What will precious metals be worth if SHTF?

heres an idea.... couple years back i got interested in 2012 and all the talk about nibiru, annunaki, and our planet origin. thats about the same time i noticed the mass increase of commercials from companies buying gold from you, how easy it is to send in, etc. well... being a conspiracy site, what if we were all told to collect gold to make it easier for it to be collected if the nibiru theory was correct and the annunaki are coming back for more? not saying that im die hard on nibiru or anything, was just something thats been in the back of my head for the past couple of years

ps, i have a very vivid imagination, complete open mind, and i think that anything is possible in this world we're living in lol

After SHTF gold/silver will still have its intrinsic value for a short while (prices will fluctuate depending on availability of basics to live), then as food & water supplies are severely reduced gold/silver will eventually become worthless until the rebuilding phase, when whoever has the most gold rules. That's if you're still alive and your neighbour didn't kill you for your food or gold a long time ago.

When SHTF, people will first loot anything that has a high price tag, regardless of whether it has a practical use for survival or not. Things like TV's the masses will go for first (whilst those prepared have food, water and gold). They'll soon realise that food/water is more important, and they'll try to steal your gold as well as your food & water in order to buy more food & water, so gold will still have a trade valuable for at least a while after because we are so used to currency.

[edit on 10-5-2010 by john124]

reply to post by NexGenRevolution


SHTF and that changes everything... can't eat gold but it will have trade value... something you might want to seriously think about stocking up on is lead and lead alloys... Some of those tire stores will give you buckets of old wheel weights....

Why lead you ask... simple... reloading.... SHTF no more factory ammo so all we reloaders out there will be looking for supplies....


reminds me I should cast a few more ingots before I leave

reply to post by NexGenRevolution


There will be one "precious metal" worth far more than platinum, gold, or silver.

Once the proverbial scenarios go into affect one way or another.

Are you ready for this because you had better be paying attention?

Ammunition Production


The "precious metal" is lead, right now, lead is making the Military Industrial Complex, plenty of gold, and when these events begin to happen...

You had better bet your bottom dollar on lead, not gold.

Because gold will weigh you down, but bullets will free you up, and knock them down.

The alchemy of a SHTF scenario will strike gold down as worthless.

Lead will become the "new black" of all that is precious.

Remember, an unarmed citizenry is one who dies upon their knees, and an armed one is one that keeps its Government honest as a Quaker.

[edit on 10-5-2010 by SpartanKingLeonidas]

reply to post by SpartanKingLeonidas


I've been making my own bullets since I was a kid and trust me its not that hard


There are a few more steeps he skims over, like sizing and lube before realoading but you get the idea

It depends on how hard ya can throw em.....

While I can see some attraction to the 'stockpile gold theory', my advice would be 'not at the expense of more basic type preparations', ie: Food, clothing, water etc etc.

One thing I would like to add is, that by having gold, it also makes 'you' attractive to others who want your gold. People tend to come 'over strange' when they sight a lot of glittering gold. Something to think about.

As others have stated, I think it depends on the level of TSHTF.

If we are talking about natural disasters, man made disasters, economic collapse etc. Yes, gold will have value when things start to return to "normal".

If we are talking about complete societal breakdown when all bets are off, the rule of law no longer applies and everyone is out for themselves. No, gold will have no value and neither will bartering as I will simply kill you and take your food, water, tools, metals, etc. Fortunately, this situation can't last long as people will naturally start to band together for protection and division of labor.

After that point, yes, gold will start to have value again.

What do you think ATS?

I think I'll stock up on cigarettes. I don't even smoke, but I'd bet these would go far in spending in such a scenario...(and they are light, and I can carry a LOT easily)....

Oh, and matches....

reply to post by Gazrok



They will get stale after awhile, heirloom tobacco seeds will be worth their weight in, um, well, gold I guess.

If the shtf gold would be good for getting someone to do something for you that you can't do. People will probably not trade food and water unless
they have a surplus of say cantaloupe mellons, or some thing else that doesn't last long.
Gold is an indestuctable metal. It conducts electricity in electronics, you
can fill your teeth, it does not corode. Art and jewelry will be desired after life stabilized. I would think penicillin and tylenol three would be the new gold.

It seems pointless to own gold specifically for a SHTF scenario to me. The only reason to hold gold in that scenario is as a possible instrument of trade, but the gold itself has no use. If the only thing you can use it for is to trade for food, water, tools, ammunition etc that you would need, why not just buy those items in the first place? Why spend $1200 on an ounce of gold that you may (or may not!) be able to trade in a crisis when you could spend that $1200 on useful supplies? It never has made any sense to me.


[edit on 13-5-2010 by vor78]

I agree with Doc Gator.

When SHTF ELE happens and you survive, your best asset is yourself and those whom you can trust.

1. Form a group and pool your resources.

2. Get to higher ground, with no virus or radiation or etc, but with arable land to grow crops and rear animals.

3. Ensure there is enough water supply.

4. Build defenses around your area, which should be of a size you can defend easily with simple weapons and traps.

5. Set up rules and laws so that each in your group will understand and cooperate.

6. Search for more survivors and help them to your community and expand it.

7. Rebuild civilisation.

Alone, you won't last long no matter how much ammo, gold, water and food you have. But in a group, you will last longer. The bigger the group with rational laws and stocks, the longer the survival rate.

Originally posted by taguon
heres an idea.... couple years back i got interested in 2012 ...thats about the same time i noticed the mass increase of commercials from companies buying gold from you, how easy it is to send in, etc....

My BF noticed this too!! He actually said to me the other night, "Why is everyone suddenly after gold??"

Every second ad is about someone buying up any gold jewellery, "Even if it's broken!!".

If the SHTF in your general area or country (example: The United States collapses), then I would think precious metals would be of use for the value in other countries if you flee.

If the SHTF on a global scale, I don't see it being of much use. Most people would be worried about basic survival items than they would thing of little survival use.

But I generally do not keep up with gold hoarding.

Originally posted by AshleyD
If the SHTF in your general area or country (example: The United States collapses), then I would think precious metals would be of use for the value in other countries if you flee.

That's one potential use, but if your plan involves leaving the country, why not just maintain an equivalent amount of foreign currency beforehand? The best reason to do this instead is because you guarantee yourself fair value ahead of time. If you flee the country with your financial assets mostly in gold, chances are, those foreign buyers are going to try to take advantage of the situation and offer you far less than what its worth.

reply to post by vor78


The reason I am nervous about investing in specific foreign currencies is because you don't know if that currency would be stable in a SHTF scenario either.

For instance, let's say I convert a lot of my savings to the Euro. Then the dollar and the Euro crash together. I'd be screwed.

So I would think (again, I don't know much about this stuff other than what sounds logical to me) that gold would be better than foreign currency because if the crash is isolated, you can move and convert it to a currency that is safe.

?

reply to post by AshleyD


That's always a possibility. Still, I think that if an economic collapse were that severe, none of the traditional currencies and near-currencies would be worth anything, including gold. The only items of any real value would be food and water and the tools to acquire more of each.

Truth be told, I wouldn't advise anyone to flee the country, anyway...or to any place where they don't fit in with the local population.

[edit on 13-5-2010 by vor78]

a good supply of water food. like a deep well. fields live stock and guns so no one takes it for free. A trade a skill is some thing you can trade. farmer doctor carpenter builder. all trades we will all need. I have look’t around and see that we will not recover from a total brake down of of are way of life for about 500 years. we dont have the information to build things from simple to the very complicated. who know how to build a combined harvester? or a computer from scratch? there should be a book to take you from getting the metals and other resources to processing them to build what you need. or we will have to discover it all over again? did you know moldy bread can heal you? The use of bread with a blue mould (presumably penicillium) as a means of treating suppurating wounds was a staple of folk medicine in Europe since the Middle Ages. how many of you know about rotating crops? and rotate to what? Information is one of the best thing you will need.

Ummm anyone posting here so far have any gold / I mean actually have the physical gold in your possession?

Because if you have just the paper that says you own gold then you have got nothing when the SHTF, where are you going to go and get your gold.

If you have to travel after the SHTF then you wont be able to carry much anyway.

Personally I would get like maybe 10 onces and put it will the rest of my SHTf gear and not worry too much about it, if I need a bit then I would have it, but anymore then that would be a waste of extra weight.