Well, it's been one hell of a week. I finally finished up a paper I've been slaving on and got it out. Of course as soon as I started working on it the weather turned nice, which had me splitting my time between writing and trying to get some spring prepping done. I'd like to say I put more effort into the spring prepping but... Oh well. I did however manage to get a bull calf slaughtered. He should be gracing my freezer and dinner plate before spring.
So I'm thinking about gold again. I picked up a pretty good idea from a fella over at HT, one that I was ashamed of myself for not thinking up first. He's running a few ads on sites like Craigslist and such buying scrap gold. He pays more than the local gold buying outfits but still well under spot. He was able to pay nearly double that the local scrap buyers are paying which is still half of the spot price! Genius right? I've been doing this with copper and aluminum for some time now which is why I boggles my mind why I didn't think to try the same with gold and silver.
I've only been buying PMs this way for about a week now but it's going pretty well. I've also managed to pick up a few stones along the way, although I know very little about them yet. It's entirely possible I've over payed for them. I'm going to need to study a bit more on them and buy a loop I suppose. All the same, it's pretty interesting and I thought it was worth passing this one on.
I will say that you can not expect to purchase all this scrap and work out any kind of deal with your local PM dealer. It's pretty obvious why right?
I mentioned above I've been doing this same thing with copper and aluminum. With all the things I have to do I really don't have the time or inclination to run around collecting scrap metals from the trash or whatever. What I did to get my scrap collection growing was place an ad on Craigslist saying I would buy this stuff for a little over the local yards prices. I was very careful in who I selected to purchase from mind you, and I told the few folks I decided to work with exactly what I wanted .
I was sure that the folks I dealt with were willing to show me some ID right form the start. I have a photo copy on file of those few folks, just like the local scrap yard. I'm not trying to buy stolen metals after all. I was also careful to get a good look at the few folks I selected. I was looking for people that weren't high on meth of course. While I'm not worried about what the guys look like, I'm certainly not interested in dealing with a bunch of tweekers. Do your homework if you use this method of collecting metal! Like any other dealings you want to know the other guy is going to be someone worth doing business with.
Some of the benefits of this arrangement:
1. I set a minimum amount I'm willing to purchase. Right now I won't get a call unless the guys have 200lbs or more of copper and/or aluminum.
2. I don't have to clean the scrap. Because I'm paying more than the local yard I get better quality stuff. If there are decent lengths of pipe or something I'd prefer in tact, that's what I get. The rest of the stuff is sorted and crushed to my specs. This saves me a lot of time and makes storage a breeze.
3. I'm always learning something interesting. Regardless of how these guys might look to the rest of the world, I know they are decent guys. They have a lot of interesting knowledge to share and I'm ready and willing to soak it all in.
4. I get to promote Ron Paul. Yeah, I said it, so what? These guys often didn't vote as they are kinda free minded. Talking to them about politics often leads me to Ron Paul, whose ideas they tend to like. I'll take any win I can.
5. I've met some real stand up guys. My wife got a flat on her way home one evening and didn't have a spare. (She'd gotten a flat previously, changed the tire and never mentioned it... arg) Two of the guys I deal with saw recognized the car and swung back to help. When she told them about not having a spare, and that I was coming to get her one of them waited with her while the other ran back for a trailer. By the time I arrived they had her car loaded up on the trailer and were waiting on me so they could decide if they should tow it to my house or to the tire place. For this I had to force $100 on them, as they insisted good deeds are free and kindness comes back in other ways.
I feel I should add that this arrangement works well for me largely because I don't have the metal delivered to my home. I have an off site place to have metal delivered and weighed. I'll transfer it to my own trailer and bring it home after. While I don't do business with people I think might steal from me, and while many of these guys are really nice folks; I'm not that trusting to show them my home either. Just sayin.
Showing posts with label Silver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Silver. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
So you want to buy something besides gold huh?
In my last post I either riled you up and made you mad, or I made you really think about that PM purchase a little harder. Either way, at least I had an impact right? Isn't that what we're all trying to do; make an impact on the people and the world around us? Anyway, in this post I'll try an explore some other options for SHTF investing that are less a risk.
I'd also like to take a minute to give some perspective before I get into the nuts and bolts. To those that consider themselves preppers or to those that just like to be self reliant and ready for (almost) anything; What is preparing if not investing for the future? Unless you are 100% certain that the world is going to fall apart, society is going to Hell in a bucket, or an EMP will strike in your lifetime, why not invest in the future and prepare for disaster at the same time? Why not look at your preparations for SHTF and invest in the future as the same thing? Plan around both things happening and you will be much less wasteful.
Ok, back to the task at hand. Ways for the rest of us to inflation proof and gather some barter material. My first move would be to stop using cards to purchase things. I know it seems like a major pain to have the cash around to make purchases, but in all reality you should have some cash on hand anyway just in case. No matter what, money talks. More importantly though is change. When you use a debit card to make a purchase you don't get any change back. How are you going to slowly and steadily fill that jar with coins if you aren't getting change back? I was amazed at the amount of money I saved when I started using cash again.
When you start using cash and getting change back you would be well advised to periodically sort your change. I don't mean nickles, dimes, quarters, etc. Well, separate out the nickles yes, they are worth more in metal value than they are in face value. While it is (I believe) illegal to melt down coins for scrap value, there is no law against holding them for the future. If TSHTF those nickles suddenly become a more valuable commodity. The same applies to pre-1982 pennies. They have more copper in them than their face value. In fact, pre-'82 pennies are worth .025 cents. That's over doube face value! Don't believe me? Take a look here.
&re we've made one small change in the way we operate and it's paying pretty big dividends. By simply switching to cash you are collecting nickle, copper, and some silver. You're also setting money aside that was otherwise in the checking account. That $4-5 a week adds up. In a few short months you'll have a few extra bucks to invest in something with some real value to it like open pollinated (heirloom) seeds, or a hand crank flashlight (power failures do happen, and batteries always fail when you need them), or a small water purifier. Or if you're really really sneaky like me... rolls of nickles and pennies.
I'm going to slip in a little unsolicited plug here for My Patriot Supply where I suggest you purchase these items. No, I don't get anything for sending him traffic, if this tiny site even sends him any traffic.
Now most of the folks reading this should already have this stuff. I know most of you are from HT and Cheap Homesteading so if you are lacking in the above mentioned. For shame!
If you already have those bases covered don't worry, I have something even more mundane you can do with those extra couple of bucks you've set aside. Go to yard sales, flee markets, and other places you can find old used crap. There is a lot of value in old used crap so long as you buy the right old used crap. Some examples include old tools, bolts of fabric, cheap knock off clothes (oh I do love those knock off dealers even though I know it's so wrong), and my favorite... cast iron cookware!
My take on cast iron is pretty straight forward. Inflation is ever present, so buying something like cheap used cast iron today to clean up and sell later will work ok. If it's older cast iron it will be an antique sooner or later and worth more. If TSHTF people will NEED that cast iron. When they can't nuke up a hot pocket and eat some chips on the side they'll be forced to cook. It won't take long before those cheap Wal Mart non-stick pans turn into a warped mass of scrap. Cast Iron will be looking pretty good at that point, and you'll have it. The laws of supply and demand kick in then right? One silver eagle for a decent frying pan seems about right. Oh, we're investing in metal twice!
Another metal that should not be over looked is copper. Simple things like copper pipe are likely to gain in value I believe. Mind you, there is the possibility that demand for copper pipe disappears forever, or dries up enough to lower the price, but I'm thinking it's not likely. The beauty of copper pipe is you can store it on a wall in the basement or under the crawl space without seeming too odd. At some point in the future when you need some cash you simply put an ad on craiglslist or the like and beat the Lowe Depots price. Or, at some point in the future when a pipe bursts or you want to build a new barn with water, or... I really like the copper fittings by the way. Those damned things keep getting more and more expensive, and while I can salvage pipe I always have trouble getting the fittings off in good shape. Maybe you have better luck than me.
I've been asked before about PVC and PEX pipe. I'm not really sure I want to stock pile any of that stuff. While I'm sure the price is just as likely to increase as anything else, I like copper because I get double duty out of it. If for some reason I'm unable to sell the pipe as pipe but I REALLY need money, I can sell the copper as scrap. Yes, unless I've held it long enough I'm taking a loss. But in an emergency at least I'm sitting on something of value. Not so much with PVC.
Spools of wire are not bad either. They tend to be higher priced but they are also more in demand and of higher quality. I'm not sure about the price in the future though. If housing doesn't start back up, or at least some kind of construct find those deals anymore, but you can find a Mauser for a cool severl hundred bucks.
I personally find I'm partial to the old commie guns. SKS, AK, Mosin Nagant. All fine guns that do what they were designed to do, kill stuff every time you pull the trigger. They also tend to require less TLC which suits me very well. I like to shoot my guns but I don't really want to be a slave to maintaining them. More important to me though is they are priced better. A fella can get two AK's for the price of one AR-15. Even better, a fella can get 5 Mosins, a spam can of ammo, and sill have money left over for the price of an AR-15.
That means if TS does hit the fan and you're family and friends show up to be saved by you, you can arm them. While an old bolt gun isn't the ideal, when there are five of you firing big honkin rounds it'll be ok. LOL The investment side of this of course is that Mosins are cheap now like Mausers were back when. In ten or twenty years I do believe those old Mosins will be the new Mausers.
The last things I'll mention in detail are debt and yourself.
You should be working on owning your home, preferably a home with some land. It doesn't have to be a huge thousand acre tract, even one acre of paid for land is better than almost anything you can rent. Having your home paid for is worth more to me than anything else I could buy. The reality is that your SHTF moment isn't likely going to be the end of the world. It's going to be much more personal and the rest of the world can get bent during that time. Knowing that you own your home, knowing the bank won't be calling to foreclose, that's an investment that's hard to beat.
If you have credit card debt, a car note, or any debt really; you really have no business investing in metals or anything of the sort. You really need to go listen to Dave Ramsey and get that taken care of.
The most important advice of all though? Invest in yourself. You need to find a niche, your niche, and work it. Learn all about it and get good at it. Become a producer. Don't quit your job and run after some hair brained scheme, but learn a new skill, something that can and hopefully will earn you a living should the world fall apart. More importantly something you would like to do today. Don't wait for the end of the world to come to do what you want to do, go get it now! Do you like to bake? Do it on the side, sell some stuff at flee markets, farmers markets, whatever. Can you knit but live in the 'burbs? Raise a few angora rabbits and learn to spin the fiber. Use the waste to grow a garden, or sell it to others that garden. Hell, become a scrapper or a prospector, whatever it is you feel something about. Go out there on the weekends and do it, and learn how to make it profitable. The best place to invest money is in yourself. You will never find a better return, so long as you're willing to put in the effort. Just sayin.
I'd also like to take a minute to give some perspective before I get into the nuts and bolts. To those that consider themselves preppers or to those that just like to be self reliant and ready for (almost) anything; What is preparing if not investing for the future? Unless you are 100% certain that the world is going to fall apart, society is going to Hell in a bucket, or an EMP will strike in your lifetime, why not invest in the future and prepare for disaster at the same time? Why not look at your preparations for SHTF and invest in the future as the same thing? Plan around both things happening and you will be much less wasteful.
Ok, back to the task at hand. Ways for the rest of us to inflation proof and gather some barter material. My first move would be to stop using cards to purchase things. I know it seems like a major pain to have the cash around to make purchases, but in all reality you should have some cash on hand anyway just in case. No matter what, money talks. More importantly though is change. When you use a debit card to make a purchase you don't get any change back. How are you going to slowly and steadily fill that jar with coins if you aren't getting change back? I was amazed at the amount of money I saved when I started using cash again.
When you start using cash and getting change back you would be well advised to periodically sort your change. I don't mean nickles, dimes, quarters, etc. Well, separate out the nickles yes, they are worth more in metal value than they are in face value. While it is (I believe) illegal to melt down coins for scrap value, there is no law against holding them for the future. If TSHTF those nickles suddenly become a more valuable commodity. The same applies to pre-1982 pennies. They have more copper in them than their face value. In fact, pre-'82 pennies are worth .025 cents. That's over doube face value! Don't believe me? Take a look here.
&re we've made one small change in the way we operate and it's paying pretty big dividends. By simply switching to cash you are collecting nickle, copper, and some silver. You're also setting money aside that was otherwise in the checking account. That $4-5 a week adds up. In a few short months you'll have a few extra bucks to invest in something with some real value to it like open pollinated (heirloom) seeds, or a hand crank flashlight (power failures do happen, and batteries always fail when you need them), or a small water purifier. Or if you're really really sneaky like me... rolls of nickles and pennies.
I'm going to slip in a little unsolicited plug here for My Patriot Supply where I suggest you purchase these items. No, I don't get anything for sending him traffic, if this tiny site even sends him any traffic.
Now most of the folks reading this should already have this stuff. I know most of you are from HT and Cheap Homesteading so if you are lacking in the above mentioned. For shame!
If you already have those bases covered don't worry, I have something even more mundane you can do with those extra couple of bucks you've set aside. Go to yard sales, flee markets, and other places you can find old used crap. There is a lot of value in old used crap so long as you buy the right old used crap. Some examples include old tools, bolts of fabric, cheap knock off clothes (oh I do love those knock off dealers even though I know it's so wrong), and my favorite... cast iron cookware!
My take on cast iron is pretty straight forward. Inflation is ever present, so buying something like cheap used cast iron today to clean up and sell later will work ok. If it's older cast iron it will be an antique sooner or later and worth more. If TSHTF people will NEED that cast iron. When they can't nuke up a hot pocket and eat some chips on the side they'll be forced to cook. It won't take long before those cheap Wal Mart non-stick pans turn into a warped mass of scrap. Cast Iron will be looking pretty good at that point, and you'll have it. The laws of supply and demand kick in then right? One silver eagle for a decent frying pan seems about right. Oh, we're investing in metal twice!
Another metal that should not be over looked is copper. Simple things like copper pipe are likely to gain in value I believe. Mind you, there is the possibility that demand for copper pipe disappears forever, or dries up enough to lower the price, but I'm thinking it's not likely. The beauty of copper pipe is you can store it on a wall in the basement or under the crawl space without seeming too odd. At some point in the future when you need some cash you simply put an ad on craiglslist or the like and beat the Lowe Depots price. Or, at some point in the future when a pipe bursts or you want to build a new barn with water, or... I really like the copper fittings by the way. Those damned things keep getting more and more expensive, and while I can salvage pipe I always have trouble getting the fittings off in good shape. Maybe you have better luck than me.
I've been asked before about PVC and PEX pipe. I'm not really sure I want to stock pile any of that stuff. While I'm sure the price is just as likely to increase as anything else, I like copper because I get double duty out of it. If for some reason I'm unable to sell the pipe as pipe but I REALLY need money, I can sell the copper as scrap. Yes, unless I've held it long enough I'm taking a loss. But in an emergency at least I'm sitting on something of value. Not so much with PVC.
Spools of wire are not bad either. They tend to be higher priced but they are also more in demand and of higher quality. I'm not sure about the price in the future though. If housing doesn't start back up, or at least some kind of construct find those deals anymore, but you can find a Mauser for a cool severl hundred bucks.
I personally find I'm partial to the old commie guns. SKS, AK, Mosin Nagant. All fine guns that do what they were designed to do, kill stuff every time you pull the trigger. They also tend to require less TLC which suits me very well. I like to shoot my guns but I don't really want to be a slave to maintaining them. More important to me though is they are priced better. A fella can get two AK's for the price of one AR-15. Even better, a fella can get 5 Mosins, a spam can of ammo, and sill have money left over for the price of an AR-15.
That means if TS does hit the fan and you're family and friends show up to be saved by you, you can arm them. While an old bolt gun isn't the ideal, when there are five of you firing big honkin rounds it'll be ok. LOL The investment side of this of course is that Mosins are cheap now like Mausers were back when. In ten or twenty years I do believe those old Mosins will be the new Mausers.
The last things I'll mention in detail are debt and yourself.
You should be working on owning your home, preferably a home with some land. It doesn't have to be a huge thousand acre tract, even one acre of paid for land is better than almost anything you can rent. Having your home paid for is worth more to me than anything else I could buy. The reality is that your SHTF moment isn't likely going to be the end of the world. It's going to be much more personal and the rest of the world can get bent during that time. Knowing that you own your home, knowing the bank won't be calling to foreclose, that's an investment that's hard to beat.
If you have credit card debt, a car note, or any debt really; you really have no business investing in metals or anything of the sort. You really need to go listen to Dave Ramsey and get that taken care of.
The most important advice of all though? Invest in yourself. You need to find a niche, your niche, and work it. Learn all about it and get good at it. Become a producer. Don't quit your job and run after some hair brained scheme, but learn a new skill, something that can and hopefully will earn you a living should the world fall apart. More importantly something you would like to do today. Don't wait for the end of the world to come to do what you want to do, go get it now! Do you like to bake? Do it on the side, sell some stuff at flee markets, farmers markets, whatever. Can you knit but live in the 'burbs? Raise a few angora rabbits and learn to spin the fiber. Use the waste to grow a garden, or sell it to others that garden. Hell, become a scrapper or a prospector, whatever it is you feel something about. Go out there on the weekends and do it, and learn how to make it profitable. The best place to invest money is in yourself. You will never find a better return, so long as you're willing to put in the effort. Just sayin.
Monday, February 13, 2012
So you wanna buy some gold huh?
So you are pretty well prepped up and you're looking for other areas to put some of your resources. Of course the conventional wisdom today says to buy gold and silver. You've read all the reports about inflation, Ben Bernankie even said he intends to devalue the dollar 33% more, and you have found a good source to purchase from. You're all set, you don't need any advice now right? Wrong.
I'd ask myself a few important questions first. Most important is do I have 6 figures to drop on gold? Being as you're reading my little hole in the wall blog I'll venture a guess and say no. Next question is are you buying physical gold that you will store yourself? If not physical, you aren't investing in gold you're gambling with paper and nothing more. If you are buying physical you need to make sure you aren't paying too much over spot. Of course the less you buy the more you pay, if you have the required 6 figures to invest in gold you'll likely be fine there.
I know the question burning in your mind. Well, I have an idea anyway. Why would I need 100k or more to invest in gold? The simple answer is margin. If you're only buying a few ounces here and there you are over paying by a long ways. If you are buying the right gold (more on that later) you're paying well over spot on an ounce anyway, but by taking little bites at a time you're just making the dealers mortgage note for him. This is why so many of these guys are so very very VERY happy to see you asking for that American Eagle. He's bought his gold in bulk and is making a hella markup selling to you. He is investing, you are consuming. While on a long enough time line you could, and likely will, make a profit. If you need this gold in the next 5 years you're likely losing money.
If you can't invest 6 figures in gold today,and afford to let it sit for a few years, you simply can't afford to invest in gold safely. Gold bugs be damned, that's just how I see it. Gold is for the big boys, if you aren't one of them stay out of the damned way.
Well you say, silver is more my style anyway. Slow down there big guy (or gal), lets take a minute and look at silver as well. The first thing we need to make sure of is you are investing in the right silver. Bars of gold and silver are nice, and they are closer to spot price as well. But the problem is who is going to take that from you as a trade when it comes time to sell or trade? Not me, unless you're coming to me with a serious amount and we're making a rather large and not immediate transaction. I'm going to want to have that metal block assayed. If it's a small amount I'm not going to be interested personally because, well, it's not worth the time and money to have it assayed.
I know, I know. Bullion just sounds so sexy doesn't it? They steal it in the movies, banks and the rich are holding large amounts of Bullion, say it with a Spanish accent with me, bullllion. Oh yeah, sooo sexy. So is a Ferrari, get over it.
So the right silver or any PM really is in coin form and from a trusted source. As I'm assuming you are in North America like me, that leaves us with the good ol' USA and Canada. If someone came to me wanting to trade metal for goods, and said metal didn't have a big ol' maple leaf or Lady Liberty on it I ain't interested. No thanks, not worth the risk. The obvious exception would be older US currency with high silver content. While I wouldn't personally invest in those mixed bags today due to markup, I would take the coins as trade. They'll be nice to make change with later, and will be good for smaller purchases at some point I'd bet. But we aren't making change here, we're prepping right?
So you're going to run out and buy some silver eagles. Whooaa there, slow down. You need to remember that you make your profit when you buy, not when you sell. Knowing this is the difference between that coin dealer that drools when he sees you walk in, and you! Remember the markup, the less you buy the more you pay.
I suggest you save up and buy AT MINIMUM a roll of eagles. That's 20 coins at a time. Don't buy collector coins or graded coins either, that's useless for our purposes. If you are buying them you are buying collectibles and should know a lot more about coinage than I ever will. What we're looking for is metal money with a stable base value. While paper will go up and down that metal will remain the same. If by the way, this doesn't make sense to you... Don't buy metal as an investment. You have a little research to do.
Now, I suggested you buy at minimum a roll of eagles and I meant it. But that would assume you had no PMs at all, limited space to store anything at all, enough food and such stored up to hold me through a serious shortage, no way to grow a garden, and all the other things that I purchase to get by, bought in triple or more. Basically enough to hold me over for a year or so. Why? Because I'll make more money buying things I need now than I will buying small amounts of silver and trading them for the very SAME THINGS later. No guaranty of that, but odds are... Even then I'm not 100% sure a roll is a large enough purchase to be worth it.
For me personally I wouldn't buy less than a box, or a Monster Box. That's 500 coins in one box. They are not cheap these days. When I bought my silver boxes were around 4-5k each. I looked at Apmex (you can find cheaper) and they were over 18k each. I know what you're thinking. Invalid man, do you eat garbage and piss gasoline or something? How can you afford 18k to just stuff under the bed. Honest answer? I can't, which is why I'm not buying silver. I know when I'm priced out of a market and I don't try and pick my way in. That's how the guys still in the market make money, selling little chips to people that pay too much.
So my honest advice, which isn't investment advice because that's a big legal PITA, is don't buy silver unless you are well supplied and have a lot of extra cash on hand. Another thing to consider is debt. If you have debt, you're better off paying it down than investing in PMs. Even low interest debt should be worked on before taking on any major financial prepping in my opinion.
So I've maybe discouraged you from preparing for the future a little. Don't despair though, there are some decent ways I think the average prep minded person can put something inflation proof aside and come out ahead. I'll get that started tomorrow or, if I have a little insomnia, later tonight.
Now to my disclaimer. While the above may seem like investment advice it isn't. It's how I view the world and markets and is purely for your enjoyment. It is, to me, more related to being prepared for what looks like may be a nice sized financial mess. If you try to emulate my style and it blows up in your face, I hope you feel better knowing it's blown up in my face too. Most importantly you should remember that I'm just another jackass on the net so consult with your professional investment advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website. Just sayin.
I'd ask myself a few important questions first. Most important is do I have 6 figures to drop on gold? Being as you're reading my little hole in the wall blog I'll venture a guess and say no. Next question is are you buying physical gold that you will store yourself? If not physical, you aren't investing in gold you're gambling with paper and nothing more. If you are buying physical you need to make sure you aren't paying too much over spot. Of course the less you buy the more you pay, if you have the required 6 figures to invest in gold you'll likely be fine there.
I know the question burning in your mind. Well, I have an idea anyway. Why would I need 100k or more to invest in gold? The simple answer is margin. If you're only buying a few ounces here and there you are over paying by a long ways. If you are buying the right gold (more on that later) you're paying well over spot on an ounce anyway, but by taking little bites at a time you're just making the dealers mortgage note for him. This is why so many of these guys are so very very VERY happy to see you asking for that American Eagle. He's bought his gold in bulk and is making a hella markup selling to you. He is investing, you are consuming. While on a long enough time line you could, and likely will, make a profit. If you need this gold in the next 5 years you're likely losing money.
If you can't invest 6 figures in gold today,and afford to let it sit for a few years, you simply can't afford to invest in gold safely. Gold bugs be damned, that's just how I see it. Gold is for the big boys, if you aren't one of them stay out of the damned way.
Well you say, silver is more my style anyway. Slow down there big guy (or gal), lets take a minute and look at silver as well. The first thing we need to make sure of is you are investing in the right silver. Bars of gold and silver are nice, and they are closer to spot price as well. But the problem is who is going to take that from you as a trade when it comes time to sell or trade? Not me, unless you're coming to me with a serious amount and we're making a rather large and not immediate transaction. I'm going to want to have that metal block assayed. If it's a small amount I'm not going to be interested personally because, well, it's not worth the time and money to have it assayed.
I know, I know. Bullion just sounds so sexy doesn't it? They steal it in the movies, banks and the rich are holding large amounts of Bullion, say it with a Spanish accent with me, bullllion. Oh yeah, sooo sexy. So is a Ferrari, get over it.
So the right silver or any PM really is in coin form and from a trusted source. As I'm assuming you are in North America like me, that leaves us with the good ol' USA and Canada. If someone came to me wanting to trade metal for goods, and said metal didn't have a big ol' maple leaf or Lady Liberty on it I ain't interested. No thanks, not worth the risk. The obvious exception would be older US currency with high silver content. While I wouldn't personally invest in those mixed bags today due to markup, I would take the coins as trade. They'll be nice to make change with later, and will be good for smaller purchases at some point I'd bet. But we aren't making change here, we're prepping right?
So you're going to run out and buy some silver eagles. Whooaa there, slow down. You need to remember that you make your profit when you buy, not when you sell. Knowing this is the difference between that coin dealer that drools when he sees you walk in, and you! Remember the markup, the less you buy the more you pay.
I suggest you save up and buy AT MINIMUM a roll of eagles. That's 20 coins at a time. Don't buy collector coins or graded coins either, that's useless for our purposes. If you are buying them you are buying collectibles and should know a lot more about coinage than I ever will. What we're looking for is metal money with a stable base value. While paper will go up and down that metal will remain the same. If by the way, this doesn't make sense to you... Don't buy metal as an investment. You have a little research to do.
Now, I suggested you buy at minimum a roll of eagles and I meant it. But that would assume you had no PMs at all, limited space to store anything at all, enough food and such stored up to hold me through a serious shortage, no way to grow a garden, and all the other things that I purchase to get by, bought in triple or more. Basically enough to hold me over for a year or so. Why? Because I'll make more money buying things I need now than I will buying small amounts of silver and trading them for the very SAME THINGS later. No guaranty of that, but odds are... Even then I'm not 100% sure a roll is a large enough purchase to be worth it.
For me personally I wouldn't buy less than a box, or a Monster Box. That's 500 coins in one box. They are not cheap these days. When I bought my silver boxes were around 4-5k each. I looked at Apmex (you can find cheaper) and they were over 18k each. I know what you're thinking. Invalid man, do you eat garbage and piss gasoline or something? How can you afford 18k to just stuff under the bed. Honest answer? I can't, which is why I'm not buying silver. I know when I'm priced out of a market and I don't try and pick my way in. That's how the guys still in the market make money, selling little chips to people that pay too much.
So my honest advice, which isn't investment advice because that's a big legal PITA, is don't buy silver unless you are well supplied and have a lot of extra cash on hand. Another thing to consider is debt. If you have debt, you're better off paying it down than investing in PMs. Even low interest debt should be worked on before taking on any major financial prepping in my opinion.
So I've maybe discouraged you from preparing for the future a little. Don't despair though, there are some decent ways I think the average prep minded person can put something inflation proof aside and come out ahead. I'll get that started tomorrow or, if I have a little insomnia, later tonight.
Now to my disclaimer. While the above may seem like investment advice it isn't. It's how I view the world and markets and is purely for your enjoyment. It is, to me, more related to being prepared for what looks like may be a nice sized financial mess. If you try to emulate my style and it blows up in your face, I hope you feel better knowing it's blown up in my face too. Most importantly you should remember that I'm just another jackass on the net so consult with your professional investment advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website. Just sayin.
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