How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

Hi everyone!

First post here. I have just started looking into the financial considerations for long term survival planning. I have a lot of questions about precious metals. I hope you will bear with me and offer your collective advice.

Background:

Been into preparedness for two years now.
I have no debt other than mortgage (which I currently am paying off early).
I have realized that I need to buy assests and not liabilites.

I have 8 months worth of savings. All of it is in savings or mutual funds.
I have a sizable 401k and retirement account.

I have an above average inventory of food and water and fuel on hand (at least compared to the average household)

I have adequate means and training for self protection.

Current Impressions:

As far as I can tell, I should buy small denominations of US bullion coins in gold and silver. Denominations should be of 1/10 ounce, 1/4 ounce, etc. I should avoid all "collector" coins.

Questions:

1. Pre-1965 coins are a good consideration, but my preference is for clearly marked gold/silver bullion. Am I wrong?

2. What is the best method to buy small quantites of gold/silver bullions coins? I plan on using monthly purchases of $100.

3. What is the most secure way to purchase them with out drawing attention to myself from theives or snooping government agencies?

4. What compainies/organizations should I buy from?

5. What books/online sources should I read (other than this one)?

6. What other parts of this board should I become familar with?

7. What else should I consider? What have I missed?

Again, this is for long term, worst case scenario planning. I have some cash to spend on this without sacrificing my other preparedness plans.

Anything that I do not use, I plan on willing to my kids for their security.

I belive it is not a question of "if" the US becomes bankrupt, but "when."

Thank you in advance for your detailed answers.

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

Welcome to GIM. I think your best bet is pre-1965 dimes. They are cheap (at or below melt value), recognizable, no question of authenticity and in small enough denominations for small purchases.

You can check your local craigslist.com and buy from private individuals.

Forget the monthly purchases of $100. Buy a half ton now.

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

I would concur with Hoarder on the $100 a month plan. You will be better off in the present as well as in any SHTF if you convert a sizeable ammount of the large savings you report to gold or silver. Bullion will outperform any interest or earnings you're making on any savings account, money market or mutual fund by a longshot.

Right now is a pretty good time to buy as it happens. After the seasonal dip following May or June is another good time to buy.

I also like 90% dimes, I buy them in quantity from a local dealer for cash out the door, no questions asked. I prefer Mercury dimes because I don't like what Roosevelt did to our country but it's all good silver.

.999+ fine bullion will have a smaller buy/sell spread than 90% if you need to sell at any time in the near future. Buy one ounce rounds first, 10oz bars later. Maples and SAE's are nice, but generics are just as good and most dealers pay the same for .999 regardless of whose stamp is on it.

Don't will your metal to your kids, the government will likely try to rob a sizeable fraction of it before your kids ever get it. Instead give it to any and all of them who would know what to do with it yourself while you're young enough to be alive and old enough not to need it anymore.

You can hide your metal in all kinds of non-linear ways, like in a rusty old vacuum cleaner, in the kitty litter, dead space inside walls or furniture. For long term storage your septic tank is probably the most secure facility on your property, if you have one. Just don't forget where you put it.

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

Move small amounts regularly into these coins. Large dramatic amounts will throw up red flags for the monitors. Do it by stealth - smaller quantities at a time and build them up. Bankers will report anything dramatic. Of course this means you need to get on it right away to stealthily move large amounts of money this way -- gotta be steady and stealthy and start now or you won't be there in time. Jm2c.

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

I'd agree with hoarder on the dimes, and then quarters as well. 90% is very easily recognized simply by the date by anyone that knows anything about metals. Start with silver......it has the most potential to explode in price if the poop DOESN'T hit the fan ( due to industrial uses ) and will do well also in a crisis situation. When you have enough silver to suit you, and you find you have extra fiat to shed, move to gold for more concentrated wealth. You can hold 50,000 of todays "dollars" in gold form in one hand.....takes a wheelbarrow to do that in silver, currently.

And congrats on getting your food/fuel/weapons priority straight FIRST before moving to metals. Smart.......very smart.

Welcom to the forum.

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

1 oz generic silver rounds

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

You sure do ask a lot of questions and seem to say all the right things. Are you a spy ?? Just kidding . what every one else here said but iI would get as fast as i could while the gettin is good

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

Get as fast as you can, but stay under the radar. No transfers of $10K or larger. Better to keep most under $2K or so. That's just my opinion. Don't make yourself an "interesting profile", but move as fast as you can.

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

Should I purchase from any online dealers? What if I wanted to buy 200 1 oz pieces of silver bullion or Silver dollars? How should I do it?

Can I buy directly from the US Mint? Any online sources for bulk purchases of silver?

PS - I should have clarified---I did not mean "Will it to my children" in a document/legal sense. I would have given it to them well in advance.

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

If you go to the Gold and Silver forum there is a dealer feedback section, check it out.

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

Usually you get a better price from online dealers like Tulving.com and APMEX. The latter confirms orders by credit card. If you're near an urban area you can find some coin dealers. In some states like Texas, you pay sales tax if under $1000. It's best to find individual sellers. Try coin shows too. Many of the sellers are not dealers.
Don't stop until your springs bottom out!

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

Just my opinions:
1. Clearly marked bullion is great, but buy some 90% as well. Diversify.
2. If you don't have any, start with a couple/few big purchases ($1000+) now, and then move to a $100/month plan. Also, some states charge sales tax on purchase under $1000. (Examples: California, Texas, Massachusetts.) If that's the case, try to buy in $1000 increments.
3, 4. I prefer buying from local dealers, which costs a little more. Others prefer online.
5. You'll find more searching GIM than you will from any other single source. You might have to filter out some craziness, but sometimes it's entertaining. There is a "recommended books" thread.
6. Start with "How to purchase precious metals". Also, click "New Posts" on the top bar menu to see what threads are currently active. This web site is set up and maintained very well.
7. Just browse and read. You won't run out of learning material. It sounds like you're smart enough to have started storing supplies. That means you can relax while you learn. Enjoy!

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

:beer: Welcome to GIM RidgeRunner.

Ditto on all the above....good advice.

I will add one minor point...and it's not pretty.

If the DOW crashes your 401K can be wiped out and rendered semi worthless.

I cashed out and took the big hit a few years back with mine.
Converted the FRNs to Ag and Au...I sleep a lot better now.

Let the DOW crash...who cares ? I know I don't.

:banana: :banana: :banana:

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

River Rat -

I have my 401k in a well diversified life-cycle fund. In all probablility, it will make me money in the long term.

I am diversifying into metals to compliment it. I do not believe that just owning metals is a good thing, just like now I do not belive in investing in just mutual funds is a good thing.

Balance includes:

A well diversified mutual fund portfolio
Real estate
Short term secure savings
Precious metals
Living below your means
Strong current income
Dicipline in budgeting
Short and Long term planning
Maximize assets/Minimize liabilities

I sleep fine because I am prepared to take advantage of market increases, and market decreases.

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

Do silver bars have any place in survival planning? Or, are rounds better because they "look" more like money?

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

Not trying to tell you how to run your life, but as a general rule diversification is a defense against ignorance. If you know what you're doing put your money where it will do the most good. If you don't know what you're doing figure that out before you put your money anywhere. I'm sure you've done your due diligence so I'm just speaking in generalities.

1oz rounds are good not because of what they look like but because they're small denominations and therefore easily negotiable. Larger bars are useful for larger transactions and more convenient for longterm wealth preservation which I consider to be an inherent part of your personal and family survival plan.

The other thing to consider is who you plan to trade your metal to and for what. If you know what it is you expect to trade your metal for, try to get it now instead of later because these are the good old days. If you see yourself trading to people who don't know what they're doing try to figure why and how you can correct that. The best position is being the person everybody wants to buy from, which is why I diversified into farming.

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

Just a suggestion, but I would buy a bit of 90% AG and a few .10 oz and 1 oz. AU pieces periodically. Stay away from numismatics unless you understand them. Also, as others have posted, stay under the radar with small purchases - there is no upside in advertising what you have or how much you have.
Take care,
Mod1

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

Good points.

I have secured some free barter items due to my job. These were given to me and more items come along every few months.

Sample:

300 bars of soap
50 cases of shampoo
500 toothbrushes
250 cans of shaving cream
20 cases of free cosmetics
200 cases of razors with blades
300 containers of powder drink mix
numerous other small barter items with more on the way.

These are not very valuable, but they are free and hygine is an important aspect that most people believe are absolutely necessary.

These items are in my preparedness preps, and I am constantly adding to them and using them.

Purchasing gold and silver now interests me, and it is a currency of universal value.

I am just taking advantage of all the opportunities available to me........precious metals seems to be something I should consider.

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

That's a pretty good list. While those kinds of things don't individually have a lot of value right now, they are exactly the kinds of things that increase in value considerably when they are less available. I've seen fifty cent candybars go for $10 under the right circumstances.

Metals have worked well for me. Short term I have been doing well with electronic silver, bullion for longterm.

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

There is good advice, but there are other things too:

Consider silver 40%. There is silver content, but there is a better floor under the price. Much larger and heavier to carry, but also relatively low denominations. 90% dimes are also good for this, but it's your choice. For some reason I would expect 40% to be less conspicuous as a "hoarder".

After that, look at coinflation.com. '82 pennies are worth 2c, later pennies are worth almost that, and nickels are worth nearly 8c. Gresham's law comes to mind. There is a law against melting them, but it's hard to believe they won't eventually gain a premium in the free market. But any time you can buy 8c for 5c, you might consider it.

Other coins are near a real value as well--compared to dollars where every paper unit costs 10c to make. US Quarters are about 5c, which seems to be the value of many coins. In a 20 year commodity cycle, these prices can rise higher than you can imagine.

Remember they're comparative values. Prices of everything purchased on debt: paper, cars, houses, boats, are all inflated. Prices of everything you need to live: oil, food, water, wire, shoes, cement, seeds, are all too low and will rise. So in that silver or nickel will rise may not be much good if food rises as fast or faster. Might as well buy food and save yourself the trouble of having to show up at a trade and admit you have bullion.

TS

...Unless you need to take a carry-on bag with a one-way ticket to the Caribbean, then a roll of gold coins takes up less space.

Re: How do I buy coins for long term preparedness purposes?
 

Buy bullion that is CLEARLY something different than common coins. That is, NO pre-64 coins that look like the modern worthless varieties. Most people don't know the difference between a 1957 quarter and a 2007 quarter, except that the latter is "nice and shiny."

Get Eagles, Maple Leafs, whatever, that SAYS what it contains -- one ounce silver, etc.

Check out APMEX for good deals on most items.