Currency Issues and Spending

[Mackay]

Silver $29 an ounce today... 17.50 this past February.....$26 only a few days ago.

Gold $1400 an ounce.

 

[k0xxx]

Silver was heading to $30 and then the ComEx changed to trading rules to cause the price dropped back. Still, it's a nice increase since my initial purchases at $7. I certainly believe that we'll see even higher prices in the coming year.

 

[On Our own]

China is stated to throw their weight around some. Subtle ways such as threatening to have "consequences for countries that attend the Nobel Peace prize ceremony" And larger ways such as telling the IMF they believe we are going to QE our way into essentially defaulting on our debt by debasing our own currency.

I don't think this will be a big bang thing. SHTF is personal. It will be a slow steady slide, maybe some bumps along the way. But, we are well on our way to being england. A has been. An also ran for the up and coming. Big problem for us? The upstarts don't speak english. We don't speak anything else.

Have talked to bankers who say that over the last two years more and more businesses in Asia are demanding that contracts be written in Mandarin. They refuse to speak to negotiators who cannot speak Mandarin. Since english is still the lingua franca it hasn't gotten mainstream yet. But, it's a sign of their increasing feeling that they do not need to go out of their way for us.

 

[Blackbird]

War with China aside - K0xxx, what form do you buy your silver in?
Would it be worth continuing to buy silver items found cheaply at thrift stores and the like? I only buy old items that are tarnished and seem pure, but is there any quick and easy way of telling whether or not an item is in fact pure silver?
Right now my collection of silver is over 11 pounds but I question the purity of some of it, though most have Rogers Co or Oneida hallmarks.

 

[SKR8PN]

If a few people are willing to kill for silver and gold, imagine how many more are willing to kill for a nice big storage of food.

They gotta get past a few of these first......

 

[k0xxx]

K0xxx, what form do you buy your silver in?

Mostly I buy US Silver Eagle and 90% silver US coins. I do own some one ounce .999 silver rounds and a few larger bars. I also pick up sterling silver jewelry and hallmarked silver when I find it at a good price.

Oneida and Rogers both produced silver plated items, so you need to look for items that actually say sterling or are marked 925. The 925 marking stands for 92.5% pure. There are other non-plated hallmarks to look for and these would be "standard", "coin", 900, 1000.

Solid silver items from Great Britain would have hallmarks that are a design (mostly of a lion, but others were also used).

The easiest way to tell if an item is silver plated is to purchase a cheap acid kit on eBay, scratch (only on a non-valuable item) the piece and apply the acid. Also, most solid silver will usually tarnish with a more purple or blue tint, where most plated items will tarnish with a more grayish black tint. But this isn't a foolproof way to tell.

 

[k0xxx]

I saw this headline on the Yahoo home page and thought that I'd pass it along.

World's Economies on Brink of Trade War as G20 Nations Meet

Here's a link to the article.

One paragraph reads: "Other countries are irate over the Federal Reserve's plans to pump $600 billion into the sluggish American economy. They see that move as a reckless and selfish scheme to flood markets with dollars, driving down the value of the U.S. currency and giving American exporters an advantage."

Driving down the value of the dollar translates into us needing more dollars to buy things. Personally, I don't know what the other countries are worried about. America hardly produces anything to be exported any more. other than jobs.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

If a few people are willing to kill for silver and gold, imagine how many more are willing to kill for a nice big storage of food.

They gotta get past a few of these first......

http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL264/2074170/4139313/390862094.jpg

http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL264/2074170/4139313/390840711.jpg

http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL264/2074170/4139313/393310979.jpg

skr8pn, you know you're my hero, right?
;-)

 

[Blackbird]

Correct me if I'm wrong but is that top one an AR 15 style???
Darn you anyway SKR8PN!


Thanks K0xxx! That definitely rules out a lot of my silver, but I'm not discouraged.. It's kind of like a scavenger hunt! And now I know what to look for too.

Here is a good website I just found on silver items and hallmarks;
http://www.925-1000.com/

 

[k0xxx]

If a few people are willing to kill for silver and gold, imagine how many more are willing to kill for a nice big storage of food.

They gotta get past a few of these first......

http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL264/2074170/4139313/390862094.jpg

http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL264/2074170/4139313/390840711.jpg

http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL264/2074170/4139313/393310979.jpg

Yep, I know what you mean.

Access to my safe is blocked at the moment while we change the carpet in our bedroom, so I had my son open his.