My Reply to Jim

The other day I got a note from a friend of mine
asking me about saving copper cents for the future. He also asked about buying
more gold and silver to hold. Jim moved to the south a decade or so back but we
still talk via e-mail nearly every other day or so. I am sure you can infer his
questions by my answers.

My Reply to Jim

I am going
to try and answer your questions. It is not easy since so many things are
interconnected. The short answer is yes, gold and silver are better to hold
than paper money. I would say that the longer answer might be that it would be
better to hold things instead of gold and silver.
Remember
when we first started turning our collectibles into gold coins? We always used
to joke with people we were making gold soup for dinner. The reality is that we
cannot make gold soup and if you only hold gold and silver than you will
starve, for no amount of gold will buy food if everyone is starving. Any gold
and silver should be a way to preserve your family wealth for the next few
generations and not a plan to buy food after TSHTF.
Several
months or a year’s supply of food, safe drinking water or the ability to make
some, seeds and equipment to grow more food and preserve it will be the first
line of defense. Make sure you can produce more than you need because you can
bet that some Overlord will make you pay “taxes” for his protection. I believe
that if we have something like an EMP or event that sends us economically
backward we will end up in a Dark Age type of situation. Guns and ammo may
replace swords and spears, but the theory will be the same. Small fiefdoms will
develop and any landowner will be taxed with payment of food and material
instead of money. Gold and silver may work to pay those taxes but my guess is
once it is known you have gold and silver tucked away the Overlord will pay you
a visit and “taxes” will be set high just for you to live. I hope I am wrong,
but history tends to put my guess in the probably category.
As for your
question about saving the copper coins, that is anybody’s guess. You know the
law, Gresham’s Law I think it is, that states good money is driven out by bad
money and you saw how quickly silver disappeared from circulation. Hell Jim, we
met fighting over a silver dime!
You also
know that you can take a metal detector out and find a bucks worth of pennies
almost any day of the week. I remember us talking about the fact that someday
finding wheat cents would be as scarce as the Indianhead cents we hunted. I
guess because we dug so many copper cents I am not that concerned about making
sure I save bags of them. I might very look back on this and wish I had later,
but for now, no I am not saving copper cents.
Yes,
watching Doomsday Preppers is a good yardstick to judge your preps by, but do
not think that because you do not have a swimming pool full of fish or an
underground bunker that you are screwed. No two preppers look at things the
same way every time. Your preps for the hurricane season are way different from
my preps for getting a blizzard and snowed in for a few days. Some things are
similar like our need for a generator and easy to prepare food, but what and
how are totally different. (I for one do not have any boiled peanuts saved!) I
feel you have way too little ammo for your guns while you think I have too
much. Only time will see which of us is correct in our assessments.
I could make
a long list of stuff I wish I had here at the farm right now. Someday I will
add some of it to my supplies, but I will never have it all. I asked the
question a few posts back about trading a few gold coins for a tractor I would
like. Right now my answer would be no, but maybe having that tractor might be
better than gold coins if an Overlord wants my stash so I can stay alive. It
all comes down to making the best possible choice at the time with the
information you have available. Good luck making your choices.
Wolverine
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