Gold and Silver For Prepping
Real money is a medium of exchange that holds value, is commonly recognized and accepted, and is fungible, durable, and portable. Many consider gold and silver as great forms of money to have and you’ll hear others recommend them for retirement portfolios or as alternate forms of money for prepping. Gold and Silver have all the qualities to be considered real money, including intrinsic value. I won’t recommend anything regarding your 401K or retirement accounts. I’m not a financial advisor and investing is beyond the scope of this article. Instead, I will focus on using gold and silver from the standpoint of preparing.
I think gold and silver will be good things to have when prepping because I believe the United States will experience a collapse of its currency. I think it will happen soon, perhaps as early as this year but I don’t know exactly when. Unfortunately, I don’t have any insider information about it to share with you. I’m not an insider to anything relevant on this topic, so I have to look at data points like anyone else and connect the dots. I know that when it happens tens of millions of people will be destitute and penniless. As Americans wake up to this, the interest in gold and silver increases. Even people who are aware of the coming collapse and who already have gold and silver, may not understand all of the utilities for using these metals. I used to think that just having ounces of silver stacked high would be the way to go, but now I know that’s not necessarily the case. Before I get into that, let me first explain why I believe the Dollar will collapse.
The End of the Dollar
The United States has a national debt approaching $35T and over $200T in unfunded liabilities. It has a deficit of nearly $2T a year and adds a trillion of debt every 100 days or so. This reckless level of debt and spending is unsustainable. Inflation quickly becomes the key issue for American households dealing with it. People see how much food and energy inflation there is, while government officials lie about how great the economy is. Every nation that has inflated its currency to such levels has collapsed it. It is inevitable unless something immediately changes. To check the latest levels of debt, click here.
The dollar is a paper fiat currency which is currently the world’s reserve currency. It isn’t backed by any commodities or precious metals. Faith in the US Government backs the dollar, but that is changing. Several nations have entered into a mutual agreement to compete with the United States and its currency. It is called BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The group has since expanded to include several other nations and has been working to form its own currency. Although BRICS still has a long way to go before it can do that, it has been gaining more and more interest. Thailand is the latest country interested in joining.
This article has some additional information worth reading about de-dollarization and BRICS.
The rising debt is something I have been following for over two decades. So far, Americans have been lucky to have low interest rates and low inflation. To most people, everything seems okay. There is another threat looming that has caught some people’s attention. The banking system. Most don’t realize the precarious state of the banking system. The reason why banks like Silicon Valley Bank and others have failed is because they were heavily invested in the US Treasuries. When inflation goes up, the value of the treasuries goes down. Most banks invest their deposits so that they can make money off of depositors. If the investments are not well diversified, as in the case of Silicon Valley Bank, the bank is at risk of failure. Signature Bank and Credit Suisse also failed the same year as SVB. If you want to read more about the failure of SVB, click here, but the point is that the banking system is at risk of having a systemic, cascading, catastrophic failure. Too many banks, including the largest ones, are heavily invested in US Treasuries. When inflation climbs higher, interest rates will be increased as a tool to fight it. This is dangerous to the system and this risk cannot be ignored.
Another Scenario
There are two other scenarios that I foresee taking place that would usher in the use of gold and silver for money. The Grid Down or Internet Down scenarios. With the deep state entering advanced stages of sucking air sounds, I can imagine many acts of desperation that could cause either the grid or the internet to go down. Either scenario would mean that most electronic financial transactions cannot take place. With the limited amount of cash in physical possession and ATMs unable to dispense cash, other forms of exchange will arise. Enter Gold and Silver.
Let’s Talk About Silver
Everyone always says to get gold and silver. Then the conversation ends. Nobody talks about what kind to obtain or how much. There are different types of silver and people sometimes ask me which is best to have. My answer is always, it depends. It depends on the purpose. Is it an investment or is it for utility when prepping? Buying silver to prep is much different from investing. Preppers assume that they will need to use silver for everyday transactions. I recommend having a few different types of silver for this purpose.
First, I recommend having junk silver. Junk silver refers to coins that were minted before 1965 with a content of 90$% silver. These coins are actual US Currency from the US Mint. Anyone with a knowledge of these coins will know they contain silver. Purchase a variety of dimes, quarters, and half dollars so you have a variety of silver content for making change during smaller purchases. You may have to do some conversions but I’ll help you out. Copy and paste the information below into your phone or computer for future reference.
Pre-1965 Half Dollars (90%) have about 0.3575 troy ounces of silver. A $10 Roll has about 7.15 troy ounces.
Pre-1965 Quarters (90%) have about 0.17875 troy ounces of silver. A $5 Roll has about 7.15 troy ounces.
Pre-1965 Dimes (90%) have about 0.0715 troy ounces of silver. A $5 Roll has about 3.575 troy ounces.
There are 31.1034768 grams of material in a Troy Ounce (precious metal ounces are different from a kitchen ounce)
Combining a roll of dimes with either a roll of quarters or half-dollars gives you almost 11 troy ounces. The portability of silver in this combination, along with its utility for making change or use for small transactions, is appealing. Two rolls fit into a pants pocket or a pouch in a bag or purse. A roll of quarters fits nicely in a fist and adds a little bang when throwing a punch.
Second, I recommend having what are called Silver Rounds. They are coins containing One Troy Ounce of fine silver. Various mints from around the world mint these coins with their silver content labeled on the surface of the coin, removing the need to do conversions. They are not easily divisible into smaller amounts of silver, without cutting and destroying the coin but are more appropriate for making slightly larger purchases that require more silver. Don’t destroy your coins. Instead, plan ahead. Make sure you have change for medium-sized transactions and work on your ability to negotiate a deal. Their larger physical size makes them less portable than junk silver but they can still be carried in a bag or pouch.
Third, I recommend having Silver Eagles. These one-dollar coins come from the US Mint and are labeled with their silver content, One Troy Ounce of Fine Silver. These are easily recognizable as money and the guesswork about their silver content is removed. Since the US Mint mints them, they are also recognized as US Currency. These come with a higher premium for that reason. Having these will help convince anyone in doubt about their authenticity. You will likely encounter people who don’t know about precious metals after the collapse. You may have to educate them. Eagles from the Mint will help to convince someone to accept it as payment.
Last, I recommend having silver jewelry. Jewelry made with silver can be used as a barter and trade item. If you have broken or old jewelry that you don’t wear anymore, hold onto it. It could be used someday soon to buy something you need. I just hope someone has a kit to test the purity and a scale to weigh it.
Gold
Gold is the magic metal that draws everyone in. It is popular and everyone loves it. It’s going to be desirable after a collapse. A single Troy Ounce of gold fits nicely into a pants pocket, shirt pocket, or shoe, making covert transportation easy. I can only speculate about the value of gold in US Dollars after the collapse. There is no way to know ahead of time but Jim Rickerts has predicted that gold will be at $27,000 an ounce by the year 2026. That’s a bold prediction but I don’t believe it to be fantasy. After the economic correction, gold will be worth tens of thousands of dollars, if not more. People will use gold for large transactions such as buying houses, vehicles, farm equipment, and weapons. It will be used for other real estate purchases and capital investments. The dollar value of the gold will be high, but that’s because the dollar will be worthless.
Like silver, there are different forms of gold that I recommend having. Purchases range in size, even large purchases, so having different forms of gold is recommended so that it makes the transaction go smoother. Imagine you are selling a vehicle with a lot of miles. A potential buyer wants to offer a half ounce of gold but only has a coin that is a full ounce. How will you make change?
Fractional Gold
Fractional gold comes in 1/10, 1/4, and 1/2 ounce. It can also be purchased by the gram in tiny gold bars. Gold Eagles, minted by the US Mint are recognized as money and currency. They are minted with their gold content on the coin, removing the guesswork and need for conversion. The smaller denominations of gold allow for the making of change for transactions and easier portability. Smaller gold bars containing a gram or two of gold are also easy to transport. Purchase these from credible sources and keep their certificates of authenticity. Stay away from large bars of gold because they can be counterfeited.
Another form of gold that is easy to use for everyday purchases is the Goldback. Each goldback is made with a layer of 24 carat gold, sandwiched between two clear polymer layers for protection. A goldback denominated in 1, contains 1/1000th of an ounce of gold. One denominated in 5 has 5/1000th of an ounce and so on. The beautiful artwork alone is reason enough to own them, but they are recognized in many places as money and are used every day in transactions across the United States. To learn more about goldbacks, go to https://www.goldback.com/. They are easy to store, easy to carry, and can be used for small transactions and for making change.
Final Thoughts
I am convinced that gold and silver will be used soon for everyday transactions by ordinary Americans. It is only a matter of time. Learn about the different forms of fractional gold and silver and get them while there is still time. How long will hard times last? Who knows? Get as much as you can afford and as much as you estimate you will need. Stay away from collector’s coins, proofs, rare coins and numismatic coins. Then, figure out where to store it. Remember! If you can’t touch it, then you don’t own it! If you choose to let someone else store your metals, they will have possession when the catastrophe happens. Off-site vaults seem secure, but do you really want to deal with someone else during the collapse? Do you think they’ll let you come pick it up? Think about the potential of being robbed during transport! Instead, I suggest finding places on the property you own to hide your metals from bandits and government tyrants. For instance, you could melt down your silver and cast it in the form of a wrench, spray paint it to match, and store it in a toolbox. Get creative with finding ways to hide your stuff and then keep the location secret. Don’t tell people where you have stored your gold!
After the collapse, people will try to return to a level of “normal.” Even though things won’t be the same, there will be a new normal. The government will continue to lie about how bad things are and the lying, fake news will happily report it. Bank “bail-ins” may happen and there could be a new currency. During this time, gray and black markets may spring up. These will be places where people can exchange their old currency for the new one. They might also be able to exchange their metals for currency. You see, there may still be places that only accept the official currency, like government agencies. Having some amount of currency may be required to conduct business with them. I recommend having some amount of US Currency in storage with your metals for this purpose. In any case, if these gray and black markets spring into existence, be extremely careful. Don’t show up flashing gold and silver coins. Don’t wear fancy clothes when you go there either. You need to appear desperate and homeless when you go there. You need to be armed and you need to be careful that nobody follows you home. The potential for robbery or kidnapping is high. You don’t want to be robbed or held for ransom, so you’ll need to be extremely cautious. I hope you take this as practical advice for the coming future. Eventually, things could get better, but it will take work and participation from us all. Don’t forget to copy and paste the numbers I included. You might need them. Thank you for reading and if you can, please share this article with your friends and family.
A Note From the Author
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