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Ask HN: Many became preppers in 2021 are You ready to become a Stacker in 2022?

2 points by sigmaprimus ↗ HN
There seems to be a movement quietly gaining steam in the prepper communities recently. It has always been a prepper talking point to include precious metals but recently I have noticed this become one of the most frequent topics being brought up in chat channels. Most likely this is due to the current inflation numbers but personally I don't want to end up at the end of the line waiting to buy TP ever again.

I think it is possible that many preppers have accumulated their hordes of food and firearms and are now looking for something else to add.

In any case, I think it is prudent to acquire a small amount of silver given the current low prices.

Does anyone have a good reason to not buy a stack or two of silver, is it any better or worse of a gamble than crypto?

11 comments

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zgs
After society collapses, how much will silver be worth? It's not useful for a lot apart from decoration. Food, clean water sources, construction metals, tools, etc will be far more useful.
sigmaprimus
Do You think society will collapse? I wasn't thinking in such extreme terms, my thoughts are more of a depression era situation.
tobltobs
If currencies collapse, society will find ways to avoid a complete barter trade economy. Silver coins look like an obvious option to me.
h2odragon
Silver tarnishes, so you better figure that into you longer term plans. Buy "real" coins not bullion. Gold its less important who minted the coin.

I think we've got a land boom coming. You think house prices are bad now wait til people think that homes and land are the last store of value to be had.

sigmaprimus
I do think owning land is important but wonder if there will be a glut of properties for sale if interest rates go up even a few percentage points. I hope I am wrong as You are right, land has been my most successful investment and I am fortunate to not be carrying a mortgage on my home. I am just not sure that investing in a secondary property (Which is by far a much greater investment than I had in mind) would be MY best choice at this time.

Also thanks for the tip on coins, I think that is smart as there is also a collectors market then.

tobltobs
What do you mean with "real coins". Do you mean collector or proof coins? If yes wouldn't the additional premium for those coins be lost if you use them for barter. Wouldn't make junk silver coins make more sense as they have the lowest premium?
sigmaprimus
I have looked into buy these coins just now and it seems many people must think the same thing as they are way more expensive than buying uncirculated coins made by the British and Canadian mints. US silver eagles are also crazy expensive for some reason.
h2odragon
I mean coins issued by a mint with a reputation known further than its customers. I'm fond of US Mint silver eagles myself. There's a lot of "bullion" coins out there aimed at panic and ignorance, some of them aren't even full weight alloys.

There's also folks selling sacks of "silver quarters" and other old circulated coins with silver content... These are dross that's been picked over for value already. There's folks that will cheerfully sell them for 3x the face value of the coins tho.

sigmaprimus
I would be thrilled to buy some of these sacks at 3X face value, the best price I could find was 20X face. Are You sure You are not remembering what they were going for in the past?

here is a Google search I did regarding this idea:

>>> How many US silver coins make an ounce? There is 0.18084 troy ounce of pure silver in a standard pre-1965 90% silver quarter. So, it takes about 5.5 pre-1965 90% silver quarters to have a full troy ounce of silver.

Current spot price of silver ~22 , lets say $20...so 20/5.5 = $3.60 or approx 14.5 X Face. Still a better deal but that is not the prices the sellers are asking that would be more what a dealer may offer to buy at.