedge against inflation. Yes, you can sell them at a pawn shop or PM place but it will likely cost you as they are going to buy around 25% less than they are selling for that day. PM's are a way to preserve wealth. Weimar, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, or any other place where it takes a wheelbarrow of cash to buy a loaf of bread, a small silver coin will do the same. If you are looking at where you can sell them tomorrow then PM's are probably not for you.

PM's will survive fire and flood. If your house burns down, your ounce of gold may melt into a lump but it is still an ounce of gold.They don't rot mold or get eaten by rodents. Most of the things that we protect our preps from are just not a worry with PM's.

When to buy? First, pay off your home and all other debt, get an amount of food and other supplies that you are comfortable with. If you have to sell your silver to put food on the table it is a bad day. Bad days are why we buy PM's. Remember, when the price of an egg goes up so does the price of silver. PM's rise with inflation and that is their sole purpose.

How much? Most sources recommend 5% to 10% of your ready cash. I say this with a caveat. If you don't have enough cash to pay all your bills for eight months then PM's might not be for you. At the start of a collapse cash will be more readily accepted and you will want to convert that into food and other supplies. PM's are for when the paper no longer holds any value.