While precious metals such
as gold and silver make an excellent choice as a hedge against inflation or the
devaluation of the dollar, they can be extremely hard to spend. Quite often
bartering will become the alternative to cash which may have little or no
value. There is where the law of supply and demand comes into effect.
There may be a significant
supply of cash for which there is no demand because it no longer has value. In
a situation such as this, cash money will have little or no value for the purchase of
goods which you may be need. Gold or silver may not be the best
barter item simply because of its greater value which will far exceed the worth
of most items that may be required.
A gold coin that is worth in
excess of a thousand dollars will be hard to break down into a smaller quantity
for bartering. Unless you intend to significantly pay in excess of an item’s
value, you will need something with a smaller denomination that is easily
traded and that has significant and easily recognized value. Enter 22LR ammunition
as a possible solution to this problem.
One of the most popular
calibers of ammunition is 22LR. Even people who are not big fans of firearms
will quite often own a 22LR pistol or rifle. This means that the possible
demand for 22LR ammunition may well exceed the supply. Now 22LR ammunition can
function well in a barter environment of this type. It’s well suited to trade
for items with less value but can also work for items with greater value. It’s
small in comparison with other calibers and is probably the least expensive
ammunition you can purchase but will have a greater and immediate value in a
barter situation if the dollar collapses.
It’s going to be a lot
easier to trade four or five rounds of 22LR ammunition for a bag of flour than
a piece of
gold or silver.
Got gold alternative?
Staying above the water
line!
Riverwalker
Posts
9 comments:
I agree 22 rounds will be good for trade and if you run across any used single shot 22,s or shotguns the return in trade would surpass gold or silver.bonus you get to play with them now.
Yep, .22lr and 9mm are parts of my barter stash. Personally, I believe we'll have a financial crash, not a full-scale elimination of money. As such, precious metals are a big part of my stash as well. With regards to precious metals, silver is easily divisible, as is gold jewelry. In Argentina, with their rampant inflation, people will have a gold chain that they take to jewelry stores. Cut off enough links to get just enough cash for what they need right now.
Not only extremely popular, but very hard to reload as well - rimfire ammunition has long been a well regarded trade good item.
Like Chief instructor, I read Ferfal's blog. Iirc, Ferfal also recommended gold bracelets, ear rings, necklaces and infant ring GOLD pieces, which would be far easier to parcel out.
I also remember a pretty good hiding place for this - door heads and jambs, taped over and painted to be inconspicuous.
...yep,here too...several thousand of those little bastards, in and about the stores(really not enuff tho)...
...all my other "popular calibers" lack in extras for barter(trying to change that, but i've been practicing a little mmore)...got bags of empty brass from the .223, .45, and .40...also good barter/reloading(i don't yet)
I read a few years ago, when prepping was first getting popular, that .22 ammo and whiskey would be two of the best trade items.
It's why a friend encouraged me to write a post about 10,000 things to save before the collapse.
Thanks everyone for the great comments.
I firmly believe that in a worst case scenario lead (as in bullets) will be the most valuable item around. It's valuable to satisfy two of our basic needs...food procurement and protection.
RW
Chiming in late here but I'd like to echo the comments of those before me. Ammo will be a great barter item as will many other things.
Besides ammo, I've stocked up on pool chlorine, which I plan to use to make bleach, which will then be used to purify water. I've have a ceramic water filter from www.Internetprepper.com, and I'm planning to use that, but when that stops working (hopefully a recovery happens before then) I'll be using the bleach solution. Also, I can fill water bottles with bleach and either barter it or simply hand out as charity.
Bullets, while good for barter, could potentially be used against you. That part makes me nervous. Other than that, I think it's a wise choice. Just be sure that the person you're bartering ammo with won't use it later to kill you and take the rest of your stash!
I too am concerned with bartering away ammo. I'm certain it will have a high value but in a WROL scenario the desperate and hungry civility could be challenged.
Also I believe it is wrong to think of gold as currency, rather consider it a storage of wealth as it will have value in whatever currency, be that seashells, 22 ammo, livestock... etc., once things begin to sort out. At that time it *might* give you a head start as it has enabled you to carry over some of what you've worked for before the crash. I wish I could afford some...
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