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i already have quite a bit of copper cents, nickels boxes and 90% silver coins.

i have also stocked up on a lot of long shelf-life food and other stuff (and forever stamps - lol).

now am i trying to decide to where to go from here. i think i either want more nickels or silver coins.

my goal is protect my wealth against the effects of a potential US dollar collapse. here are some pros and cons i thought of.

nickels:
limited downside risk: will always be worth at least face-value
very little effort to obtain them (no need to price shop)
easy to liquidate (but only at face value)
less likely to be stolen?
small bonus: some numismatic finds (wars, buffs, mint rolls, etc)

90% silver:
takes up much less space
easier to hide, store or move
cheaper to ship if i want to sell online
there is an actual market for them
greater likely value increase?
much easier to deal with if the total investment grows to several thousand $$

i guess the big question is whether or not silver is likely to increase in value a lot more than CuNi, and if it is worth the risk. perhaps there's a more obvious conclusion than i am seeing. my gut is saying nickels.

so which is better? any help would be appreciated.

thanks!

I like diversification, so I would recommend investing in Au, Ag, Ni, and Cu. As far as Ni vs Ag, I like Ni because it is a safe bet in terms of maintaining your initial investment. Ni is also used during war, and this can drive the price upwards during war. Ag I think has a lot more upside potential. In writing this out, I think the best answer is to collect/hoard both. I would view Ni as the stable stock purchase that doesn't lose value/maintains your initial investment, but may not have a lot of upside to it for sometime. I would view Ag as a more volitile stock with much more potential for large gains.

You might want to sell off those stamps. I would keep only as many as you think you might need.

The USPS is in the process of axing 150,000 jobs and closing 223 plants. Which means that a "stamp" may no longer be of any value if they decided to dissolve the whole US government postal service. In that case, you want to be paying cash for Fedex, small local couriers, etc. And I'm pretty sure they won't take stamps.

ZenOps wrote:You might want to sell off those stamps. I would keep only as many as you think you might need.

The USPS is in the process of axing 150,000 jobs and closing 223 plants. Which means that a "stamp" may no longer be of any value if they decided to dissolve the whole US government postal service. In that case, you want to be paying cash for Fedex, small local couriers, etc. And I'm pretty sure they won't take stamps.

yeah, that's the only thing keeping me from going really crazy with them. i don't want to hold more than about $500 worth at any time in this environment.

the tempting thing is i can occasionally get them for 86% face value on eBay, so that a nice percentage gained on my investment (if all goes well). i am gambling that the government will bail me out in some way if it comes down to it. wish me luck!

adagirl wrote:I like diversification, so I would recommend investing in Au, Ag, Ni, and Cu. As far as Ni vs Ag, I like Ni because it is a safe bet in terms of maintaining your initial investment. Ni is also used during war, and this can drive the price upwards during war. Ag I think has a lot more upside potential. In writing this out, I think the best answer is to collect/hoard both. I would view Ni as the stable stock purchase that doesn't lose value/maintains your initial investment, but may not have a lot of upside to it for sometime. I would view Ag as a more volitile stock with much more potential for large gains.

sounds good. maybe i'll look to buy silver on price dips and pick up some nickels whenever i am at a bank.

Klark Cent wrote:

adagirl wrote:I like diversification, so I would recommend investing in Au, Ag, Ni, and Cu. As far as Ni vs Ag, I like Ni because it is a safe bet in terms of maintaining your initial investment. Ni is also used during war, and this can drive the price upwards during war. Ag I think has a lot more upside potential. In writing this out, I think the best answer is to collect/hoard both. I would view Ni as the stable stock purchase that doesn't lose value/maintains your initial investment, but may not have a lot of upside to it for sometime. I would view Ag as a more volitile stock with much more potential for large gains.

sounds good. maybe i'll look to buy silver on price dips and pick up some nickels whenever i am at a bank.

I left that part out...I buy Ni at the bank on a regular basis (and pennies too) and I buy Ag on the dips big time and on a dollar cost averaging basis.