SHTF/TEOTWAWKI Currency

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willnotgoquietly

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How about a bulk pack of condoms? 1000 units of trade. My thoughts are there will be a serious need for things that are common commercial products but can't be replaced by a local craftsman. Look around at things that are consumables. We need change, ie low value things as well as high value things. My personal thought is guns and ammo will be less of a hot item then we may think. Gold and Silver could be too hard to exchange. 22Lr will be a hot item and I can't even believe it is totally wiped out at the store and on-line. For example you can buy for about 5 bucks a car tire patch kit that has the sticky tar coated cord and a tool to push the cord through the hole. Not the best patch but it does work. Now, how much would you pay/trade to get your truck back on the road? The little kit comes with 5 or 10 of the little coated strings and you can get a big refill pack for a few more bucks. Lasts forever. For 10 bucks your trade bin could net you 10x the cost.

Somewhere was posted an interview with a guy from Kosovo and in that interview he was saying how valuable the small things were like coffee.
My preps are geared toward a shutdown in the supply chain.

Low value trade items that cost very little now but get used up fast:
Condoms
Toothpaste and toothbrushes [94c each in Walmart bulk bin this week]
Coffee [doesn't store forever.]
Plain old aspirin. [Cheap but works well]
Soap [Can you make from scratch with ash and fats?]
Anti-Fungal cream [watch the bargain bin]
Salt and pepper, spices.
Sugar
Yeast, baking power.
Candles / oil lamps
Tube patching for bikes.

High value items:
Small solar panels.
Meds.. Antibiotics. [If you don't know about Fish/Bird stuff your missing out]
Med Skills
Food
cigarettes
 

RyanSixer

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I think bartering should be more acceptable in the US.

If you have a gold coin worth $1200 in today's money, would you have to wait until you could buy $1200 worth of supplies from one person or group?
 

rmark

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If you have a gold coin worth $1200 in today's money, would you have to wait until you could buy $1200 worth of supplies from one person or group?[/QUOTE]

IIRC, gold coins are available at 1/20 of an ounce.
 

TedKennedy

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My point - gold teeth would be a smaller denomination than a full ounce coin. From events in other countries, and even our own, there will likely be plenty of donors. You probably thought I was joking in the first post.

Water, yes, water may be a valuable commodity as well. I read a good book a few years ago, "A Woman in Berlin", by a reporter that was stuck in Berlin post WWII. People burned up great furniture for firewood, food was the "gold" of the day. Humans turned into animals as soon the ol' tummy started rumbling. Not end of the world, but definitely some of the same problems, situations will arise.
 

smax

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Gold and silver will only have value if there is still a central economic structure to put value on them otherwise they would be almost worthless. Now that economic structure could be very small and limited, but if it got down to each man for himself gold and silver won't matter.

Think of it like this. If you and I get lost in a desert and I offer you my $1200 gold coin for your last drink of water are you going to take that deal?
 

okyite

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Food, shelter, and stuff to keep you alive will be worth the most, and bartering will probably be the only true means of getting stuff when the dollar is worthless. When that happens then who is to say what commodities other than the basic essentials are worth. What will an ounce of gold be worth when there is no measure or standard to measure it by. Do we measure it in rubles, or yen, or euros or bushels of wheat. We are living in scary times which no one except maybe those who went through the great depression or came here from another country can relate to. Pray
 

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