Preppers: 3 Things You're Doing Wrong With Your Emergency Precious Metal Stash
Posted on: 10 November 2015
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Are you a prepper? Have you been building up a stockpile of precious metal to protect your wealth in the event of a global or national disaster? If so, you're probably making a few mistakes. Read on to learn about 3 things you might be doing wrong with your emergency metal stash and how to fix them.
1. You're Storing Your Metals In A Financial Facility
In 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt enacted Executive Order 6102. Under this order, all private gold stashes held by citizens of the United States were confiscated by the federal government. Citizens were paid $20.67 in paper money for each ounce of gold they turned in, but shortly after the confiscation, Roosevelt increased the value of gold to $35 per ounce, thus significantly devaluing paper money.
Could this happen again? Some seem to think it could. And if it does, any precious metal stashes that are safely stored within easily-accessible financial institutions will likely be the first ones confiscated.
If you're storing precious metals away as an investment and you have no fears about the future of the world, then go ahead and keep your stash in a vault or deposit box. If you're stashing metals away because you feel the need to plan for a global or national disaster, though, it's best to keep your funds out of financial institutions. Instead, keep your precious metals in your own ownership and get creative when it comes to finding a hiding spot for them.
Some ideas include sewing your coins up in children's stuffed animals, stashing them in the carcass of a turkey in your freezer, burying them in a very large potted plant, or hiding them in a fake section of pipe somewhere in your plumbing system. Break up your stash into various smaller stashes, and never tell anybody where you hide them.
2. You're Only Buying Gold
Nobody knows what the country might look like in a true disaster. During periods of social unrest, it's very likely that pulling a gold coin out of your pocket could leave you susceptible to crime. You'll want to have some form of bargaining chips in the event of a disaster, but flaunting very valuable tokens might get you robbed if supplies are limited for the majority of people.
Consider finding a reputable gold buyer, such as Rocky Mountain Gold & Silver Exchange, to take a portion of your stash off your hands, and then take the money from your sold gold and invest it in things that would be considered valuable if the nation were in shambles. Vegetable seeds, guns and ammo, batteries, and personal hygiene products would make great bartering tools.
The purpose of gold in an emergency is to make sure you emerge on the other side of the disaster with some wealth; you keep your gold hidden until times are good again. The purpose of silver and the other commodities listed above is to ensure your survival by giving you some form of currency to use throughout the disaster.
You're Buying Rounds
Silver and gold rounds are a lot like silver and gold coins, but they're also very different. Coins are easily recognizable and minted by the U.S. government. Rounds on the other hand, are often commemorative in nature, so they could have nearly anything stamped on them. They're also minted by private firms.
In the event of a disaster, there's a good chance that the power grid will go out and people won't be able to check the authenticity of your precious metal pieces by consulting the Internet. In this situation, you may have a hard time convincing somebody that your Little Mermaid or Star Wars token is indeed an authentic silver or gold piece. It's best to have coins that whoever you're bartering with can easily recognize so they won't be hesitant to accept the precious metal as a form of currency.
As a prepper, you want to secure your financial future by stashing away precious metals. Make sure your plan is effective by stashing coins that are easily recognizable, keeping your stash in your possession, and diversifying it to include smaller, less valuable bartering tokens.