Bartering post-SHTF

Doomsday Prepper Forums

Help Support Doomsday Prepper Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

TexasFreedom

A True Doomsday Prepper
Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Messages
3,966
Reaction score
11,815
Location
Texas
This topic came up in another thread & thought it deserved a separate discussion.

Yes, this is the economic collapse forum, but this topic is basically post-SHTF economics. How to buy/sell, what has value, etc.

There was an excellent presentation I heard a few years ago that hit on lots of good points.

First, post SHTF, it's best to have what you need, lock the gate and wait at least 6 months, preferably a year. During that year every nut and thug are going to be out stabbing each other in the back. Stay home, stay safe, let them kill each other. THEN, after that has settled down, go out. Now you should be out bartering today. You'll find people who will screw you and those who will be honest. Let them, but find out who is honest and keep that list. Post SHTF, post the year of slaughter, if those people are still around, you know you can deal with them. And you know who to avoid.

Currency will have value for a matter of days post SHTF. Not for long, buy whatever you can of value. But minimize risk as people will go crazy very quickly. Real 'currency' is what people will value. Never trade a bag of beans labelled "Beans, #14/103". That tells people you have LOTS of stuff and they will come after it.

Be ready to walk away from any 'deal'. If you can't walk away, you'll get screwed on the deal. If you have PM's, have small and medium sizes. Don't get a 1000 oz silver bar, what do you really think you'll be buying for $20k? 10 oz silver bars are great, $200 today. You can get a couple of goats for that. Have some silver quarters. $10 value, maybe some small stuff traded for that. You won't be buying a pack of gum needing spare change. You'll want to make key trades, minimal trades, and go home.

You need lumber to build a new chicken coop? You need wire to fix fences? Get what you need and go.

No need to brag about what you have. Those days will be filled with envy: guys happy to kill you to get what you have. Remember that there won't be any real 'law' around to stop anyone.

That's some of the points that come to mind, I'm sure I've forgotten far more than I recalled.
 
I was active on a coin site and a gold and silver site a while back. There was a good bit of discussion about what kind of silver to buy for such contingencies. The problem with large gold and silver bars is that they are pretty easy to counterfeit. Not everyone will have the necessary equipment to verify their authenticity.

Most people today have no clue, but they will learn pretty quickly.

American Silver Eagles (ASE's as they are known in the trade) or Canadian Maple Leaves are a good bet, not worth counterfeiting, although there are counterfeits out there.

What I settled on for stacking silver was two things:

5 ounce America The Beautiful quarters. (or "Hocky Pucks" as they are know in the trade) Rarely counterfeited because of the difficulty in minting them.
"Junk Silver" 90% silver coins that are worn and can be bought at melt price. Will be recognized by everyone post SHTF...

The price of junk silver got so low, I melted some of the really worn junk quarters down and blended them into my casting alloy for bullets. Made really beautiful bullets!

The only difference between the 5 ounce ATB quarters (face value 25 cents) and regular quarters is the .size, composition and the lack of reeding on the edge. (".999 FINE SILVER 5.0 OUNCE" is engraved on the edge)
ATB.jpg
 
Last edited:
In the movies, it often shows people using bags of diamonds for shady deals. How the hell are you going to figure out the value of a bag full of shiny objects? Diamonds aren't sold by the ounce! One diamond of a particular size could be worth several times more than another diamond of the same size. And the larger the diamond, the more it is worth per carat. How do you know the purity, and even if they are real and not cubic zirconia or moissanite?
 
Doc,

Yup, seen some of those movies. Not close to reality. Your average person has no idea even how to value a diamond. Clarity, color, cut, caret, 4 C's of diamonds. Of course and prove that they are real? Gold and Silver are far easier to identify & value. None of us are making million dollar deals, we're talking about bartering for goats/cows/tools/etc. Maybe a truck?

Ideally you'll trade your surplus for someone else's surplus. But that's not common, you need a 'currency'. We don't trust the dollar, historically gold and silver have survived as 'valuable' metals. I may have 10 extra dozen eggs and 6 laying hens. I sell those to Bob for $200, or a single 10 oz silver bar. I take that bar to Larry who sells me 2 goats for that bar. Larry likely won't need eggs & hens directly.

50 years ago, that was basically how things worked in the US. The US dollar back then was all "silver certificate" or "gold certificate". For every dollar bill the US printed, they had $1 equivalent in silver at Ft Knox. And gold/silver were tied to the value of the dollar. Now go to YouTube & search for "Fort Knox Gold" and you'll find a gazillion videos challenging that there is no gold left in Ft Knox, even what is supposed to be there on hold for foreign countries.

Maverick, I see a massive hole in your plans. With how you're going, what are you going to need to barter for? Well done.
 
Doc,

Yup, seen some of those movies. Not close to reality. Your average person has no idea even how to value a diamond. Clarity, color, cut, caret, 4 C's of diamonds. Of course and prove that they are real? Gold and Silver are far easier to identify & value. None of us are making million dollar deals, we're talking about bartering for goats/cows/tools/etc. Maybe a truck?

Ideally you'll trade your surplus for someone else's surplus. But that's not common, you need a 'currency'. We don't trust the dollar, historically gold and silver have survived as 'valuable' metals. I may have 10 extra dozen eggs and 6 laying hens. I sell those to Bob for $200, or a single 10 oz silver bar. I take that bar to Larry who sells me 2 goats for that bar. Larry likely won't need eggs & hens directly.

50 years ago, that was basically how things worked in the US. The US dollar back then was all "silver certificate" or "gold certificate". For every dollar bill the US printed, they had $1 equivalent in silver at Ft Knox. And gold/silver were tied to the value of the dollar. Now go to YouTube & search for "Fort Knox Gold" and you'll find a gazillion videos challenging that there is no gold left in Ft Knox, even what is supposed to be there on hold for foreign countries.

Maverick, I see a massive hole in your plans. With how you're going, what are you going to need to barter for? Well done.

Their will always be something I will need :) I tore a lot of barns down just for the wood not charging the owner I'm really fond of true measurement rough cut wood :) plus I come away with a lot of extras like barb wire and old hand tools left in these barns.
 
Now go to YouTube & search for "Fort Knox Gold" and you'll find a gazillion videos challenging that there is no gold left in Ft Knox, even what is supposed to be there on hold for foreign countries.
Here's the thing...

It doesn't matter how much gold is in Fort Knox, all that matters is how much gold foreign countries THINK is in Fort Knox...(actually it's spread out between Fort Knox, Philadelphia Mint, Denver Mint, San Francisco Assay Office and West Point Bullion Depository.)

On paper, we have 8133 tons that is ours...more than Germany, Italy, and France combined (which have the second, third and fourth largest holdings) . But we also hold gold for foreign countries. Thanks to the Bretton Woods System, Fort Knox became essentially the world gold bank. Gold could change hands on paper without ever moving physically.
 
As far as anyone is concerned I have nothing of value and nothing to trade.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, true intelligence.

I love it!

" I ain't got squat. Can you loan me a Hershey bar? How 'bout some
water?"

" I should have joined one of those survival web sites."

:>)

In a global shtf, or even a local shtf that lasts a while those left will be the ones
to begin to barter and trade with.
Carefully.
 
Their will always be something I will need :) I tore a lot of barns down just for the wood not charging the owner I'm really fond of true measurement rough cut wood :) plus I come away with a lot of extras like barb wire and old hand tools left in these barns.
We have torn down some old barns to harvest the wood and collect a few odds and ends even free of charge. Old garage doors both standard and roll ups are very nice building tools to have around too. As for bartering, I don't see us having to barter to often unless it is something we could defiantly use to make our lives easier, like a pea sheller. Yeah I'm still waiting on one day. :) Last few years have been by hand. This year hunny borrowed one from a friend who didn't put a garden in so I am able to use. One day though by gosh darn it, I will have a pea sheller. . .
 
Old barn wood is a treasure.

I knew a fellow that custom made picture frames from it.
Simple and easy to make and people paid good bucks for the frames.
 
I make wine from just about any fruit, and have a pretty good reserve. Would I advertise it, probably not, but it could be used for barter. I think skills that others need could be traded too. I started two 5 gallon batches of wine today. One was with the blackberries I picked and the other was the first grapes, concordes, that I've picked this year. I think trading and bartering is probably essential for survival for most people. It may be dangerous to let others know you have supplies, but no one has everything they could need.
 
I drank hard liquor chased by beer.
I don't drink any alcohol any longer.
Makes me sick.
Even beer.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top