[Landon7]

whats the opinion of forum members on building up a collection over time of these items for investment purposes as well as SHTF trading. do you think it would be more of a barter system or would precious metals etc hold their value or even be worth anything?

 

[tonyben]

My opinion is that in a SHTF situation, prescious metals won't get you as far as prescious food, water or firearms. It's good as long as there is a civilized culture with international market value (if that makes any sense).

 

[Tenfeathers]

Don't waste your money on Diamonds, I was jewler for many years and you can't buy them cheap enough in the normal market to realize a profit in your life time.


Precious metal well here my investment you decide.
I have a good bit of Gold I bought in 1985 at 123.00 per OZ.
Here it is 2011 26 years later and it's worth 1,663.00. per OZ.

Sucks in my mind, Now for the SHTF senerio a biit of loose gold might be a good thing.

But I am now investing in food,medicene, water.

jst my thoughts

 

[37489]

Short term only

I'm thinking I will use silver to buy gas to reunite with my family if there is enough warning and the roads don't load up with dead cars. So short term it might have some value. Mid term it could be very devalued. Mid-term fifty rounds of .22 might get you further as ol' Jeff Cooper contended. Long term it could bounce back along with society.

Let's see two .5 K bagettes for the wife's wedding ring or two more M1As? Or six months of food? Those diamonds are portable I'll give them that.

There is a guy who wrote about his experiences in the economic collapse in Argentina in the 80's. His account is circling the web. He said a bag of simple 10K gold rings would have been handy. Claims where was little or now assay being done. Gold was gold. That's hard to believe but that is what he claimed.

I'm interested in everyone's thoughts on this thread.

 

[neiltus]

like most normal investors, you will be likely paying a significant premium for purchases that do not amount to 100k+ increments.

And when you go to sell them, you will wonder why the bid went south hard. And you will kick yourself for the purchases.

just my 2cents

 

[senecaap]

You probably ought to focus on gold and silver, they have always been a usable monetary instrument. Jewels are not sound, when the Russians fled to Paris after the revolution, you could trade diamonds, rubies or emeralds bigger than walnuts for a loaf of bread and that was about it. You can check coinflation.com to check the daily updated value of U.S. Circulated silver coinage (1964 and before).
Don't forget, there are other metals that may be "precious" if SHTF and there is no resupply, copper tubing or sheets, rebar, basic scrap metals for home re-engineering.

 

[tmcfalls]

whats the opinion of forum members on building up a collection over time of these items for investment purposes as well as SHTF trading. do you think it would be more of a barter system or would precious metals etc hold their value or even be worth anything?

Historically all three are poor investments and I would not buy them as such. I can see having some gold or silver on hand if you have everything else taken care of as a means of wealth preservation in case the economy tanks but that is only if you have everything else covered and have the extra funds to make it happen. Besides keeping the other gender happy, diamonds aren't very useful to the average guy in my opinion. They are hard to value and hard to exchange, and are almost always overpriced and that is before SHTF, it can only get worse from there.

 

[adrbe]

I don't see Gold or Silver as poor investments at all. Gold value has increased 5 fold within the last 10 years (measured against the dollar). Low risk and consistent appreciation. Now, for SHTF it is a different story -- although I can still them being useful for trading.

The way I see it is: if you're going to stash some cash, then you might as well have some gold/silver stashed as well. Not one or the other, but both. Large amounts probably won't help much more than small amounts, but diversity in your preparations is a good thing.

 

[nSquid]

Assuming SHTF does not occur in your lifetime. Now, in the next 10-15 years the semiconductor industry will most likely figure out how to grow industrial quantities of diamonds in their effort to make it into a superior semiconductor. When that happens natural diamonds will still have value, but nothing like right now. Flawless "stones" the size of bird's eggs will not be beyond reach. So scratch diamonds. Besides, can you eyeball a diamond and tell it is real, let alone grade it per GIA? I can't, and that means it has questionable value (glass) to me after SHTF.

Gold: It's starting to get bumpy for price. Nobody knows if it should be going up or down. Which means the market is sideways, screwy and not a good time to be jumping in. If you got in a decade ago, good for you. Now? No way, Jose.

Honestly, I don't think there is a crystal ball out there right now that is more than milky white. Nobody, NOBODY, has a clue where the world is going, least of all the self-proclaimed Prophets. They are just bilking people while they walk around like Zombies.

And that's the real problem: we got Zombies everywhere right now! Zombies in government, just pushing the same paper over and over; Zombies in the voting booths, just pulling the same lever, over and over again. Zombies in the pulpits, preaching the same sermons over and over again. BIG TIME Zombies in Hollywood cranking out re-make after re-make.

Would you trust your life's investments to a stock market Zombie? Would you trust Stock Market regulation to a bunch of Zombie Protesters? Or Zombie News people?

I don't know what the right answer is, but I know a LOT of wrong ones.

 

[smokejumper6]

Investment?

IMHO; just like a "balanced portfolio"...your investments in an uncertain future should also be "balanced". Investing in beans, bullets, band-aids, and bullion...should be in cooperation with each other, not necessarily prioritized.

Just my .02

 

[CAVman]

I'm thinking I will use silver to buy gas to reunite with my family if there is enough warning and the roads don't load up with dead cars. So short term it might have some value. Mid term it could be very devalued. Mid-term fifty rounds of .22 might get you further as ol' Jeff Cooper contended. Long term it could bounce back along with society.

Let's see two .5 K bagettes for the wife's wedding ring or two more M1As? Or six months of food? Those diamonds are portable I'll give them that.

There is a guy who wrote about his experiences in the economic collapse in Argentina in the 80's. His account is circling the web. He said a bag of simple 10K gold rings would have been handy. Claims where was little or now assay being done. Gold was gold. That's hard to believe but that is what he claimed.I'm interested in everyone's thoughts on this thread.

I have heard/read that before...
It always reminds me of how 'back in the day'...Almost anything that Could Be Counterfeited...WAS!
Remember the stories/movies where a guy 'bit' a gold coin to see if it was real?
18K Gold is easy to tell because of it's softness...
Wouldn't 10K be so 'hard' it would be difficult to tell if it was just 'Plated'?
In the Old West---All Gold Was 'Assayed' And Carefully Weighed Before Being Used as 'Legal Tender'...
In Italy, Even Today...Gold Jewelry Is Sold By WEIGHT!
Diamonds and really any jewelry are only good bartering between those who absolutely know Real from Fake...
My belief is that few 'trades' would be Value for Value...
One side of the deal or the other would be dealing from a position of huge advantage or disadvantage...
However, Tangibles...Items any of us would recognize as Food, Clothing, Medicine, Weaponry...those items would seem to be the easiest traded to individuals by individuals...

Just My Thoughts...

CAVman in WYoming

 

[huntinghawk]

Years ago in South Africa, a group of us tried to get fed in a remote village with a krugerrand. It wasn't worth anything to the man with the food. But we got plenty of food for a machette.

If you live in the south & you've basic survival stuff & want to invest in something that would give a good return come a disaster, think about a solar system to operate a small chest freezer to make ice.

HH

 

[Hobo Hilton]

It's been explained like this to me... "IF (big IF) you think you can survive the collapse and can come out on the other side..... then collect precious metals. Only at that time will they be "worth" anything.

Now, with that in mind, do you have everything squared away to survive?

This man has some interesting info and thoughts on his website --- James Wesley Rawles

http://www.survivalblog.com/

 

[37489]

Just sayin'

There are folks on this site who could probably tell a Devine from twenty feet away. That's how my wife is with diamonds.

We should be careful of projecting our limitations onto others.

 

[mgraffam]

whats the opinion of forum members on building up a collection over time of these items for investment purposes as well as SHTF trading. do you think it would be more of a barter system or would precious metals etc hold their value or even be worth anything?

Well, it depends on just how bad things get, and just how widespread and long-lasting the troubles are.

In a SHTF scenario, I doubt I, or most people, would accept gold/silver/diamonds/cash or anything like that in trade for practical supplies like food, fuel, or ammunition. And, frankly, if people DID accept gold or silver, it would be because of speculating that society will get back on its feet and there would be massive price gouging for the things that have real value (i.e. are useful) in an effort to make a fortune off folks that bought metal rather than food.

You can't eat, burn or USE gold in any useful sense of the word. If society crumbles to the point that one will be inclined to trade gold for food? You can bet that the hungrier, and thinner you become - the less that gold will be worth to those you would trade with.

Before gold and silver, I'd buy a bunch of AKs and a thousand rounds of ammo for each rifle. I'd stock pile dehydrated food. I'd load up on gasoline and diesel.

Get yourself to a point, today, where you don't NEED much money, and you'll find that gold isn't anything but more weight to hump around when SHTF.

 

[NE450N02]

With limited funds, I think bullets, water, and food, medicine, would be better to stockpile.

The one time that some Gold [that is the only one of the 3 I would consider], might be handy is if after the Bad Days sgtart to stabilize, but banking is still shut down, and inflation is like Zimbabwe, Gold coins mugh be good to have. I would want to have them in the smallest denomitations possible.

I would want "regular" gold coins not expensive collectable ones.

 

[Wayne M]

Agree with others that precious metal ect(even gold or silver coins) won't be worth anything while you're trying to stay alive and nobody will want to trade food or anything else of value for the stuff. Only at the end, if you're still alive and order is reestablished will it be worth anything......and that could be a L>O>N>G time to get markets back up.

 

[huntinghawk]

Look at this situation from the other person's point of view.

Let's say I'm a small farmer or homesteader & have plenty of grain & meat. I might be willing to trade but not an expert in identifing percious metals so don't want ripped off & your precious metals of little use to me anyhow. So what do you think your gold & silver is worth to me?

HH

 

[DukeRustfield]

Don't waste your money on Diamonds, I was jewler for many years and you can't buy them cheap enough in the normal market to realize a profit in your life time.


Precious metal well here my investment you decide.

We've gone over all this before.

Gold is exactly the same as diamonds. Often farmed by the same producers. It has an arbitrary value associated with it that is not representative of ANYTHING whatsoever. It certainly isn't scarcity, because if South Africa felt like it, they could make gold plummet to like $10 an ounce tomorrow. Likewise with diamonds.

Oil is the cost it is because cartels limit production to keep the cost high. The same is done with nearly all other "precious" resources.

http://www.mytravelcost.com/Kuwait/gas-prices/

The price of a liter of unleaded gasoline in Kuwait is 0.23 USD and the price of a liter of diesel fuel in Kuwait is 0.21 USD.

Gold has historically massively underperformed the broad stock market and only in the past handful of years has done better. The S&P 500 has had about a 10% annual return, even adjusted for inflation, for something like 50 years.
http://www.moneychimp.com/features/market_cagr.htm

Gold did almost nothing for decades. Which is why all these gold web sites only want to show you 2005 to present. Because if you had socked your money in a bank or Tbills you would have been ahead before that.

Moreover, you can't eat it, make tools from it, or do much of anything except stick it into some advanced electronics that no one will be manufacturing in a true SHTF environment. Of course stocks won't have any value either if society collapses.

 

[cachunk]

For what its worth, and I wont pretend to be an expert prepper or an expert economist, I think that as others on here have stated diversifying the "portfolio" is of utmost importance, but this does not just mean with "traditional investments", I like to take that philosophy to "prepping" and living in general.

Since I am not wealthy, thank the Lord I have a job and my health, I have to prep within my means and that translates to storing a wider range of goods than I think are normally associated with prepping.

Of course I keep my M1a and plenty of food for it. My scattergun and food for it, as well as a few other calibres that I do not use as much ( mainly .22lr since it is so economical). I also keep stores of canned and dehydrated food, ( not enough sadly) and the other things you could rattle off the top of your head. The thing that I do not read about as much that I do keep as well is clothing and shoes, ( that old pair of jeans that does not fit me anymore but will fit someone else, the shirt and shoes that I dont wear anymore), scrap metal ( in reasonable amounts for an apartment dweller like myself), and some other things that frankly I can not remember at this point, ( been a long day). I figure rather than throwing out what I do not use I pack it away in vacuum bags and stack it in my attic or closet. I am sure that when the s--- storm happens people will value a pair of corcorans that I dont wear, or pair of jeans ( or 30 of them). I find this type of storage costs next to nothing and could be a valuable prep... ( also keep repair tools for all of my preps...)

Just my .02

Thanks for all these posts this is a good thread!