# How much precious metal?



## keith9365 (Apr 23, 2014)

How much silver or gold should you have on hand?


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Enough to melt into ammo for vampires and werewolves


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

I was just thinking the other day about putting some money in a gold IRA. Kinda made my head spin trying to get a handle on it, still don't have a handle on it.


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## patrioteer (May 21, 2018)

I can't speak to precious metals as an investment, but since this is in prepper-survival talk I am going to presume you are talking about SHTF currency. I am now up to about 1,000 silver dimes and quarters and a fair amount of 1/10 gold eagle coins. I also have a fair amount of scrap gold and silver jewelry that I will be melting down into 1/10th ounce bars in the next year or so. Not all of it though. Easier to carry a gold ring on your finger, plus then person you are bartering with might not presume you have more.


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## jimcosta (Jun 11, 2017)

A generic question (How much metal) deserves a generic answer.

After covering your family with emergency supplies and doing all that needs to be done to keep them safe, then go on to investments.

*The pros suggest:*

** "Only the amount of cash or savings or pension that you wish to keep after the reset."

** To "If you can afford it, 500 ounces of silver Dollars per family member."
This is a Monster Box per member, at today's costs of about $13,000 per box (500 X $27). 
Note: The $27 is the current street value (with broker's fees) to get physical in one day.
Each box should later be worth between $250,000 and $1 Million. 
This should help your family get a great start after the chaos.

You should never have to sell the silver as you can borrow against a few coins for what you need.


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## Redneck (Oct 6, 2016)

keith9365 said:


> How much silver or gold should you have on hand?


I don't have any but would be interested in why someone would need some.

I do prep for a collapse of government/society. But I just don't see how having some shiny coins or bars would help when needing food or some other commodity. Not like you can eat it and who determines the value? At what point would it have some real value? Would you have starved by then?

In my book, at the point our currency collapses, I think I'd rather have thousands of pounds of food in storage and hundreds of pounds of seed, that some shiny metal. But no one ever said I was the sharpest tool in the shed, so I'd like to be convinced.


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## jimcosta (Jun 11, 2017)

********: * It is not needed and you are right.

But some folks have assets now that can be redirected for a safer return after the chaos - better rich than poor.


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## Redneck (Oct 6, 2016)

jimcosta said:


> ********: * It is not needed and you are right.
> 
> But some folks have assets now that can be redirected for a safer return after the chaos - better rich than poor.


Funny, I worry about surviving the chaos... not making more money if you survived.


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## Ragnarök (Aug 4, 2014)

If you want silver and gold to trade I would think about where you live and the population dynamics of your area. 

I personally think a couple pounds of silver is more than plenty for shtf. But it needs to be in single ounce rounds so you are flexible...multiple exchanges and easy to conceal.


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## Tango2X (Jul 7, 2016)

1Skrewloose,
If you invest on a gold IRA, all you will own is a piece of paper!
If you cannot hold the gold in your hand-- you don't own it!


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## Tango2X (Jul 7, 2016)

Some metal; should be a part of preps
After all other goods are secured


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

Tango2X said:


> 1Skrewloose,
> If you invest on a gold IRA, all you will own is a piece of paper!
> If you cannot hold the gold in your hand-- you don't own it!


Just started getting into this stuff, thought you could physically own gold with a self directed IRA. Gonna have to do more research.

For sure I want to be able to have it in my hands.


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## jimcosta (Jun 11, 2017)

1screwloose: A self directed IRA can hold physical.


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

Would depend on your outlook on how society will comeback after the collapse, if at all. 

Personally it's a waste of time. Plenty of more important things that will be worth more and be actually valuable in a true SHTF scenario.

What are you going to travel the great waste land with a back pack of gold bars thinking you will survive?? Suppose you can hand out little bits of silver and have the minion hoards begging at your feet.


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## Krackentoa (Jun 27, 2020)

I work In the finance Industry. We all laugh at this. Precious medals unless you have a butt load is not Worth it. Keep your investments for if the world keeps turning. If we hit a point where the market crashes and the world is upended your amount of silver and gold will be worthless. Who can use it. Who can smelt it better yet who can smelt it and knows what to do with it now a days?.. The eugenes of the world are far and few between. 
How would you even find them. No google if all this is happeni g I can assure you. Now sugar, salt, flour, canned goods, butter...that will be the new. Currency. Learn capital and the like are selling a bill of goods.


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## danben (Mar 23, 2020)

Krackentoa said:


> I work In the finance Industry. We all laugh at this. Precious medals unless you have a butt load is not Worth it. Keep your investments for if the world keeps turning. If we hit a point where the market crashes and the world is upended your amount of silver and gold will be worthless. Who can use it. Who can smelt it better yet who can smelt it and knows what to do with it now a days?.. The eugenes of the world are far and few between.
> How would you even find them. No google if all this is happeni g I can assure you. Now sugar, salt, flour, canned goods, butter...that will be the new. Currency. Learn capital and the like are selling a bill of goods.


I do agree that ingots or other things requiring smelting have limited value. On the other hand, saying that precious metal coins will have no value makes the assumption of an all-or-nothing collapse. On the other hand, we have the example of Argentina in 2001 when the leadership packed their bags with US dollars and left the country to wallow but the currency still existed. When the banks only allow $60/week in withdrawals, other economic factors come into play - like coins and jewelry. There is a description of living through the Argentina crisis in Fernando Aguirre's Surviving the Economic Collapse. Porter Stansberry has also published The American Jubilee about a potential US economic collapse. I take Stansberry with huge dollops of salt (figuratively), but he does have an interesting suggestion about metals - junk silver. These are the old US silver coins (not the current ones) which are damaged (so no collector value) but still have a defined silver content. This defined content, plus the lack of flash when compared with gold, are supposed to give both value and protection from those looking for obvious places to raid.


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

Fact of the matter is: No one knows what precious metals will be worth. They may maintain current value, they may plummet in value, or they may skyrocket in worth.

Anyone who says they know what it will be worth is lying.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

bigwheel said:


> Enough to melt into ammo for vampires and werewolves


every prepper KNOWS gold does not work on vampires and werewolves.... please stop offering wrong information...

Silver for werewolves
crossbows with wooden arrows for vampires
truth for democrats


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Krackentoa said:


> I work In the finance Industry. We all laugh at this. Precious medals unless you have a butt load is not Worth it. Keep your investments for if the world keeps turning. If we hit a point where the market crashes and the world is upended your amount of silver and gold will be worthless. Who can use it. Who can smelt it better yet who can smelt it and knows what to do with it now a days?.. The eugenes of the world are far and few between.
> How would you even find them. No google if all this is happeni g I can assure you. Now sugar, salt, flour, canned goods, butter...that will be the new. Currency. Learn capital and the like are selling a bill of goods.


you spell metals as medals and you want us to take you ...

let me explain this AGAIN

economy crashes....

people are out of work, hungry, angry, desperate

John needs to get a new tire for his car
the guy that has tires needs wheat
john does not have wheat
the guy that has wheat needs gas
the guy that has gas needs a solar panel
the guy with the solar panel needs wheat....

if there was just some "place holder" some item(s) of value that most people recognize - have maybe even seen on Tv or in ads......that people could use to trade.. something that has been around and used for 5,000 years, something that could be carried easily


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Chipper said:


> Would depend on your outlook on how society will comeback after the collapse, if at all.
> 
> Personally it's a waste of time. Plenty of more important things that will be worth more and be actually valuable in a true SHTF scenario.
> 
> What are you going to travel the great waste land with a back pack of gold bars thinking you will survive?? Suppose you can hand out little bits of silver and have the minion hoards begging at your feet.


or you can travel from town to town with cans of beans and bags of rice


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

you spell metals as medals and you want us to take you ...

I was going to say the same but decided its not worth it, he showed himself.


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

You guys ever consider someone is using the _voice recognition on their phone_ and they can't be bothered to spell check anything?


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Back Pack Hack said:


> You guys ever consider someone is using the _voice recognition on their phone_ and they can't be bothered to spell check anything?


it was not voice recog.. it was typed... go look at it

PLUS MET als versus MED als

voice recognition would pick it up every time


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## Chiefster23 (Feb 5, 2016)

When typing on my ipad my spell checker frequently screws up and types in a different word than what I intended. Happens all the time. Maybe that’s what happened with medals/metals.


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

You're right, shouldn't be so quick to judge.


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## keith9365 (Apr 23, 2014)

1skrewsloose said:


> You're right, shouldn't be so quick to judge.


I text my wife I love you onetime and spell check changed it to Im having a beer with some work buddies, stop being such a nag! Man that caused a spat.


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## 0rocky (Jan 7, 2018)

Maine-Marine said:


> or you can travel from town to town with cans of beans and bags of rice


Let us not forget that invaluable commodity TP! :tango_face_wink: Who'd a thunk?


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

just remember, your god or silver is only worth WHAT SOMEONE IS WILLING TO PAY FOR IT.

"Sure mister, I'll take that ounce of gold ya got there in exchange for this #10 can of pork and beans."


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## Redneck (Oct 6, 2016)

rice paddy daddy said:


> just remember, your god or silver is only worth WHAT SOMEONE IS WILLING TO PAY FOR IT.
> 
> "Sure mister, I'll take that ounce of gold ya got there in exchange for this #10 can of pork and beans."


Exactly.


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## StratMaster (Dec 26, 2017)

rice paddy daddy said:


> just remember, your god or silver is only worth WHAT SOMEONE IS WILLING TO PAY FOR IT.
> 
> "Sure mister, I'll take that ounce of gold ya got there in exchange for this #10 can of pork and beans."


Of course that's true for the #10 can of beans too... as well as every other commodity. They too are only worth what someone might be willing to pay for them. Circumstance will make some things more valuable during certain periods, others less. In our current circumstances, for example, one would likely have trouble walking about trying to sell a can of pork and beans... but buyers for gold and silver are easy to find. That can of course flip: a crisis, and more people need the beans. Gold and silver are not so very valuable when food and water are in short supply... that scenario does not match with their function or purpose. Gold and silver become valuable AFTER a currency collapse and reset: that is where their value lies. Protecting purchasing power in the future, as opposed to holding paper currency which becomes worthless in this scenario. They won't help much during a crisis. But barring TEOTWAWKI, a collapsed economy and/or collapsed currency is always reset (so far) and the gold and silver one holds will again be quantified and measured against the new currency employed. One should have procured a ridiculous amount of preps before Precious Metals, or they will face the very scenario you describe above. Preps FIRST. PM's if one has a large amount of dollars left over and above those needs... and are suspicious of the currency health/hyperinflation. JMO.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

rice paddy daddy said:


> just remember, your gold or silver is only worth WHAT SOMEONE IS WILLING TO PAY FOR IT.
> 
> "Sure mister, I'll take that ounce of gold ya got there in exchange for this #10 can of pork and beans."


I understanding your idea.. but I have to ask.. how many people that have physical gold and silver do you think there are that don't also have food taken care of???


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

Maine-Marine said:


> I understanding your idea.. but I have to ask.. how many people that have physical gold and silver do you think there are that don't also have food taken care of???


I personally know of 3. They have no more than a week or two of food, but they all buy gold with every extra buck they have. Their attitude is it's easier to hide gold, and it won't spoil like food will. They'll just go out and buy whatever they need post-SHTF.

Of course, they'll be knocking on their neighbors' doors wanting to buy their food when things get bad.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Back Pack Hack said:


> I personally know of 3. They have no more than a week or two of food, but they all buy gold with every extra buck they have. Their attitude is it's easier to hide gold, and it won't spoil like food will. They'll just go out and buy whatever they need post-SHTF.
> 
> Of course, they'll be knocking on their neighbors' doors wanting to buy their food when things get bad.


are they brain dead... I can understand having gold for investment with no preps... but to have gold as a substitute for preps ?????


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

Maine-Marine said:


> are they brain dead... I can understand having gold for investment with no preps... but to have gold as a substitute for preps ?????


I can't save everyone.


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