Is it true??

Originally Posted by zito

It's the exact same reasoning that ppl hoard gold and silver in case of a total collapse. The reasoning being that while paper money is worthless, pure metals will always have intrinsic value. Silver dollars are valuable because of the silver, not because it's a dollar. So, in the case of a collapse, and your example of $500 copper, that copper penny would theoretically be worth $2 and change. The tough part might be finding someone who values it the same way as the penny hoarder though. You never know though, if a collapse does occur like some people envision, and there's not enough gold and silver in circulation, people might turn to base metal currency. I doubt it myself.

And to clarify some word useage in this thread; if you're buying gold/silver to protect yourself in case of a currency collapse, that's not an investment. That's a hedge. An investment is when you buy it expecting the price to increase.

The problem I have with your scenario is that it really wouldn't matter if gold/silver/copper is worth 2.00 or 2000, if I had food, fuel, weapons, ammo, I'm not going to be interested in metal. I would want tangible things that I didn't have and needed in return.

In Greece’s On Going Financial Collapse Bartering Emerges In Greek Towns



People will barter for what they need because money will be worthless. Most people that scrap will not only have an inventory to barter, they will have some experience also. Like I posted before, you can't eat silver, gold can't protect you from looters, copper can't keep you warm. People will be more interested in necessities to live and be less concerned with starting to collect metals thinking one day the market will come back.