Needing Info on buying silver

[Gazrok]

Your goal should be to become as self sufficient as you can so that you can produce your own food and clean water and live off of the grid. If you can accomplish that, your need for precious metals will be mute

Post SHTF, our goal would be to produce MORE food and water (and other grown items) than we could use. So we have extra to barter with. Of course, we've also given thought to services we can provide, such as repairs (mechanical and auto), medical services, even guarded lodging, etc. Of course, a lot would really just depend on what the SHTF scenario was....

With all this precedent, should gold and silver really be discounted in a prepper's stash?

I'm not poo poo'ing it altogether. I just wouldn't rely on it much. A post SHTF world is a very different setting than when these were historically useful, though. Conditions at those times were such that it could easily be converted to a spendable medium. That simply won't be the case immediately after a SHTF scenario...

 

[Silent Earth]

Pre 64 Silver dollars then collectable hallmarked silver bullion coins are the objective as barter currency, I have about 20 silver dollars, But I still think that in many cases 22LR ammo and 223bremington / 5.56 ammo is probably just as likely to be the currency of choice after TSHTF.

 

[SheilaT.]

I'm like AD I have Silver and Gold and when the time is right I will sell them at one or two at a time to top up my future income. Gold coins of the realm in the UK are tax free to buy and sell and as long as you hold them yourself, not held in a bullion vault comapny I think they are as good a long term investment as anything. When I shuffle off this mortal coil my son won't have to pay CGT or inheritance tax on them, win win as far as I'm concerned.

 

[DrHenley]

A little history of money should answer that question. Mike Maloney does a better job of explaining it than I can:

 

[Brent S]

I think any form of investment should be well diversified, from food storage to money and ammo. No one has a crystal ball and knows exactly how things will play out in the world, so having multiple things to pull resources from is just smart.

 

[Gazrok]

I betcha I could barter a LOT with a few cartons of cigarettes. What do you think?

 

[Arcticdude]

I betcha I could barter a LOT with a few cartons of cigarettes. What do you think?

Not with me you won't. Cigars, absolutely.

 

[Kevin L]

Keep your cigs refrigerated. They do go bad.

I think it's a better idea to grow tobbacco and learn how to process it. It's fairly easy to make chewing tobbacco, and I believe that smokers may switch to it if cigs are absent.

Nicotine extracted from tobbacco is an excellent pesticide. It can be used in the house to kill roaches, silverfish, and ants...although I wouldn't use it on food crops and I probably wouldn't use it on clothing.

I've heard that a tobbacco tea is good for lice, fleas, and ticks...but I have reservations about using it on human skin or anything that contacts human skin.

 

[Kevin L]

Forgot to mention that there are many different varieties of tobbacco. Some are ornamental, and you can probably find a variety that will grow in your climate and/or a greenhouse.

Me personally?

Screw tobbacco. I've toyed with the idea of growing reefer as a cash crop.

 

[Brent S]

Forgot to mention that there are many different varieties of tobbacco. Some are ornamental, and you can probably find a variety that will grow in your climate and/or a greenhouse.

Me personally?

Screw tobbacco. I've toyed with the idea of growing reefer as a cash crop.

I don’t even smoke the stuff but if shtf I would find some seeds and grow it for pain and nausea relief and barter in a heartbeat.

 

[Kevin L]

I don’t even smoke the stuff but if shtf I would find some seeds and grow it for pain and nausea relief and barter in a heartbeat.

You can also use it (easily) for clothing, paper, sewing thread, and animal feed (via the seeds).

Also, hemp cordage can be used for excellent dental floss.

The plant is so useful that it was a mandatory crop during the revolutionary and civil wars. A farmer could be fined heavily for not growing it, and it was Thomas Jefferson's major crop.

Our constitution and decleration of independance were drawn up on hemp paper.

There is no excuse for it being illegal, especially since there are varieties that won't get you high even if you smoke a pound of it.

It can also be used to make soap.

 

[Arcticdude]

Many "experts" recommend having 20% of your investment holdings in precious metals. Usually these experts also have precious metals to sale to you. I absolutely believe in owning a very diverse portfolio, which would include precious metals, among other things. At what percentage? That is up to each person and their individual investment strategy, risk tolerance and income. Gold and silver has always had great value and always will.
Gold and silver should only be part of a preppers holdings, as many other items would be of great value post shtf too.

 

[Brent S]

You can also use it (easily) for clothing, paper, sewing thread, and animal feed (via the seeds).

Also, hemp cordage can be used for excellent dental floss.

The plant is so useful that it was a mandatory crop during the revolutionary and civil wars. A farmer could be fined heavily for not growing it, and it was Thomas Jefferson's major crop.

Our constitution and decleration of independance were drawn up on hemp paper.

There is no excuse for it being illegal, especially since there are varieties that won't get you high even if you smoke a pound of it.

It can also be used to make soap.

Interesting, I had never heard of the Jefferson growing weed thing before. Somehow in American history they skipped that part in my home town..... I even kind of chuckled that most of the articles I glimpsed over made excuses like, ‘it was mostly his slaves that grew it’, or that he only used it for industrial purposes.

 

[Brent S]

Many "experts" recommend having 20% of your investment holdings in precious metals. Usually these experts also have precious metals to sale to you. I absolutely believe in owning a very diverse portfolio, which would include precious metals, among other things. At what percentage? That is up to each person and their individual investment strategy, risk tolerance and income. Gold and silver has always had great value and always will.
Gold and silver should only be part of a preppers holdings, as many other items would be of great value post shtf too.

I did just learn a valuable lesson. I have been aware of ebay of course, but didn’t really use it much and favoring amazon mostly. Anyways, as I mentioned earlier I recently started collecting coins again. Ebay is a great resource to find a huge selection and compare values, putting to shame going to a local coin dealor. (I’m not knocking small businesses here, just pointing out that no one shop could ever have the kind of inventory to choose from compared to ebay). So, back to my lesson learned from ebay. The whole format of bidding auction like is kind of exciting or addicting in a way. Well, I saw a coin that I have always wanted but never could really afford. Long story short, I bid a on a coin, well under its value, thinking there’s no way this guy would accept the offer. Amazingly, the guy accepted. So the warning here is be careful and don’t get too excited when ‘dreaming’ over an item that peaks your interest. The upside is I just bought a slabbed, graded coin that is well under its actual value. I want it as an investment, but at the very least could make a profit tomorrow. The downside is I had to scramble to scrape the cash together to actually pay for this thing, and of course not tell my wife what I just did or face her wrath.....

 

[Gazrok]

I think it's a better idea to grow tobbacco and learn how to process it. It's fairly easy to make chewing tobbacco, and I believe that smokers may switch to it if cigs are absent.

Oh, I plan to do that as well. (and grow weed, poppies, etc. post SHTF). Medicinal herbs are going to be a necessity...

However, if I have enough warning of an event ahead of time, I've got no issue stocking up on cigs. I don't smoke myself, but they are easily divisible, highly sought, and would be an ideal barter medium I'm betting, in a post SHTF setting.

 

[DrHenley]

The hardcore coin collectors call the slabs "coffins." There are numerous reasons why they dislike sealed slabs.

You can find threads on CoinTalk about how best to "rescue" a coin from a slab without damaging it.

I have to say, even though I'm not a hardcore collector, I can understand the sentiment. I mainly bought slabbed coins just for the supposed "protection" of being professionally sealed in an air tight container, only to discover that it wasn't so air tight after all, and some of them are starting to tarnish. In a slab, they don't "tone" evenly. Of course a 24K gold coin doesn't tone, so it doesn't matter what you keep it in as long as you don't scratch it. But 22K gold coins (circulated gold coins) can tone somewhat over time.

I really prefer coins that I can hold. Something like a Vicky Crown or Sovereign that was circulated (Queen Victoria "Jubilee Head") You can often find these on EBay close to melt prices, and every once in a while you'll find one below melt. The sovereigns were and still are minted as bullion coins in large numbers. If you will recall, in one of the 007 movies, Bond had a briefcase with sovereigns hidden in the lining.

At one time I was collecting pieces of eight. All of them are well circulated, so they are safe to handle as long as you wipe them down afterwards.

I think my favorite bullion coin is the Isle of Man Angel. I have a 1/10 oz and a 1/4 oz. I seem to have a hard time finding them.
They can be bought at close to melt...if you can find them
This one I don't handle.

 

[Brent S]

The hardcore coin collectors call the slabs "coffins." There are numerous reasons why they dislike sealed slabs.

You can find threads on CoinTalk about how best to "rescue" a coin from a slab without damaging it.

I have to say, even though I'm not a hardcore collector, I can understand the sentiment. I mainly bought slabbed coins just for the supposed "protection" of being professionally sealed in an air tight container, only to discover that it wasn't so air tight after all, and some of them are starting to tarnish. In a slab, they don't "tone" evenly. Of course a 24K gold coin doesn't tone, so it doesn't matter what you keep it in as long as you don't scratch it. But 22K gold coins (circulated gold coins) can tone somewhat over time.

I really prefer coins that I can hold. Something like a Vicky Crown or Sovereign that was circulated (Queen Victoria "Jubilee Head") You can often find these on EBay close to melt prices, and every once in a while you'll find one below melt. The sovereigns were and still are minted as bullion coins in large numbers. If you will recall, in one of the 007 movies, Bond had a briefcase with sovereigns hidden in the lining.

[/IMG]

At one time I was collecting pieces of eight. All of them are well circulated, so they are safe to handle as long as you wipe them down afterwards.

I think my favorite bullion coin is the Isle of Man Angel. I have a 1/10 oz and a 1/4 oz. I seem to have a hard time finding them.
They can be bought at close to melt...if you can find them

Honestly, I like ‘raw’ coins that you can hold too, ( I only touch the outer rim). The main reason for the slab is to have a pedigree per say, or a guarantee that the coin hasn’t been damaged, repaired or altered. If PCGS graded a coin, no dealor or collector will ever question its grade or authenticity. Grading is very subjective sometimes too, and on rare coins one grade to the next can be a substantial price increase. I bought a raw bust dollar years ago. Luckily the dealor was a decent guy and told me it had been plugged and repaired from where someone had drilled a hole in it for a necklace. The repair was so good that even with a magnifying glass I could not see it. The price drop from it was substantial. Most expensive coins today that aren’t slabbed are because they have some alteration, and condition is key in values. All I can say is buyer beware. I am sure there are some out there that have counterfitted slabs though. With something like a 1794 flowing hair dollar in high grades being worth millions, there are going to be those that try to change the grade a point or two. Nothing is foolproof, but slabs cut out a lot of fraud.

 

[Brent S]

Doc there are loads of both silver and gold Isle of Man coins on ebay. Both in buy it now and bid on status. It is a beautiful coin.
I think gold will always be valuable trade commodity regardless of a national currency’s shape.
As far as coins though, just from an investment stance, US coins have always been the better investment with value and appreciation. Of course there are specific exceptions here and there from other countries, but the US ones have done better traditionally.

 

[DrHenley]

I dabbled in numismatic coins for a while, but found out I really sucked at it. So most of my coins were bought for the precious metal content, or, well, because I liked them for some reason or other. Like the Vickies (I have a complete set of 1890 Vickies, including the maundy coins) I have done things that would get me lynched by hardcore coin collectors. Who cares? It's MY coin, dammit!

 

[bigpaul]

I don't see what silver has to do with prepping.