Any silver stackers on the board?

[packs]

I can't see trading someone food for silver or gold unless I've got access to some kind of enormous stock pile or insider information on when the shortages will end. Like others pointed out, you can't eat or drink silver and gold.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by packs

I can't see trading someone food for silver or gold unless I've got access to some kind of enormous stock pile or insider information on when the shortages will end. Like others pointed out, you can't eat or drink silver and gold.

Why would there be a shortage of food and water? That makes no sense. My point is that no one will want the currency if it is worthless. Food and water (and other supplies) will still be available, it's a matter of what it's going to take to acquire them.

Silver and gold has been used as currency for thousands of years.

As I pointed out, the words "silver" and "money" are the same word in many different languages.

As was also pointed out, you could purchase an entire city block in Germany for an ounce of gold right after WW2.

[packs]

You brought up Venezuela, a place where hyperinflation has consumed all currency and created a shortage of food and water. I don't know how much food or water a person can expect in exchange for gold, unless the people with gold have some kind of unfettered access to basic survival staples.

I don't know where the block of land for an ounce of gold story comes from. I've never heard that before.

[vintagetoppsguy]

I'm not going to try and convince you. You can believe what you want to believe. The US is in 23 trillion dollars worth of debt and that number is only growing larger. The printing presses at the mints are running overtime. But, hey, if you don't see a problem with that, ok.

Originally Posted by packs

I don't know where the block of land for an ounce of gold story comes from. I've never heard that before.

It's true. But let me give you an example that may hit you closer to home. What was Manhattan purchased for? Come one, tell us?

[packs]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

I'm not going to try and convince you. You can believe what you want to believe. The US is in 23 trillion dollars worth of debt and that number is only growing larger. The printing presses at the mints are running overtime. But, hey, if you don't see a problem with that, ok.




It's true. But let me give you an example that may hit you closer to home. What was Manhattan purchased for? Come one, tell us?

I'm not challenging what our debt is, I just don't see how precious metals are going to become more valuable than food or water should hyperinflation create shortages in them.

I'm not sure how purchasing Manhattan relates to anything being discussed re: hyperinflation or the role precious metals would play in a new economy where basic survival staples need to be secured in place of currency. Is there a source for the story about Germany?

[58pinson]

The question of why someone would trade food or water (or anything elso of value) for worthless metals has been brought up several times in this thread, most recently in regards to Venezuela.

Let me imagine that I am in that country now and in the business of selling food. The current exchange of the Venezuelan Bolivar to the US $ is .10 cents.
If someone has 1,400 of these jelly beans (I mean VB's) that equates to approximately $140 US$ in purchasing power. If someone, on the other hand, has a one ounce gold coin, that equates to $1,400 US$. If you are the vendor and your business is selling a commodity (in this case food) would you rather accept paper currency that is in a state of extreme flux or a gold coin that is recognized as having a store of value everywhere in the world for centuries? I want the gold coin everyday of the week and twice on the proverbial Sunday. Not when everything is going smoothly, but when the bad stuff hits the fan. There is no longer any confidence that the paper you accept today will have anything like the same purchasing power tomorrow/next week. When paper currency is reduced from a state of fiat currency that prevails as long as the users have confidence in it's issuer, into a blatant out of control street hustle con game it loses it facility to carry out day to day business transactions. Just my take on things, I am perfectly amenable to everyone holding their points of view and realize that I am in a distinct minority in the USA (at least for now).

[packs]

But your example is made on the assumption that the person selling goods has access to enough goods for an indeterminable amount of time that they can afford to sell food and still have more food to eat after the sale. It also assumes the vendor has access to outside markets, which the people of Venezuela do not.