Currency in a SHTF Scenario

the 4 B's Butts, Booze, Bullets and Bud. In no particular order of course.

Originally posted by Gazrok
So, what do you think would be the best currency in general for a SHTF scenario?
Obviously, it may depend on what disaster happens, but I've kind of considered the following rules in my thought for it....

1) Has to be easy to carry, light

2) Has to be something others want, that I don't need

3) Has to be easily divisible into equal parts (for deciding price)

4) Has to be something that keeps well

5) Has to be something others would be willing to trade for, especially in lopsided trades.

In applying these rules, I've come up with Cigarettes as the best answer for me. I don't smoke, so wouldn't use them. They are pretty easy to carry, and light. Easy to divide up (individual packs or cigarettes), and they keep well. In addition, those addicted will be willing to trade more valuable items (like food and bullets, etc.) for them.

What other currency ideas have you come up with for such a likely barter situation?

Explanation: S&F!

My Word and My Labour/Skills. I carry both on me ALL the time and they don't weigh me down at all.

Personal Disclosure: I don't want any of the material crap that has been listed so far! I want your TIME and your SKILLS as anything else I can find or make on my own thanks very much!

reply to post by neo96
why??? Home depot and Lowe's will be open for free, no need to trade when you can get it. A lot of things will be free when the dust settles , at first it will be get out, bug out, or dig in. City's and towns will be vacant, just full of real bad people, and ones that had no way out , they will be pray. will the cops Leo's stay? Some will some wont, it depends on their sense of duty and if 911 still works, i my self doubt it , depends on the SHTF scenario.

Ones that think they can tough it out, they might, might not depends on how good they are at... well killing; the bad guys, rape gangs, and drug users , the hard core ones that would kill, or sell, their mom for a fix. Street gangs, the ones that would still anything they see, or kill for it.

Then you have the "will kill any thing that moves" freaks. Yes their there some might be reading this, you just do not know who they are, they might be the cop, the fire fighter, or the bank teller, the mail man, milk man, er person(s). Ones that just want to kill!!

I have meet a few and yes the leos know about them, they have done nothing so far , one is a lawyer of all things, is it talk or here say???

Could be , do not know till it happens. What do i plan on doing ?? DIG IN!! Why move when i know my surroundings, and knowing who is staying, and going, far enough from the big city, in town just enough, too get what is needed by trading for it. helps if you know the food mart and drug store owner, yes they plan on staying put as well.

reply to post by Gazrok


Ammo for sure, I have a coin collection, mainly silver, and gold coins. Half dollars back to 1807 and gold eagles around 1900's. The collection itself is not that heavy, but then would gold and silver be worth anything in a SHTF?

Originally posted by queenofsheba
I'm pretty sure I'd kill for a cup of coffee in the morning with a cig in a bad situation.

Dude, I'm soooo glad I live far, far away from you.

Although they won't do you much good immediately after the SHTF, I have always thought diamonds and jewelry and such like would make a good investment in your post apocalyptic future. It is something small that you can grab wile passing through the rubble, and not have to feel to bad about ditching if you have to, unlike bullets or food which will be super important right away, but maybe less so once the dust settles. Lets face it, people will always love sparklies, and when survival is no longer the primary worry, they will start to become very valuable once again.

"Has to be something others want, that I don't need "

If you dont need it,why would someone else?

Originally posted by gossipnancy
"Has to be something others want, that I don't need "

If you dont need it,why would someone else?

I feel generous today, so I can feed feeble minds:

You have a surplus of something that you have because of your expertise and effort, like you had a heavy harvest of potatoes because you had the right soil, technique and seed.

We bank alone.
With nobody else.
and you know when we bank alone.
we prefer to be by ourselves.

Have everything I need so there is no need to trade unless its in the PAW.

For SHTF all you need is cash and a passport.

the real question is this just a small bit of poo hitting the fan or a herd of elephants with explosive diorreah hitting the fan as for short term problems cash/ciggies/booze/fuel for generators and cars and perhaps ammo but longer term problems you'd want to save fuel and ammo since the factories/refineries making them will have stopped production and cash will probably be only useful for lighting your fires with

and don't forget "something for the weekend sir?" as the desires wont go away so a pack of them could be worth good trading

reply to post by Maxatoria


I generally refer to the PAW as any sort of unrecoverable circumstance where society has broken down and no longer exists as we know it. I have taken the time and done the back breaking hard work to be ready for myself and limited family members should they land on my doorstep. I have carefully put away the things I needed, all of which have trade value if it came to it.

The cash however is not very much at all. just under 2,000. It is however all in small bills, so I have the ability to make change and get anything I want to stock up on, based on the cause of the actual emergency. Each type would require a different action for me to benefit. I have the reasoning ability and tools to determine the extent of the emergency, and if it is extreme, the ability to stock up immediately on additional goods relating to it. Also part of it to fund a cash box or till. I cant expect people to give me silver or gold and not be able to round out the trades properly. If you think your going to rip people off trading....that reputation will cause your customer base to dry up and disappear. If your going to be fair and fill their gallon water jugs for a dollar with clean bacteria and virus free water, then you will have long lines to trade each day. If they give you a silver dollar and only need spices and matches then even the worthless paper currency can serve as a very effective "trade I.O.U" for an ongoing trade relationship. Because beads, rocks with holes in them and the family silver is pretty cumbersome to lug around. Officially printed paper, is just the ticket for trade promises.

This is a little known strategy that only a select few are going to work with. Once your prepped, then you prepare to leverage additional supplies within the 24 hr onset before the rest of the population comes out of shock and wakes up.

Going to add one thing. How many times have you been to a store when either the power was down or the card machines were down and they said they could only take cash...... Dont you want to be the only one in line that doesnt walk away empty handed, looking for another store?

Having a little cash on hand will be good because the first thing to go will be credit money. It will only have value until people realize it's just paper though. I would get about 2 months worth of cash for an emergency fund.

A barter system would be the initial start then a currency would form, probably around metal (nails, scews, etc) as in a small form it is durable and light, but can be melted down if so desired.

reply to post by Shadowalker
looks like a lot of TP to me when SHTF no cash will be used , it will be worth less, same with gold silver, do you think there will be a McDonald's a Sizzler or a store open????
No!!!! It will be a trade, barter or take system, your "9" will do just fine, this is why the extend round clips??? just asking for that does seem a lot to protect TP.
The new system will not be based on money, stocks, bonds or, Gold,or Silver.
Now lead, copper and brass, (I do not know if Gold or Silver would make bullets, some one might give it a try.) primers, powder, cigs, tobacco, TP, first aid supply's, spices, trading skills, and food, some will not know how to cook or clean their fresh kill elk, deer, bear moose Bison, nor how to fix things or make things. will we see this??? we might, for the road we are on is taking us there fast, and we seem to miss the stop sign all the time.

Guns
Ammo
Medicine
Clothes
Tools
Building materials
Fuel
Food
Batteries and energy devices
Silver
Gemstones/trinkets
Entertainment/Etc
PROTECTION

reply to post by Shadowalker


Cash is only worth something as long as people see it as valuable. In a real SHTF scenario, with almost NO expectation governments will be back up and running, paper money is basically going to be toilet paper in short order.

reply to post by buddhasystem


Um, yeah I was being facetious...but I do have friends who I truly feel would do just about anything for their cig and Mountain Dew in the morning. Really, it's like a crack addiction or something...

Originally posted by Gazrok
reply to post by Shadowalker

 

Cash is only worth something as long as people see it as valuable. In a real SHTF scenario, with almost NO expectation governments will be back up and running, paper money is basically going to be toilet paper in short order.

Correct. You have about 24 to 48 hrs before people realize its just paper so you do all your date sensitive stocking with the freshest product on the shelf. Drugs for every range of colds, flus and aches and pains all things you want to only date load on in the first 24hrs. Things like pounds of pipe tobacco, fresh canned goods etc.

Your freeze dried foods and bales of TP should already be in and counted.

The remaining small portion of cash does in fact make excellent IOUs for trade balance. I have an ink pad and roller date stamp so Its no problem to stamp a hand and stamp a bill.

Originally posted by Gazrok
So, what do you think would be the best currency in general for a SHTF scenario?
Obviously, it may depend on what disaster happens, but I've kind of considered the following rules in my thought for it....

1) Has to be easy to carry, light

2) Has to be something others want, that I don't need

3) Has to be easily divisible into equal parts (for deciding price)

4) Has to be something that keeps well

5) Has to be something others would be willing to trade for, especially in lopsided trades.

In applying these rules, I've come up with Cigarettes as the best answer for me. I don't smoke, so wouldn't use them. They are pretty easy to carry, and light. Easy to divide up (individual packs or cigarettes), and they keep well. In addition, those addicted will be willing to trade more valuable items (like food and bullets, etc.) for them.

What other currency ideas have you come up with for such a likely barter situation?

Ammunition.

.22 shells, .223 shells, .12 gauge shells.

All will be worth more than gold.

We had a Y2K party on new years eve in 99 and we used our generator for lights, filled the tub with ice and beer and served MRE's for dinner. We used crank radios for tunes and set up a pellet gun range in the basement with games that gave prizes to the best shooters.

About 11 p.m. the mayor asked me if I had stocked up on canned goods like he had.

I said "nope, I stocked up on bullets, if TSHTF I'm just going to take your food".

Bastard denied my building permit 2 days later.


For the record, I never bought into the Y2K hype, but it was a fun party.

reply to post by bekod


Correct as well. you dump cash right off the bat for fresh shelf stock. But you still have to have a wide range of bills so you can grab what you need and drop an exact amount. A new currency will come along. Nope not a 9 its a .40 but I have a 9mm barrel and mags for the DAO. The .40s hold twenty. the 9s hold 32. I have a small surfire for underneath and crimsons to trade out. Its much easier to lug around the .40 under my jacket than the AK or trench gun. Have a very nice peice of straight bar that fits through that beefy lanyard ring. In the PAW, I will bend out a stock in a vice and weld on to bracing. not a big deal. My gun guy is watching for the same DAO pistols so I will pick up a couple more when they turn up for spare parts. Its the one pistol I have truly mastered. The others im effective with but that one...I can really perform well with. I have too many guns. Been giving them to family lately to lighten the load. They about crap when they get the ammo cans that go with them lol.

I do agree if your reloading press handy loading up on common bullets and primers and powder is the trade stock to have. Pick up your dies for the really common calibers and your set. Let them bring the empties and some groceries.