Should Bug in Preppers Buy Silver?
Should bug in preppers buy silver has been an ongoing conversation in our house, so we decided to do some extensive research. Here is what we found out.
Should Bug in Preppers Buy Silver?
Or, should bug in preppers buy gold or other precious metals like platinum or palladium? OR, should preppers be diverse in their selection? According to Wikipedia,
“A precious metal is a rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical element of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lustre. Historically, precious metals were important as currency but are now regarded mainly as investment and industrial commodities. Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium each have an ISO 4217 currency code.”
While preppers seem to have differing opinions as to what is the correct answer, here is what Prepare to Bug In came up with. Take our information and then do your own research as to what is best for you and your family as it pertains to which precious metal, what weight you want, how pure it is, etc.
1. Budget Friendly
For those newbie preppers who are probably very much aware of how much money they can spend, silver appears to be the most budget friendly. According to a recent chart that was on APMEX.com, you can see that Silver is the more affordable. This, of course, will change on a daily basis depending on what the precious metal spot prices are.
2. Barter Trade Value
As you begin to prepare to bug in, consider what would be the most important items for you to store. There are many disasters that could occur that will be important for you to consider – hurricanes, tornadoes, haboobs, cyclones, tsunamis, winter storms, extended power failures, and even economic collapses.
What we found in our reading is that silver has a better barter trade level. Let me illustrate. Say you’ve purchased a bag of coins from one of the online retailers that supplies individual preppers with precious metals. In that bag you are going to be receiving coins of various denominations. Then because of a natural disaster (or catastrophe, you attempt to go trade your coins that you paid $20 or more for because of their silver content. If the person is a non-prepper, that person is going to see a dollar. It’s not going to matter how much you paid for it. See?
Smaller Quantities
There are online retailers where you can buy silver coins with no minimum quantity. One place I was researching said you had to purchase a minimum order of 20 American Silver Eagles. Oh sure, you could buy 1 bar of silver but it would cost you in excess of $1,700, and that bar was 100 ounces (oz.). Prepare to Bug In decided that was a little out of our price range.
You do not have to buy 100 oz. of silver in one purchase if you do your homework on the Internet. Always make sure if you decide to purchase silver that you do so from a reputable dealer. If you are in the U.S. or Canada, check BBB.org. If you are in the UK, you can check Citizens Advice. Other countries, you will need to do your own research, but the most comprehensive site that I would check first is ConsumerWorld.org. You can also search on the Internet by searching on the company you wish to purchase from and see what the reviews are saying.
Bug in Preppers Buy Silver Coins or Silver Bars?
That can definitely be a loaded question. During our reading, we discovered that purchasing silver coins are usually more expensive than buying the bars. Several online prepper sites explained that the bars give you the most bang for your buck because they are cheaper to make. Coins are usually invested more by collectors than preppers.
SilverCoins.com gives us great insight into the wide variety of types of silver you can buy. There is a wide variety of countries that you can purchase both bars and coins from; however, the most glaring difference is that the coins are backed by the host country’s government. If you don’t buy silver bars from a reputable online retailer, you could open yourself up to the possibility of fake silver bars being sold.
Should Bug-in Preppers Buy Silver
So as to the title of our article, Should Bug-in Preppers Buy Silver, Prepare to Bug In would answer maybe. Only you can answer what is best for YOU. Our thoughts are that when we prepare to bug in, we are going to concentrate on food storage prepping and water storage. You can’t eat silver. But, we will not discount purchasing silver. If we ran out of food or water and needed to be able to barter for some to help us out, then yes, we are going to be mighty thankful to have some silver on hand.
Remember, you can barter using food, cigarettes, liquor, aspirin or ibuprofen products, first aid items, pet food, fresh vegetables from your garden, flashlight batteries maybe, toilet paper – see my point? The possibilities are endless. You are going to need to do your own research and determine what you and your family’s needs are in order to answer that question on whether you – as a prepper – should buy silver.
We hope we have at least opened your mind to the possibilities of prepping. There’s more to learn, so keep watching. Remember too – to be prepared is to survive!
