Since we haven't talked about gold much lately . . .

You said this:

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i bought about 13K worth of silver coins and 13K worth of gold austrian coronas

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but then you said this:

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i'm not a gold bug or end-of-the-world paranoid freak

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just sayin'


:deacon:


The book said to invest in bricks of .22 ammo and other ammunition.

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A couple of years ago I bought two boxes (100 rounds total) of .357 magnum hollow points and two boxes of .16 gauge shotgun buck shot.

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This form of money is much more finely divisible, at least.

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much more finely divisible

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Ahh, that is a much more concise and easier to understand explanation of the concept I was going for in regards to the silver coins. Was having a hard time thinking this morning.

screw precious metals. This is my currency when the shite hits the fan.

I have some I panned and sluiced this summer. Probably should get rid of it, but have been keeping it for grins.

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bought about 13K worth of silver coins

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at $16.90 an ounce, that's over 48 lbs of silver coins if they were pure silver.

I agree. Silver is a better bet for day to day commerce.
You will have to pay with gold if that is all you have.

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If we go into one of these wild times and you have gold or silver or anything of value and you start flashing it about what happens then? Better have alot of lead stored. My FIL is a coin hoarder and we have this argument all the time. If the world goes that far in the toilet it don't matter what you have. You better have survival skills.

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of course, but you seem to assume Rome will fall in a day (and that "coin hoarders" will be walking around in suits with bags of money asking to be robbed).

there will almost certainly be a steady decline in the value of the dollar (etc) leading up to any all-out collapse. so, why not convert some dollars into gold/silver right now? do you have some other sure-thing investment the rest of the world doesn't know about? (not saying to buy coins and forgo a balanced portfolio, guns, ammo, etc.)

sure, if things go to shite so badly that you have to barter a chicken for a sack of turnips, then who cares, but there are stages in between here and there. And the amount i bought doesn't affect my life one way or the other right now. small % of portfolio. (oh, and it would be very obvious if someone shaved something off of my coins.)

also, if you go flashing guns and ammo, don't you think someone may want to steal those too? do you plan to sit in a mounted turret on your roof the rest of your days? but, yes, guns and ammo should be part of the package.

survival:
i've wanted to live off the grid ever since I can remember knowing what the grid was. i'm in the process of making that happen. this isn't just an economic, socio-political thing. it's as much a personal journey--changing my perspective regarding my place on this planet. it would be silly to pursue that goal thinking things are going to collapse and i'll be sitting pretty. i don't think it's going to happen any time soon, and i think it will be much more subtle and tricky.

random thought: the off-the-grid thing this is an interesting area where libertarian-leaning "survivalists" (negative connotations of that term notwithstanding) and certain mountain/tree-hugging liberal types converge. i am not sure i relate to many of those people, but interesting nonetheless.

long-term, i think having a protectable plot of land with self-sustaining facilities (clean water supply, subsistence crops/stock, solar or other power, good wood, fish pond/lake, fuel stores would be nice) is key. if you can set that up and use it as recreation/retreat while waiting for the world to end, and enjoy life, then great. but living in paranoia is no way to live.

other ways to enjoy life while gaining some survival skills: i'm doing a 10-day backpacking trip this summer, in glacier; and a month-long backcountry ski/winter survival course next winter in the tetons.

not sure i had a point here--i guess it's just that there are ways to prepare for the worst while bettering yourself and enjoying life. and i agree, hoarding coins or anything else for that matter is certainly not the answer.