Courtesy of David DeGerolamo, we have this:

Gold…

Today, another NEW record high in US dollar terms.

In other words,

The dollar is getting debased rapidly vs. gold.

— Gold Telegraph ⚡ (@GoldTelegraph_) September 23, 2024

     And it is so. The awareness of that debasement (which is a synonym for inflation) has driven smart people throughout the world to hedging their wealth by acquiring gold, most often in the form of gold-bullion coins. However, at over $2600 per Troy ounce, gold as a medium of exchange for goods today is a bit pricey. Should there be a complete collapse of the dollar, the most likely medium of exchange for day-to-day commerce would be silver, perhaps with copper coins for small change.

     So those smart people aren’t acquiring gold and only gold. They’re also adding silver to their hoards, usually in the form of “silver rounds.” (The U.S. Mint frowns on calling anything it hasn’t issued a “coin.”) There are a lot of such rounds on sale today… but there’s a hitch: unless the maker of the coin is widely regarded to be trustworthy, a trader might suspect it of not being true silver. (Apologies to the dwarves of Middle Earth for the “cultural appropriation.”)

     Mind you, I don’t know how likely that is. Counterfeiting silver rounds has a relatively low profit margin, especially if we take the labor required into account. Still, some will worry. So courtesy of Craig Schaaf at Gab.com, here’s a chart that sets out the silver content of various U.S. silver coins:

     Schaaf also has some useful ideas about how to go about bartering silver for goods in a collapsed-dollar scenario:

     So I’m skipping ahead to look at what does happen after people lose confidence in a fiat currency and are no longer willing to trust it. There are many historical examples you can study to understand the basic principles that play out. During a time when prices begin to inflate rapidly people will often give up on trying to keep up with it and look for what I call a “mental anchor”. This is a coping mechanism that is very natural as people want to feel like they can gain control again of something that has totally gone out of control. In Germany after the war it was a carton, pack, and individual cigarettes. In Brazil I’m told in many areas it was a gallon of milk. A mental exercise you can do now, is take several important needs and compare them. Let’s say a gallon of raw milk from the local dairy farmer, a face cord of oak firewood and the average wage. Now before anyone gets bent out of shape on the figures I’m going to attach. I realize these things are quite varied depending on where you live. So here is my community. Milk $3.00 Gallon, Face cord of oak firewood $60.00, and average wage $15.00 hour. Now these are anchor points to relate to. So you could also say it another way Oak firewood is the same as 20 Gallons of milk, or four hours of labor. Now none of that can be set in stone. Milk may be so much in demand that people are willing to exchange for it differently. This is a place to start mentally.

     Add to that the price of silver at the point of the collapse: let’s imagine it to be $30 per Troy ounce, just to keep the numbers round. That would suggest bartering levels such as these:

     NB: I’m not postulating that the above are the actual numbers that would apply. Indeed, in all probability silver would be priced considerably higher in fiat dollars just before a dollar collapse. Still, we have here a useful starting point for the post-dollar precious-metals marketplace.

     Thoughts, Gentle Reader?