I do not envision any scenario as nobody knows how anything is going to unfold. You and I are equally in the dark. I know this for a fact, that my 83 year old friend who was a plumbing contractor did ok during the 1920-30's since he worked for pieces of gold chains. Money was crap! BUT he was ok. Who was not ok were the millions of people who had salaries etc and got shitty, worthless paper for their work/time. This is speculation at best; the bank run that we had once before would not be the central problem. Mainly the problem would be the medium of exchange (money from the Fed carrying no buying power. In which case they likely would have tickets or vouchers for food, and other essentials, hey they have that now in forms of food stamps. In this time looting etc also might not be the problem as national guard, police presence. The main issues is emergency money = SILVER! Also, black markets can form in a moment when there is need and there is source! That is a fact, we have a black market for illicit items now. When something else would become scarce, the market(black) will take care itself.
My mother-in-law and wife both lived during that period. They went to work because they still believed the government would take care of them. When the house of cards fell down, it was take whatever you could, whenever you could get it. Fortunately, there was a rush of foreign items suddenly allowed into the market, and before the ruble imploded, they could finally get the things they needed. Jobs were had by foreign companies coming into Russia (Moscow) for the first time.
Sure, i see what you mean, but your 83 year old freind worked for bits GOLD CHAINS, and heres the real kicker-do you , personally, know how to tell the difference, from proper silver or gold, solid or plated, to a bodgy version? An 83 year old plumber might have a solid knowledge of metallurgy, not the case now. I understand why you asked now, but to presume anyone else will acknowledge the authenticity of a minted coin in a nasty economic situation, much less an overwhelming emergency, is painfull to contemplate. Better to have, than not though, right? Easy answer. Just my 2 cents, good luck with it. Im just a historian.
I remember stories from my grandfather that he stocked up on wood and liquor just before the second world war. He traded that for food with farmers the next 5 years.
You want to buy junk type silver coins. You can buy them in bags, and it's a good idea to have a couple bags around so that in the event of another depression you have something of value that will hold it's value, and in fact, appreciate quite substantially in terms of Buying power!
http://www.fisch.co.za/ this is South African toy but most people who collect can acid test or tell the difference that is the least of my worries.....
not sure about now, but there were some real deals on bags of junk silver that a few houses were trying to move due to lack of demand ...a few months ago minimal premium over spot....
you can tell the difference between real gold and fake gold by holding it in your hand. anything that feels as dense as gold but is fake will either be worth a lot more than gold so you lucked out by being victim of that con or be a very rare metal... hold onto it. (there are only a couple things denser than gold - platinum, osmium, a couple others). there are few things as nice to hold as a gold coin. you can tell it's valuable rare, beautiful. real silver has a distinct sound it makes when struck with a fingernail or other metal object. hans tulving (www.tulving.com) is the best dealer i've come across.
I was looking at the website of hans tulvig and he seems real and a good person to do business with. What I like to know and find out is where he buys his gold? He either buys it in quantity and hence can sell it as cheap as he does or he has a even more interesting source? Just wondering......where do bullion dealers get their stuff? I exclude the coin shows and the collector's fluff.