How many of you are buying silver or gold?

[teddy12b]

*Disclaimer - Mods, please move if this isn't the appropriate place to post this*
 
I try to follow politics with an emphasis on our economy and I try to keep improving on living a self reliant lifestyle as much as possible.  In the last few years I've slowly come to the conclusion that it wouldn't be an entirely bad idea to start buying silver.  I've got a young family so it's not like there's extra money just laying around, but I can see why it's an important part of being prepared.  I'm starting to grow more and more concerned with it as the election approaches and the establishment puppets haven't begun to touch the idea of reducing spending.  It feels to me like if we're going to have a widespread problem in this country that it'll be because of an economic colapse and that's what attracts me to silver bullion & coins. 
 
Is anyone else here prepping with silver?

[BUGEYE]

I have about 130 ounces.  I bought most of it in 2010, not as an investment, but to have something I could spend if the dollar becomes worthless.
I also save pennies 1981 and older since they are mostly copper.  copper would be spendable.
don't have any gold around except jewelry.

[SHOOTALL]

junk silver in coin may be good if you get it in small quanities and at a good price . Gold on the other hand keeps up with inflation so if you look what it will buy today it will buy it when the market inflates . If you follow the rules and pay tax on the sale of gold you can in some cases loose buying power. People make money on gold but they have to be at the right place at the right time.
If the economy fails who will take your gold ?
Silver you can use as cash. Some may say it is a standard . Paper or non silver money is judged by how much silver it repsents . So if an item cost 10 cent silver or 1 paper dollar and inflation occures and the same item cost 2 paper dollars it would still cost one dime of silver money since the dollars worth is based on the silver.
 
some say 22 ammo will be the currency though. Food and seed also if we crash . But silver would be good if things don't crash just stumble a bit.
copper is goos China is on a copper standard 

[Buckskin]

Silver is extremely volitile, right now it sits at $32/oz, last April it hit $49, but that was mostly due to the Euro going south. In 2000 it was $5/oz, but gold was also under $300...
 
I've been kicking around the idea of buying some silver bars, but we may have missed a good buying opportunity this January it was down to $27/oz...  Although if there is an economic colapse, I think durable goods would be more tradable than silver.

[Couger]

There's certainly security in having 'metals.' 
 
Money is a store of value, and more liquid than gems or jewelry.
 
 
 
 
 
But anything I might have, I am NOT going to admit to! 

[mcwoodduck]

I have been buying a little as I find some here or there for the BOB and as a hedge against Obamas plan to kill our economy.
I have both Silver as Oz and as American and Canadian coinage in $1 and $1/2, and French 50 Franc Hercules coins that are 80% silver.
 
I have also purchased some small gold coins.
For a while I was finding the English sovergn and 1/2 sovergn for less than ounce value.
 
Figure in a problem/ emergency you would be willing to take an Oz of silver rather than a $100 bill for goods or services.
 
The Big thing about buying is shop around to find a deal.
I started with one company and found i could have bought two from the company I now deal with.
 

[BUGEYE]

I got mine for $20.00 when the market was $19.17
1oz and 10oz bars.
my wife, being a school bookkeeper, finds plenty of dimes and quarters that kids filch from mom and dad to buy icecream.

[charles p]

I bought two 100 oz bars at the rock bottom price of $4 and ounce.  A year or so earlier silver had risen to $36.  One bar for each kid.  They were kids then but are adults now and ask for their bars every now and then.  I tell them I am keeping them for the grandkids.  I advise them to never sell our coins or the two bars.  Just nice to have, otherwise worthless if you plan to never sell them.  Sort of like a family Confederate sword.  Worth more to us than anyone else.  Had it appraised once and learned it was less valuable because it was war surplus from the War of 1812 and not the Civil War.

[don heath]

Depends who you are planning on trading with- Silver is a common currency in much of Arab Africa and you can buy most anything you want with silver coins...in the rest of Africa and eastern Europe, silver has no 'intrinisic' value- certainly not worth motre than its weight in say copper wire. Gold, on the other hand...a 1/10 oz coin will buy you an AK 47 and a few mags of ammo in just about every country I have ever been to - including the US.
 
I would imagin in the US at a local level Silver might be a viable currency of exchange- in Africa it is barter for gooods on small trade (like some corn or fresh eggs or...) and gold for anything biger...like an  AK or a drum of fuel. 

[Gun Runner]

Guess when it warms up and snow melts will have to get the gold pan out along with the sluice box and one of the metal detectors and go play in a couple of the creeks around here. I use to do it just to get out and sit by the creek with my bare feet in the water. Always found a little color.

Gun Runner

[Lloyd Smale]

ill spend my money on food and supplys. Id like to be there the first time after shtf when you go to the grocery store with a bag of silver coins. The value of gold and silver allways baffled me. If its so needed why is there tons of it in fort nox thats been collecting dust for 50 years. I think in  a real crisis shinny jewelry will come in a distant 10th to a jar of canned venison.

[BUGEYE]

ill spend my money on food and supplys. Id like to be there the first time after shtf when you go to the grocery store with a bag of silver coins. The value of gold and silver allways baffled me. If its so needed why is there tons of it in fort nox thats been collecting dust for 50 years. I think in  a real crisis shinny jewelry will come in a distant 10th to a jar of canned venison.

I doubt if we take silver to the grocery store.  it would be useful after the initial chaos has settled some.
private transactions would be key in the aftermath.

[SHOOTALL]

It seems all the gold in the world if collected in one place would not fill several olimpic size swimming pools so its a limited supply. It has value in producing things where other metals won't work. One gold coin may buy an AK47 but so would a like value of silver . The strong point with silver is you can break it down easy to barder for less valuable items.
22 LR rounds on the other hand can be traded a few at a time for such things as a quail or rabbit . Seed could also be a big ticked trade iten. Tools also. Silver and gold will be a means of keeping score as it always has been. The loser will be paper and non valuable metal money.

[teddy12b]

I'd have to agree with the sentiment that food, water, seeds, ammo and other essentials come first, but precious metals do have their place.  I don't expect to see a grocery store open after our economic collapse, but I think I'll have an easier time trading silver with a farmer for a few egg laying chickens than I would with fiat money. 
 
I've bought all of my exclusinvely through apmex.com.  I'm not affiliated with them, but I found their products clearly marked with what they are and the name is somewhat well know in the precious metal world.  I think today's prices even at $32 per ounce are going to be considered a steal a year from now.

[Lloyd Smale]

I guess i look at gold like this. Sure its valuable and allways has been. Mostly because its pretty. Back in simpler times a shinny necklace meant something but then those people allready knew how to get food. I know too that its used in electronics ect. But how much is actually used? Id bet that the gold in fort knox has been there since our grandfathers were kids. If they needed it so bad wouldnt it at least be turned over (used and replaced) no, it just sits there. Other things we value like oil, food, ect are consumed and replaced. Personaly i think that if shtf the way some say it will the electronic market will about go away and not to many people who dont know how to come up with food are going to be conserned about a shinny necklace. Now im sure not the last word on this. I dont have a clue what would happen if shtf. Im sure alot would depend on how bad it got. I know that id be more conserned with things like food, shelter and ammo then gold. Id guess in times like that the value of gold would really plummet. I think the things that would really be worth there weight in gold are the ones people needed to survive till tommarow. I know that if i had 5lbs of flour and didnt no if id ever see more i wouldnt trade it for 5 lbs of gold. Now if when shtf someone knew it was just going to be a temporary thing he might be intellegent to trade for gold but at those times it wouldnt be worth much and thats when id think about accumlating it, not now when the prices are what they are. I know too that gold has allways been a good investment. But were not talking normal times were talking bad times.

[BUGEYE]

after the chaos surrounding the dollar going ka-poot, things hopefully will start settling down, and then we'll need some kind of exchange medium.  if it's ammo, I'm covered.  precious metal, I'm covered. pain killers, I'm covered.

[SHOOTALL]

I guess i look at gold like this. Sure its valuable and allways has been. Mostly because its pretty. Back in simpler times a shinny necklace meant something but then those people allready knew how to get food. I know too that its used in electronics ect. But how much is actually used? Id bet that the gold in fort knox has been there since our grandfathers were kids. If they needed it so bad wouldnt it at least be turned over (used and replaced) Well the truth is along with other speical metals it is recovered from Govt. Surplus or items going out of service and stored until needed.no, it just sits there. Other things we value like oil, food, ect are consumed and replaced oil , nat gas etc is stored going back to when I was in school we took a tour of a base in Va. where over a million cu ft of natural gas was stored for emg use. This is also done on other bases. I have been told that it is now clasified , keep in mind if NG is frozen it reduces in size to 10% so it is in refigerated storage . Personaly i think that if shtf the way some say it will the electronic market will about go away and not to many people who dont know how to come up with food are going to be conserned about a shinny necklace. Now im sure not the last word on this. I dont have a clue what would happen if shtf. Im sure alot would depend on how bad it got. I know that id be more conserned with things like food, shelter and ammo then gold. Id guess in times like that the value of gold would really plummet. I think the things that would really be worth there weight in gold are the ones people needed to survive till tommarow. I know that if i had 5lbs of flour and didnt no if id ever see more i wouldnt trade it for 5 lbs of gold. Now if when shtf someone knew it was just going to be a temporary thing he might be intellegent to trade for gold but at those times it wouldnt be worth much and thats when id think about accumlating it, not now when the prices are what they are. I know too that gold has allways been a good investment. But were not talking normal times were talking bad times.

I would assume that in any time a systen will be needed for exchange . Silver , ammo gold what ever . Everyone with items to barter can't be in the same place at the same time .

[don heath]

And the world demand for gold outstrips supply...if it were not for several european countries dumping 200 tonnes onto the market a few years ago the price might well be double what it is now. (as the Euro became established european banks disposed of their gold holdings).
 
In my family we have always had a tradition that at christmas each child will find a silver 'tickie -2½c' in the pudding. If you had achieved something special...then their would be a gold Kruger Shilling (1/10 oz about the same size as the tickie). I won the national 'Young scientists exhibtion' when I was 12 ...and got gold coin at chirstmas. I see no need to change the tradition- If my kids work hard enough to achieve something great then I can do without something to buy them a 1/10 of gold for a rainy day.
 
Having lived in a country where the paper currency became useless (inflation rate in the millions) you require some 'stable currency'. We mostly turned to the US $ but Gold coin would still buy you fuel when the whole country was dry and even the police and army were walking!
 
I think any long term servival plan needs a balanced approach. You need a secure base, you need a rifle and some ammo, you need some food, you need some medicine and the knowlege (even if it is in a boring reference book) on how to obtain/grow/make more, you need some basic medium of exchange (like gold) and you need a pile of bog roll and tampons because those are worrth their weight in gold when you cannot get any!
 

[blind ear]

don heath,
Do you think that the modern copper clad nickle coins used for quarters, dimes and half dollars in the US will have any more value that "useless paper money"? ear

[mcwoodduck]

don heath,
Do you think that the modern copper clad nickle coins used for quarters, dimes and half dollars in the US will have any more value that "useless paper money"? ear

I split up ,my change when I get home.
All pennies made before 1982 go into one container as they are copper and the ones 82 and after are Zink.
The all copper pennies are worth more as scrap than as a penny.
So yes the metal in the coins may be worth something that paper $ will not be.

[SHOOTALL]

Heard on the radio this am that pennies will no longer be made , they cost more even in zink to make than face value.
Nickle will hold value , maybe not face value but even as melted down for shot or sinkers it will have worth

[bilmac]

WHEN the dollar crashes we will be back to a barter economy. It won't be at all handy to take a bushel of tomatoes to the store to trade for sugar. Right at that time when the economy is struggling to get going again, and the value of things is being re-established is when a few silver coins will be like gold in your pocket.
 
I recommend junk silver coins. I just buy them a few at a time from a local dealer whenever I have a few extra bucks in my pocket. Small pieces of silver will be a lot more useful for everyday needs.

[BUGEYE]

here's a calculator for pricing coins.  the market price is already there.
http://www.coinflation.com/coins/silver_coin_calculator.html

[scootrd]

Latest Article from Forbes - 3/19/2012 @ 4:18PM
Excerpt -
Gold suffered what appears to be long-lasting damage since the onset of March, with prices falling nearly 7% from 2012 highs.  As Treasury yields surge, markets have entered a new phase marked by generalized optimism, where fears over economic weakness and of an implosion in the Eurozone have receded.  These are ominous signs for safe havens, and gold has gotten clobbered, forcing UBS’ Edel Tully to lower her one-year price target to $1,550 an ounce, a 12.7% downgrade........It’s not just gold that has taken a beating lately.  Silver has fallen substantially from recent highs, while major producers like Goldcorp, Newmont, and Barrick Gold have followed suit. It’s a difficult time to be an investor in gold, that’s for sure.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2012/03/19/gold-set-to-fall-to-1550-as-need-for-macro-risk-hedge-dissipates/


My thoughts  -  How is your risk factor thermometer?
If you are bullish, anticipate a long term rebound, and not expect full returns for a while ,
Perhaps the old cliche ... buy low sell high may be in order for ya. .

As for me I think I will sit this one out.

[bilmac]

WHEN the dollar becomes worthless, how much of it you trade for precious metal will be a moot point.

[gypsyman]

I've got some silver coins saved, from when my parents had a store, and mom started saving the pre '64 quarters. What I;m in the process of building up, is a few cases of booze,whiskey,gin,vodka, and such. Down the road, a fifth of booze might get you a few gallons of gas for a rototiller or the like. And, if need be, medicinal purpose's. gypsyman

[Buckskin]

I've got some silver coins saved, from when my parents had a store, and mom started saving the pre '64 quarters. What I;m in the process of building up, is a few cases of booze,whiskey,gin,vodka, and such. Down the road, a fifth of booze might get you a few gallons of gas for a rototiller or the like. And, if need be, medicinal purpose's. gypsyman

If it comes to the point of having to trade my booze for gas for the rototiller , I will be hoeing!!!

[geezerbiker]

I'm investing in precious metals, copper, brass and lead.  These will be of more use to me than silver or gold...

Tony

[Lloyd Smale]

I guess it would be easier to give some alcholics a bottle of booze and a hoe and send them out to the garden then it would be running that rototiller yourself anyway

I've got some silver coins saved, from when my parents had a store, and mom started saving the pre '64 quarters. What I;m in the process of building up, is a few cases of booze,whiskey,gin,vodka, and such. Down the road, a fifth of booze might get you a few gallons of gas for a rototiller or the like. And, if need be, medicinal purpose's. gypsyman

If it comes to the point of having to trade my booze for gas for the rototiller , I will be hoeing!!!

[blind ear]

I guess it would be easier to give some alcholics a bottle of booze and a hoe and send them out to the garden then it would be running that rototiller yourself anyway