Preparedness

Silver, Inflation, and the US Dollar

9
Share

A hot topic and always controversial is the purchasing of precious metals. I tend to focus on silver as gold is simply out of reach financially. First – I am not suggesting that in a grid-down, apocalyptic, mass starvation event that silver would be an ideal tangible to have stockpiled. I will also say that silver for thousands of years has been recognized as having value and has been used as a form of commerce. From my perspective, I use silver as a means to retain wealth and it is a hedge against inflation.

We live in some pretty strange times when millions of workers have disappeared from the labor market yet still survive somehow. At the same time, the unemployment rate is supposedly at its lowest rate ever, inflation continues to provide challenges as it outpaces wage increases, and we have a government that is beating the war drums. The national debt is well over $31 trillion.

So – back to silver. As part of my preps I put back some silver. Yeah – it hasn’t been a lot. A few ounces here and a few ounces there. A little bit over time adds up and it’s a piece of the puzzle from my overall preparedness system. A cash reserve both in the bank and out is important. Beans, bullets, band-aids and more help round out tangibles that would come in handy through any kind of SHTF event.

Silver is heading upwards of late. Watch for dips and buy-in.

My 2 cents.

Rourke

 

PS. My personal choice for buying silver is Money Metals Exchange. There are many good ones out there. Got one? Share it.

 

You might also like

9 Comments

  1. D. says:

    APMEX.
    Best metals deals for over 15 years I’ve been involved.
    Has appreciated a minimum of 10%. Much better than any saving account that can be seized. Gold has topped $2K. First time in many years.

    Reply
  2. CaptTurbo says:

    My last purchase was from Money Metals Exchange. I was surprised when I saw their price on 20 one ounce silver rounds beat out APMEX and Provident Metals.

    Reply
  3. Goinggray58 says:

    Like any business, as demand goes up so does price. At a spot price of $20.00 / oz., they’ll add a premium of say $6.00 – $7.00. I personally have a problem with what I consider excess premiums.. that’s the profit. I personally go for the less pricey imprints… (recognizable imprints like a maple leaf are more readily negotiable with the “regular guy” later) Then of course you can buy Junk silver which is less pricey per oz of silver still. Spot has recently gone up of course and the market on Junk silver is drying up it looks like… leaving the pricier options.
    In any case, whatever you buy make sure it is ensured and you take physical possession, and not allow someone else to “store” it for you. IMO
    It doesn’t take long to learn about it… but after “THE BIG ONE” the average person on the street won’t know enough to make it easily negotiable. That essentially makes silver a BARTER item rather than real money.
    And to.. precious metal is easily counterfeited.. Melt and coat a lesser metal core .. I’ve even seen know vendors traffic in counterfeits…
    Learn how to weigh and measure precious metal if you are thinking about accepting it as currency. Just a thought

    GG58

    Reply
  4. Chuck says:

    All wise comments. We use SD Bullion for our pre-64 purchases.They
    package the silver as from Acme Ball Bearing Co. and the FedEx guy
    asks what I do with all of the ball bearings. I said roller skates.He had that
    deer in the head lights look.

    I feel that the junk silver will work the best in a batter situation because
    it is recognized by almost everyone. The small denominations will be better
    to buy a loaf of bread than trying to make change for a 1oz. round.

    John is correct about the high premiums especially for gold.A lot of it has to
    do with supply availability. Our dealer said that bidding wars are common
    between dealers and their suppliers.

    Reply
    1. JR says:

      Thanks Chuck. I think junk silver is a great way of putting back some silver in a highly recognizable smaller unit which will work great in a barter system.

      Reply
  5. Ralph k says:

    Silver will be worth something as it always has, to what degree and at what moment in time, only heaven knows. History tells us it is a store of value in the long term and when established as a medium of exchange, functions well in everyday commerce. When the system comes apart and paper money no longer serves its original intended purpose, barter will come to pass before acceptance of the silver metal becomes the norm. In between, all manner of real assets will be used in exchange for goods or services. I have very few expectations at this juncture of my life. Good human connections, time, and energy seem to top the list of things most valuable. It would seem we are headed into a maelstrom of unknown proportion and duration. Everyone who visits this site knows of what I speak. At this point we just keep preparing and doing what it is that we can do. And in spite of it all, look up and see the sun or the moon and rejoice in our living the best we can and leave a positive mark upon humanity and the earth. I might not be the first human to create fire but I can be one of the humans that keeps the flame burning.

    Reply
    1. JR says:

      Great comment Ralph K. There are so many theories on what things will look like in the future and I know ALL my predictions have been 100% wrong. Time will tell and I’m looking more at redundancy in my systems than what will happen specifically that will require their use.

      Reply
  6. Myke says:

    I have my share of Silver Rounds. I feel these will make it a whole lot easier to purchase items due to their being of lesser value than 1 oz. of Gold. They are also easily recognizable because they look like Silver Dollars. Having said that, I still feel that the use of Gold and Silver (and Junk Silver) will be a ways off after it hits the fan because people will be more concerned about eating what they have, or what they can get their hands on, than “buying” things with Gold or Silver. Something that is not talked about much but is very inexpensive, easily stored and will be worth its weight in gold is SALT. Centuries ago, Salt was actually used as a currency. I think it might return as such. Currently, you can buy salt for almost nothing, relatively speaking. Vacuum seal it, mark it’s contents (whether Iodized or not and how many oz./pounds are in each package). Everyone will need Salt for their food and if you’re the one who has it, because you thought ahead, you’ll be the one people seek out. Just my 2 1/2 cents worth, Myke

    Reply
  7. CaptTurbo says:

    Interesting perspective Myke. I have a bunch of rounds too and also a few years worth of salt (for my needs) too but never thought about having salt to trade with. Good thinking!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *