Silver Halves I Have Loved!

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely...

William Shakespeare

I am not a poet by nature. I'm infintely more practical and inclined towards unemotional analysis than the scribbling of romantic couplings.  When birthdays and anniversaries roll around, you'll inevitably find me in the drugstore isle reading through the Hallmark cards for a suitably saccharin-sweet missive. However, please don't dismiss me out of hand as just another emotionally distant male automoton. I can indeed be persuaded to gush like a ruptured dam on certain select topics - 90% silver halves being one such example.

Yes, my shameful secret is finally out in the open for everyone including my poor suffering wife to view. Julia Roberts' chick flicks may leave me cold and bored, but a roll of 90% silver 1964 dated kennedy halves can make me swoon like a school girl. A TV news story about long lost lovers finally reunited will draw no sighs from my lips, but a handful of Franklin halves will cause my pulse to quicken and my face to blush worse than a shy boy receiving his first smooch from the girl next door.

Like many such examples, I believe my abnormal psyche formed during my pre-teen childhood years in the  late 60's. I would gather my hoard of 90% and 40% silver Kennedy halves with my Franklins and stack them compulsively in my bedroom all alone. The coins shone with an unearthly gleam, reflecting the suns rays during the day and the moon rays by night. I would always keep my silver coins separate from the nickel/copper dimes and quarters, though I was never sure at that time the precise motives for the segregation. I guess I just thought it would be a heinous crime to mix my dignified lady silver coins with the gutter snipe, cheaply painted, streetwalker-like nickel/copper abominations.    

Today as an adult I undertand the history of gold and silver as cornerstones of human commerce over the last 6000 years. I'm likewise much too informed about the runaway debt, inflation, and certain economic ruination coming our way due to the proliferation of fiat money in the US and around the globe. However, none of that knowledge is really necessary to comprehend the reason for my love note to my silvery paramours. As a matter of fact, all that is truly required to remove the government blinders from your eyes is to hold a 90% silver half in your hand. Feel the firm, stolid weight of the beautiful coin. Anyone following my instructions will understand my sentiment when I say this is the coin you'd be proud to take home to meet your parents. This is the lifemate that you'd be honored to call wife or husband.

Next, lay your hands on the new copper/nickel slugs that pass for dimes, quarters, or even halves today. Notice the world of difference? Of course you do! The coins of today are lies. They're nothing more than two bit working girls or unfaithful girlfriends from the wrong side of the tracks. Just turn your back on them for a minute, and you'll find them cheapening themselves with the first inflation and hyperinflation boy-toy that pops up. Even their silvery coating looks false and overdone - like a 45 year old cougar wearing pancake makeup in hopes of tempting some drunk sailor into a back alley for a quick, sordid tryst.

One day everyone in the world will have the blinders removed from their eyes and discover that their honorable wives and daughters (90% silver coins) have been replaced by low imitations that have stolen their wealth and left them bereft and penniless for some South American pool boy.

Rick Pyle

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Millionaire Wellington Burt Should've Bought Gold!

Wellington R. Burt was a lumber baron from Saginaw, MI who died in 1919, leaving a fortune then valued at $90 million dollars. At the time, he was one of the eight richest men in the USA. What makes him even more interesting is that he stipulated in his will that his estate should not be distributed until 21 years after his last grandchild had died!

Recently, a Michigan probate court finally settled his estate, and will divide an estimated $100 million dollars among a dozen of his relatives. Obviously, money like that is a godsend for anyone, but I have to wonder just where his money had been parked that it's value in US Dollars has virtually stood still. Did they throw it all into some low interest passbook savings account?

I like to imagine, however, what would've happened if he'd converted his entire wealth into gold shortly before his death. At $20 per ounce he could have purchased 4.5 million ounces of the shiny, yellow metal! At a price of $1500 an ounce today, his estate would now be worth 6.75 BILLION USD! A substantially larger sum of money for his heirs to split.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below): 

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Silver Trading Facts for Dummies!

To successfully trade silver and not get ripped off you need a few pieces of info you should learn and memorize.

First, 1 Troy Ounce of silver = 31.1 grams

Secondly, 1 ounce [troy] = 1.097 regular ounce. Troy ounces are just a little bigger than the regular ounce.

The main measurement for silver when quoting or being quoted is the Troy ounce. You can see that it is a little larger than the typical English/American ounce.

The next number to remember is crucial and easy:

All USA pre-1965 dimes, quarters, and halves are made from a 90% silver 10% copper alloy. $1.40 face value (FV) of US junk silver coins has ( 1.0127 troy ounce) the near equivalent of 1 ounce of pure silver (if melted down and copper separated) . The difference between the 1 troy ounce and the decimal 1.0127 is negligible. When silver is $33 per troy ounce you're looking at only a $0.42 (in funny base metal money) discrepancy. For instance, everything else being equal, you could trade (2) Franklin or (2) 1964 Kennedy halves plus 4 silver dimes and your $1.40 in junk silver could be traded for (1) American Silver Eagle ( 1 troy ounce .999 pure silver) as the amount of silver would be virtually identical.

Botton Line : Just remember $1.40 FV in junk silver coins = 1 Troy Ounce Silver Eagle.

For more crucial number crunching help and fun go to Coinflation.com. Great site with articles and a website that continually tracks the silver price and gives you updates on how much your silver coins are worth from a strictly silver content standpoint. Note: This article is not for coin collectors looking for errors or Proof and/or Uncirculated coins. All we care about in this article is silver content only! The site is hooked in with eBay, so they can tell you how much your $10 face value Franklin half roll is worth in silver, how many ounces the roll contains, and approximately how much you can expect to be paid by the winning bidder. Usually +5% to -5% of current melt price as a rule.

Fun Fact: 90% silver US coins made for circulation were made with 10% copper to form a alloy that was tougher and more wear resistant than a pure silver coin. The Silver American Eagles are beautiful coins made from .999 pure silver, and are therefore softer and more prone to wear if handled excessively. Of course, it was known upfront that although the Silver Eagles are an official US Dollar, very few mental defectives have ever tried to buy a candy bar at 7-11 with one. Why? Because typically you'd rather give a cashier a crappy piece of paper money worth inherently zero, to handing over a coin currently containing $33.39 in silver content along with a near $3.00 fee per coin tacked on as a common premium for these beauties.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Hyperinflation in the American Civil War

When the average American thinks about hyperinflation (inflation of 50% or more per month), he tends to think of it as a foreign problem. However it's not just countries like Germany, Argentina, Chile, Iceland, Yugoslavia, and Zimbabwe who've experienced the economic devastation caused by the runaway inflation disease called hyperinflation. It happened right here in America during colonial times, and about 150 years ago in the Southern Confederacy during the American Civil War (1861-1865).

When the war broke out in 1861, the South began to issue Treasury Notes to bankroll the war with the North. The rich cotton growers in the Confederacy and trading partners like England demanded payment for their goods in silver and gold. These upper class groups were protected throughout the war and it's aftermath by their wise, if unpatriotic, economic trading stance. The poor, soldiers, and the middle class had no choice, however, but to accept the South's venture into fiat paper money in exchange for their goods and services. The average working Southerner could only stand by and watch as the war progressed and the paper money that represented his wealth became worth less and less. Wealthy planters grew profitable cotton upon which they grew even more rich on silver and gold payments. The Confederate soldier and his destitute family back home starved and went naked, as fewer and fewer merchants were willing to take the increasingly worthless Confederate dollars as payment for needed food, fuel, and supplies.

At the war's end, many common Southerners had lost their farms and everything they owned due to the collapse of the Confederate economy and currency. Only those who dealt in gold and silver had their wealth intact or increased as a result of the conflict. Be warned! What a Southerner could have bought for one Confederate dollar in May 1861 would eventually require $1200 four years later!

BUY GOLD & SILVER TO PRESERVE YOUR WEALTH NOW!

Review the table below showing the hyperinflationary destruction of the Confederate dollar:

CONFEDERATE TREASURY NOTES

Their Relative Purchasing Power in GOLD

Date: Notes Per $1.00 of Gold

1 May 1861 $1.05

1 December $1.20

1 February 1862 $1.25

1 April $1.75

1 August $2.20

1 February 1863 $3.00

15 May $6.00

15 August $15.00

15 December $21.00

1 March 1864 $26.00

15 September $23.00

1 December $32.00

1 January 1865 $60.00

1 April $70.00

15 April $80.00

20 April $100.00

1 May (last day) $1200.00

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Gold & Silver and Hyperinflation

The definition of hyperinflation is 50% or more inflation per month! Hyperinflation has been the inevitable fate of all paper or fiat money unbacked by gold or silver since the Chinese first invented the idea a thousand years ago.

Hyperinflation robs the middle classes, the poor, and the retired on fixed incomes who don't own real assets like gold, silver, oil, food etc. In the picture on the left you see a German woman in 1923 using near worthless German banknotes as fuel for her cooking fire!

The only Germans who avoided starvation and impoverishment were those with the foresight to purchase and hold real money like gold and silver coins. Review the chart below and see how the prices of gold and silver climbed as the German paper mark lost value:

Weimar Germany hyperinflation prices of gold and silver in Marks from 1919 - 1923 by month. Charts are also presented to visually depict the speed and magnitude of the change. Remember these are months not years. Consider the human story behind the numbers. How did people survive?

Weimar Germany Gold & Silver Prices - Per troy ounce.

DATE	SILVER	GOLD
Jan 1919	12	170
May 1919	17	267
Sept 1919	31	499
Jan 1920	84	1,340
May 1920	60	966
Sept 1921	80	2,175
Jan 1922	249	3,976
May 1922	375	6,012
Sept 1922	1,899	30,381
Jan 1923	23,277	372,447
May 1923	44,397	710,355
June 5, 1923	80,953	1,295,256
July 3, 1923	207,239	3,315,831
Aug 7, 1923	4,273,874	68,382,000
Sept 4, 1923	16,839,937	269,429,000
Oct 2, 1923	414,484,000	6,631,749,000
Oct 9, 1923	1,554,309,000	24,868,950,000
Oct 16, 1923	5,319,567,000	84,969,072,000
Oct 23, 1923	7,253,460,000	1,160,552,662,000
Oct 30, 1923	8,419,200,000	1,347,070,000,000
Nov 5, 1923	54,375,000,000	8,700,000,000,000
Nov 13, 1923	108,750,000,000	17,400,000,000,000
Nov 30, 1923	543,750,000,000	87,000,000,000,000

So if you had 1 oz of Silver and sold it Nov 30, 1923 you would have been a Billionaire. If you had 1 oz of gold and sold it Nov 30, 1923 you would have been a trillionaire. How much that bought you is not told. But I am sure those people that had gold and silver survived better then those who didn't.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

Goldline International Scam Investigation Opened!

An investigation has been launched by Democratic Congressmen Weiner & Rush, of the selling practices of Goldline International. Goldline uses high profile conservative firebrands like Glenn Beck to promote their gold & silver coins and bullion. I believe the investigation by the government of Goldline is politically motivated, and represents yet another glaring example of the "Big Brother" mentality that seemingly has engulfed our nation.

My own review of their online selling practices and their website reveals they primarily profit by selling gold and silver coins at extremely high prices to novices, incited by inflammatory ads featuring conservative icons. The company especially seems to prefer non-bullion numismatic coins as their "true value" is much more nebulous, and not directly linked to silver and gold prices (as are bullion coins). The sales pitch relies heavily on worries about the economy and a possible Federal government confiscation of non-numismatic gold coins, as happened in 1933 under FDR. Goldline claims profit margins of 30-35%, but I suspect they actually soar as high as 67% on their favorite coin, the Swiss 20 Franc gold coin! On the other hand, competitors like Amergold.com offer the same coins at only about a 13% market up!

The Swiss coins contain 0.1867 troy ounces of gold, and are a little smaller than a nickel. The coin is promoted as a rare numismatic coin, and therefore likely exempt from any future government mandated confiscation. In reality, however, the coin is actually quite common and is of little numismatic value. Their website also spends a lot of time selling First Strike, Proof, and other coins that usually demand high premiums above and beyond their gold or silver content.

You can read my other blogs for more information, but I've said previously that most Americans should concentrate on American pre-1965 dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars (junk silver), and American Silver or Gold Eagles from Gainesville Coins or Apmex if they don't want to be ripped off. Bottom line, you'll get a lot more silver and gold for your buck. The numismatic and specialty coin premiums are much higher and more volatile than bullion investments, and easily evaporate in periods of severe economic instability. However, do your OWN research first BEFORE buying. Take no one's word, (including mine), as to the best investment vehicles for your particular situation. DO YOUR OWN DUE DILIGENCE, PEOPLE! Don't rely on Uncle Sam to always be there to correct your ignorant or lazy mistakes!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

China Promises Not to "NUKE" the US!

China Promises Not To Use "Nuclear" Option And Buy Gold, Dump US Assets!

China owns $2.45 Trillion US Dollars. That gives them a "nuclear option" of power over the US. If they were to dump these assets all at once buying gold, silver, or other real investments, the US dollar would become virtually worthless overnight! You'd be lucky to get buying power of $0.10 on the dollar. An actual nuclear bomb dropped on a US city would actually do a LOT LESS damage to the US than such an economic move.

How did we let the Chinese get such a stranglehold on our nads?

PS. We can trust the Chinese to be honorable men of their word, right?! :(

"Government is the only agency which can take a useful commodity like paper, slap some ink on it, and make it totally worthless."

Inflation Stole My Houses!

In 1913 the Average House cost $3,400 - a millionaire could buy about 295 average homes.

If you bought gold in 1913 with your million dollars at $20 an ounce you'd have bought 50,000 ounces. The value of the 50,000 ounces today would be about $60 million dollars.

In 2010 the average house cost around $200,000 with gold at $1200 per ounce. With $60 million dollars you could buy about 300 homes!

If you kept the cash in, well, cash... you could buy 5 WHOLE HOMES now! What happened? The government and the Big Bankers stole your money using a sly instrument called INFLATION.

If a man offers you gold or silver and you decide to take green paper instead - then I've got a bridge in Brooklyn for SALE with your name on it!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Flying Money

Around 800 AD, The Chinese Tang dynasty invented the first paper money. China was a big country, and the rulers of China didn't like the idea of having to transfer all that heavy gold and silver around on a constant basis. The money certificates were exchangeable by merchants for the stated amount of precious metals in any city in the Empire. This remarkable innovation in trade was nicknamed "flying money" by the Chinese merchants, due to the frequent problem with the valuable paper blowing away on the slightest breeze!

A couple hundred years later the Song, Chin, and Mongol rulers began to use paper currency throughout China. By 1309 AD, the currency called the Yuan, had depreciated 1000%. Often the government would refuse to exchange the old money for new as the old became battered and useless. By the end, the great innovation that so impressed Marco Polo had ceased to have any connection to gold or silver, and reverted to it's inherent worth...nothing!

Every paper currency that followed in Europe, America, and around the world has either collapsed or become substantially devalued. In 1950, a US silver dollar bought 4 gallons of gas. It would do the same today due to its silver content if you sold it for US paper dollars. A paper dollar saved from 1950, however, wouldn't even buy half a gallon of gas at your local pump. That, my friends, is inflation and currency devaluation. Please keep in mind as well, that this loss of buying power occurred during the period of time where the USA was the Mightiest nation on Earth!

Is worthlessness the inevitable future for the US Dollar? In a word, yes. It's purely a matter of time. Perhaps it will be a matter of days, months, or years, but it will eventually become WORTHLESS. The process of paper currency devaluation is like an hourglass with an elastic neck, the sand will continue to slip away, only the rate at which it falls is open for debate.

There are a few truisms in historical economics. Governments will always seek to debase currency because it allows them to spend without raising taxes (which everyone who votes generally hates). Think about that for a moment. If you had a printing press and could print your own money seemingly without a reckoning, wouldn't you print away 24/7? When the government gets print-happy, however, the money supply soars leaving manufactured products & supplies in the dust. Too much money chasing too few goods means inflation, or worse, hyperinflation.

Buy 90% "junk" silver coins, American Silver or Gold Eagles now and prevent your money from FLYING AWAY!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

Fiat Money: The Monopoly Game of Life

Playing Monopoly was a favorite activity on rainy days with my brother Mike and sister Nancy. It was a sublimely magical game, especially for me, because it allowed a middle class kid to become instantly transformed into a real estate tycoon. One minute I'm foraging around for a quarter to buy some candy or a comic, and the next minute I'm buying up properties in Atlantic City like I was Donald Trump on a bender! What made possible my sudden climb from small city kid to rich landed gentry? Paper or fiat money. The game was jam packed with it...and it was all-to-easily acquired. I never thought for a moment about who printed up the money and just why it could be used to purchase real estate, a way out of jail, utilities, railroads, pay taxes etc. I don't recall questioning if it was "backed" by any real items of value, but everyone else playing the game accepted it's worth, so who was I to make waves? Besides, it was just the one of the rules of the game, right? Now that I'm an adult, I know that our Federal government is the "man behind the screen" that plays the part of the mysterious money printer. The definition of fiat money is according to InvestorWords.com:

Money which has no intrinsic value and cannot be redeemed for specie or any commodity, but is made legal tender through government decree. All modern paper currencies are fiat money, as are most modern coins. The value of fiat money depends on the strength of the issuing country's economy. Inflation results when a government issues too much fiat money. Well, that definition about sums up the US paper money situation nicely, don't you think? It's funny money with no actual value of its own, other than the strength of the faltering US economy. Even the currently circulating "silver" pocket change falls under the same category since it's made from base, not precious metals any longer. The definition goes on ominously with a final warning about the risk of inflation if the issuing government prints too much fiat money. Inflation, of course, being the silent robber in the night who steals your hard earned money only to replace it with an identical, yet debased copy, that buys less goods and services than the original note.

To further illustrate the inherent inflation mechanism of fiat money, let's return to my Monopoly game. Once to spice the game up my siblings and I started the game with 3x as much starter money as the rules indicated. The result? We bought the same properties, but the bidding wars launched the real estate prices into the stratosphere. Even low rent properties like Baltic went for multiple times its stated value. Without realizing it, of course, we imitated the irresistable force of monetary inflation inherent in and unavoidably linked with the fiat money pantheon. At my family's last Thanksgiving I wanted to test the awareness level of the above basic economic truths (yes, I'm available for parties). A short conversation with my usually very intelligent brother-in-law, Bill, confirmed the consensus in the room. He thought the dollar was backed by gold in Fort Knox (nope), and that today's coins still contained silver (nope again, they haven't since 1964). I believe a countrywide survey would show the vast majority of Americans have similar misconceptions about the real value of their negotiable currency. The current American debt is now a whopping $13 Trillion dollars, and will likely reach 19 Trillion in 2015. The money supply in the US has also been growing alarmingly as the government seeks to stimulate the economy. By fiat money definition, inflation, and even hyperinflation, are axiomatic. The US Dollar is holding strong for the moment, because the world presently lacks another easy replacement to pay for their oil, etc. However, inevitable signs of serious inflation will undoubtedly undermine the confidence of Americans and foreigners alike in the US Dollar. Once that happens...game over man. Speaking of game over, guess how my siblings and I treated the Monopoly money once the game was finished, and we awoke to the fact that it was all just paper and therefore inherently worthless? We threw it in the box (no tidy denomination segregation) and chucked the whole kit and kaboodle into the closet. BUY PHYSICAL GOLD AND SILVER COINS OR ROUNDS NOW! Gold and silver have had value in human society for 5000 years! Let's see if the US Dollar will maintain it's value for a fraction as long. Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles. Rick

What Kind of Gold/Silver Should I Buy?

The first thing I want to say is that everyone should have some gold or silver stacked away for the future. Any kind of gold or silver will give you an enormous advantage over the 98% of US citizens that have only paper assets (and no stockpiled survival food/water supplies as well). So, if you own any gold or silver, GOOD FOR YOU! You get the Prepper Seal of Approval! You're light years ahead of the average sheeple who is still blindly plugged into The Matrix. My guess is you're probably the type of person who is reading this blog anyway.

The question asked in the title of this article relates only to the conflict between the Preppers (the intellectual chosen people) as to what types or forms of precious metals are best to have for the uncertain future. We know we need gold and silver, we just want to know whether we should buy Numismatic Collectable Coins, Junk Silver, Silver & Gold Eagles, Foreign Coins, or Rounds and Bars. My infuriatingly simple answer is, IT DEPENDS!

I believe the issue can be broken down into two basic questions:

1. Do you want gold & silver for investment purposes, inflationary and hyperinflationary hedges, or later stage SHTF situations? Unfortunately for the Prepper community, all sizes (and forms of precious metals) do NOT fit all situations.

2. If you want gold & silver for an improving SHTF scenario, which form of precious metals will be most acceptable and therefore more valuable? I believe this questions hinges on the depth and breadth of the evolving knowledge of the newly unplugged Matrix denizens.

In Inflationary periods any of the above gold and silver forms will grant you a defense against the decaying buying power during inflation. Hyperinflationary periods are similarly accepting of all forms of gold and silver, with the only exception being the fact that numismatic coins and values just don't do as well. Coin collecting is a hobby of the rich and the happy middle classes. Hyperinflation makes these classes very unhappy as their wealth evaporates. During this painful period coin collecting is strictly relegated to a low priority, therefore numismatic premiums above precious metal content will suffer.

Bottom Line? During inflation and hyperinflation eBay and coin shops will still exist. You'll be able to exchange your silver and gold in virtually any form fairly easily for currency. You'll also keep up with buying power (or even advance) while paper folks are running around with wheelbarrows overflowing with green fiat paper!

Summary: Inflation - junk silver, gold & silver numismatically valued coins (preferably US - its just easier), Silver & Gold American Eagles, rounds, bars, your grammas silverware, etc. are all good. In Hyperinflation its all good as well, with the exception of numismatic coins.

The next scenario is where things get tough and contentious. SHTF (..it hits the fan) is what most survivalists are referring to when they mention prepping. Society, law and order, and the economy have collapsed. People are starving and perishing for lack of food, water, fuel, medicines etc. So what form of gold and silver are the best in the early stages of collapse? Answer - NONE! People need food and clean water in these initial stages, and they need to defend themselves from marauders. Shiny metals won't supply any of these very basic needs. Preppers who have these INVALUABLE resources will not trade you these necessities for any form of your gold and silver. And the 98% of the population who were completely unprepared for the complete collapse of the world order don't even have enough food for themselves, much less a surplus they can afford to trade away for your junk silver or gold eagles.

Only in the later rebuilding stages of the SHTF situation will gold and silver come into play once more. The question of knowledge of value becomes relevant again as well. Law and order exists once more, at least in the small towns. Economic recovery has begun, and commodity and useful item bartering is a common activity within a 20 mile radius of the newly ordered towns. However, hauling around produce all day to trade to a neighbor for clothing, canned peaches etc., is becoming tiresome. People start waking up to the fact that gold and silver still exist, and can be used once again for trading purposes. So what silver or gold is best to dig out of your stockpile?

I believe the most familiar form of precious metal will be the preferred choice, old 90% silver pre-1965 junk dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars (war nickels and non-1964 Kennedy halves not included*) will be most useful and readily accepted. Why? Because many people remember that they were once used as currency, and carry the stamp of the old US, the importance of which hasn't totally evaporated yet. Next would come Silver and Gold Eagles. These coins carry a premium due to the stamp on the coin as legal tender with silver content of the Old US. However, people will still need to be educated about just what exactly they are. Most US citizens today do NOT own Eagles, and are not even aware of their existence! They'll be harder to trade at first than the more common junk silver. Lastly, comes the precious metal rounds and bars. Yes, I know they have the same amount of silver as the Eagles, but just who the hell is Sunshine Minting and Johnson Matthey? That's what you're going to have to explain to extremely skeptical (non survival prep) trading partners!

I believe there will still be enough trust in the reputation of the Old US to make US minted coins, 90% junk silver and Eagles, acceptable fairly quickly during the SHTF recovery period. But the privately minted rounds and bars will not have that stamp of approval to rely upon. People will remember that private companies could and did cheat their customers, and that tungsten filled-gold bars did exist. Indeed, even the notion of a private currency will be a hard sell to a NON-PREPPER! Remember, everyone alive today thinks that printing your own money up is called COUNTERFEITING, and is BAD! As a result, I firmly believe that junk silver and ASE's and GSE's are the best ways to go. Believe me, you won't care about the small extra premiums you had to pay during this period of time for the Eagles over comparable rounds. Of course, keep in mind I'm not saying your rounds will be worthless (perish the thought), just a lot more of a pain to move than their US minted alternatives.


Summary: SHTF Recovery Mode - Junk Silver and Gold & Silver Eagles are the only way to fly!

*Note above on 1942-1945 35% silver war nickels and the 40% silver 1965-1970 Kennedy halves. Remember, with non-prepper trading partners you need to keep things simple. They'll understand eventually that all pre-1965 dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars are 90% silver. But please, do not find yourself having to explain these two freaks to non-preppers and non-coin collectors! Yes, I know pound for pound they're cheaper than the 90% coins. My reply? They should be! And please, don't get me started on those so-ugly-even-a-mother-couldn't-love 35% silver "war nickels". I mean, they don't even look like a silver coin! And don't forget to explain to your perplexed trading partners that some of the 1942 nickels weren't made from silver, so you have to look for the big mint mark on the back. Can you say i before e except after c, and sometimes y and w?!Please, give me a break! Refiners like the reputable Midwest Refinery scorn these two silver coins as unacceptable for melting now, and I don't believe anyone else will really want them in the future. Personally, if you have these two turds I recommend you sell them NOW on ebay and buy 90% junk silver ASAP!

Additional Note: I didn't really get into foreign coinage at all. I know there are a lot of stunning Pandas, Kooks, Krugs etc., out there. But notice I didn't even attempt to spell the last two coin names for a very crucial reason. Americans just aren't very knowledgeable about foreign coins and grams and such. We want ounces, and English only please! So, avoid these coins for SHTF instances unless your just a collector who has extra money to play with.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Gold & Silver vs. Guns & Ammo

In the survival prepper community no topic seems to garner more heated debate than the question of whether to buy and stockpile gold or ammo. The gold side argues that investments in precious metals will see you through any crisis and are easy to accumulate and store. The ammo side, on the other hand, heaps scorn upon precious metals with such apparent simplicities as "you can't eat gold". Instead, the ammo folks recommend storing food, water, medical supplies, seeds, land, and other basic physical necessities as the best and only way to properly survival prep.

The reader of this blog may now well be asking themselves which survival supplies I recommend, gold or ammo? My answer is, YES! I do not take sides in the survival prepper war because I see a need for both precious metals and actual survival commodities in the following probable and possible future scenarios:

1. Inflation - has been the bane of our national existence the minute we started using fiat currency (paper money). It is highly likely that inflation will continue and accelerate in the future. Precious metals like gold & silver have been bulwarks against wealth erosion via inflation throughout history. It is likely that these shiny metals will continue to maintain their glow in the future.

2. Hyperinflation - The folly of our deficit spending and expanding fiat money supplies make this economic disaster a legitimate concern for any thinking man or woman. Once again, gold & silver have historically helped its owners to weather such times when the inherent worthlessness of a paper money supply unconnected to gold or silver becomes evident to the entire society. Inflation numbering in the thousands of percents per year can easily result, devouring the buying power of any paper or paper linked securities.

I have not mentioned the ammo side in the last two economic situations, because its value is distinctly inferior to precious metals in these particular cases. During the above inflationary periods basic necessities like food, clothing, shelter etc., are available, with only occasional spotty supply interruptions. The main problem isn't that food doesn't exist on the supermarket shelf, it's just that the prices have increased sharply. Stored gold and silver is easily converted to negotiable currency and will keep pace with either inflation or hyperinflation, maintaining or even possibly increasing commodity buying power. On the other hand, the extensive use of ammo in these situations where basic law and order is still present will only get you shot by the authorities or imprisoned. In addition, gold and silver coins or bars can be easily stored, transported, and sold. Physical supplies, not as much.

3. SHTF and / or TEOTWAWKI - In the case of the end of the world as we know it, precious metals can quickly lose their luster. If millions are starving, lacking basic medical supplies, and law and order has broken down completely, shiny metals will only get you laughed at or more likely killed. Imagine trying to bargain for food or water during the height of the Katrina disaster, with mobs of desperate looters roaming the streets, with only a few gold or silver coins! Starving masses want bread and clean water, not useless pocket change! In addition, for those who believe that a return to such a primitive existence will be permanent, precious metals will likely never be of any use as well.

However, in the course of human history there have been many natural disasters, wars, plagues, economic collapses, but we have always recovered. A return to even a limited law and order society will likely see the return of the gold and silver coins to favor. Why? Because carrying around bales of hay all day long so you can barter them to purchase chickens from a guy who's been touring with clucking fowl is a ROYAL PAIN IN THE ASS! That's why mankind reports the use of gold and silver coins in our earliest records.

I believe we must go back to the old west for some needed guidance and perspective in this precious metals worth question during a SHTF recovery period. A few hundred years ago when trappers traded with the Native Americans in the wilderness, they traded useful items like knives, guns, ammo, food, clothing, liquor etc., for the beaver skins they desired. After all, what would an Indian in the middle of the wilderness have wanted with shiny gold or silver coins? No, it wasn’t until the trader returned to “civilization” that he encountered trading posts willing to exchange silver and gold for beaver skins or other goods. A true SHTF or TEOTWAWKI situation is essentially identical to this old wilderness trading situation. Silver and gold only have value when you have established enough law and order and reestablished enough economic sophistication, that trading stations can be maintained and made profitable without being burned and raided on a regular basis.

No one knows for sure what the future has in store for us. I think a true survival prepper will use whatever resources he has now to provide for some level of protection for all three of the above challenges.

Disclosure Note: I put my money where my mouth is. I have some of all of the above mentioned survival prep metals and commodities.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!