Hugh,
Assuming that my ability to travel after SHTF will be severely limited, how can I use or sell my precious metals? – J.A.
HJL’s Response:
Precious metals are really designed to carry your wealth through a crises and be used on the other side – especially if you have large chunks of PMs. Traditionally, PMs always have intrinsic value simply because people recognize the rarity of the metal and have always attached some value to it. However, during a crises in which the economy collapses, you can’t eat them. That’s why we always recommend filling out your preps with things that have a more immediate value first like food, medicine, and ammunition (beans, bullets, and band-aids). During an economic collapse, you will get more value when dealing with items that people actually need and can use. The PMs only come in when dealing with someone who really has everything they need and is willing to barter for PMs.
If you have all the food, medicine and ammunition that you need plus a bit extra, then you can barter that sort of item for more PM’s. When the crisis is over and the economy begins to stabilize, the value of PMs as a store of wealth comes back. If you have stored part of your wealth in PMs (or if you have bartered for PMs during this time) you get the benefit of seeing that wealth return. Basically, you don’t really want to spend the PMs during a crises, but you want to collect them then.