r/PreppersUK • u/Loud_Matter359 • Jan 27 '26
Discussion What do you think real currency will be in a serious long term situation?
I have seen people go wild recently over prices of gold and silver sky rocketting, got me thinking is it going to be worth anything in a serious long term situation?
Assume EMP, Famine, War, Climate scenarios or whatever is plausable to yourself.
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u/Any-Rutabaga-3575 Jan 27 '26
Gold is only worth as much as people are willing to pay for it. It has no inherent value. In a long term survival situation gold would be worthless and even if society recovered it wouldn't be worth much compared to items of high utility
I think in a long term survival situation barter and trade would be more the situation we'd be dealing with. Currency would be meaningless. Food and medicine would be highest value
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u/setokaiba22 Jan 28 '26
Gold is always seen as something of value though even in ancient egyptian times and before.
Food/water would be the first sort of currency but as (or if) society continues to survive and grow it wouldn’t be long before Gold returns as value. Humans are greedy
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u/Any-Rutabaga-3575 Jan 28 '26
In stable societies it is. And sure, gold's value would return when society became more stable, but so would normal currency too. Gold can absolutely have value in situations like hyper inflation and it's universally valued while societies are still stable even if others aren't, but if the question is what to use as a currency during a long term survival situation then gold holds no real value.
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u/jovisomniaplena Jan 28 '26
Food doesn't keep. If you start trading distances then you need a currency that can travel and not expire. Gold and silver remain kings.
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u/Any-Rutabaga-3575 Jan 29 '26
Why would you be trading at distance during a survival situation?
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u/jovisomniaplena Jan 29 '26
Well if you stop for a second to think... people always traded with others from other regions or countries. Romans with people across the Mediterranean, Asia with Venice along the silk road... Do you think survival means not moving from your garden? In a survival situation you may need a resource unattainable where you are requiring to travel a distance to acquire it. Food as currency would rot during such travel whereas a currency like gold, would allow trade. Just like in ancient times.
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u/Any-Rutabaga-3575 Jan 30 '26
So you're suggesting that in a survival situation where our currency is worthless and we have no government that we should keep gold on hand in case we need to do a bit of international trade?
The only trade you'll be doing is either intracommunity or with other communities and people nearby, and they're going to care more about food than gold
You're not gunna be going to other countries to do trade in these scenarios 🤣🤣 do you get all your prepping skills from TV shows and video games????
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u/Icy-Bat-2096 Mar 20 '26
A lot of food can be kept for extended periods. Jams, Rice, pasta, wheat in airtight .
Gold and silver were used in ancient times yes, but trading in goods still existed parrel to it
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u/AdQuirky3151 Jan 27 '26
I watched a documentary about the collapse of Venezuela, and the people of a certain city remained quite civilized despite the currency collapse, and any item could be exchanged for another... A local merchant had a small market, and a goat herder showed up with 12kg of cheese and traded it for other items like pasta, rice, fruit, etc... Basically, anything physical that has value to another person willing to exchange it for something will be used as currency; I wouldn't worry too much about it.
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u/Naive_Carpenter7321 Jan 28 '26
Good old fashioned bartering, it will take over. "real currency" was just a tool to make bartering easier, but it is far from essential.
OP's question is funny because in world collapse we've been conditioned to worry about money, not food or water. If you have access to food and water, you're 99% of the way to security we work our backsides off for today, find a cave and you're sorted.
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u/IntoTheCommonestAsh Jan 27 '26
Metals are a good holder of wealth, but a terrible currency. Do you really wanna start having to identify real silver and gold yourself for every transaction?
Their use case is for rare transfers of large amounts of wealth, like converting a good chunk of it to a currency to start a new life, or making large transactions.
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u/KaiNinaste Jan 31 '26
Porn
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u/Loud_Matter359 Jan 31 '26
Like Nuts magazine?
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u/KaiNinaste Jan 31 '26
Aslong as it's not that breast feeding one I found in a bush once, absolutely
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u/daveboreanazhouse Jan 27 '26
Short term during a severe collapse:
Canned or preserved food, medicines (especially anti biotics), water and water purifiers, fuels like diesel or petrol.
Longer term:
All the above plus gold, silver, guns and ammunition.
Potentially also lithium, stainless steel, coal, and maybe eventually slaves.
Would like to know if there's anything obvious I've missed.
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u/silentv0ices Jan 28 '26
You would be better off with tobacco and alcohol than gold or silver.
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u/daveboreanazhouse Jan 28 '26
The question is about currency.
Tobacco would run out very quickly, and alcohol cannot be classed as currency in my opinion because there is no way of guaranteeing purity, and it could get spilled during an exchange.
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u/silentv0ices Jan 28 '26
😂 And you think gold and silver work better? How are people testing for purity? Your own arguments work against you.
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u/daveboreanazhouse Jan 28 '26
There are many ways to test the purity of metals such as weight, taste, colour, and acid testing. Plus they can't be watered down like alcohol.
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u/silentv0ices Jan 28 '26
😂 Carry on with your delusions.
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u/daveboreanazhouse Jan 28 '26
No counter argument so you resort to insults. Sad but unsurprising.
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u/silentv0ices Jan 28 '26
There's no arguing with a fool who thinks he can identify gold from tast.
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u/daveboreanazhouse Jan 30 '26
Taste*
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u/silentv0ices Jan 30 '26
Well done you spotted a typing error. Now explain how gold tastes.
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u/playmegadrive3 Jan 27 '26
There are so many protectionism place for the financial institutions I can see currency surviving most events. I am a big believer in Bitcoin. As was shown by the West when Russia invaded Ukraine they turned off Apple and Google pay and made it difficult to use cards. So the people turned to crypto as it cannot be controlled by a company or government. Crypto will be the future for trading goods during any sort of invasion or government closure
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u/Strange-Berry8577 Jan 27 '26
Until there’s no power and the internet goes down 🤷🏻♂️
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u/AdQuirky3151 Jan 27 '26
I heard a story about a guy who signed a crypto transaction using a radio signal.
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u/playmegadrive3 Jan 27 '26
I hear what you say however there will Be so many safeguards in place for the power to stay on within certain institutions that with my power backup options at home I can’t see that happening for any long period of time
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u/atom_stacker Jan 28 '26
In a serious, end of the world type scenario, shiny metals will be worthless. The only things that will have value will be things with a practical use, like bottled water, food, tools etc.
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u/GeekDomUK Jan 28 '26
All civilisations come down to those that have and those that don’t…
Food, land, safety, wealth…
How someone goes about getting it is the only difference. Trade or War…
I wouldn’t want to be the person that ‘has’ in a world filled with people that don’t.
It’s only in our current global modern-society construct, where those that have are protected from those that have not. Ie because of their wealth, what used to be for kings and queens is now for millionaires and Billionaires.
Where the richest 1% have the same wealth as the poorest 50% globally!
At some point there will be a global event, whether that’s nuclear fall out or something else, that will rebalance things. At which point all those billions of dollar won’t be worth shit.
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u/Trumpton2023 Jan 30 '26
Gold & other precious metals (abbreviated to PMs) are used by the rich as a short term safe haven to protect the value of their wealth (economic disaster, fluctuating currencies etc). As far as prepping goes, the US oriented people see it as an alternative currency after the economy fails. As a European, I think that PM's & cash are useful in the initial stages of SHTF (for purchasing or bribes), but as others have said: depending on how serious it is or gets, essentials like food & water, and later morale boosters like TP, chocolate, alcohol etc will be bartered due to scarcity.
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u/Wyldwiisel Jan 30 '26
I would go with prison currency's. Tobacco alcohol drugs tinned food noodles suger coffee. Gold tends to be too valuable for everyday trading so if that's all you have you'll take a big hit on it go for fractional silver lots of it If your in a country that allows guns then I would stock up.on .22 rifle rounds and pistols Nd rifle that uses it
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u/dudefullofjelly Jan 31 '26
Barter items like gold and silver aren't gonna disappear, but they are a bad investment for a prepper they should be at the bottom of your list. A gold coin that might be 2-4 weeks of disposable income for you now probably isn't going to be worth as much as, say, an air rifle or a shotgun that could be bought for a similar price or less at the moment.
I guess it really depends on what happened, in the case of an emp and just that the possibility of needing real money is much higher as digital banking is gone, debt is gone. Crypto and stocks and shares are gone.
So metals will probably form some basis for exchange.
Zombie apocalypse not so much, solar panels, batteries, weapons, long-term food storage, seeds, equipment like a dehydrator, or even a freeze drier, or alcohol still, axes, saws, hand tools.
and physical books that teach practical skills like gardening, survival, animal husbandry, basic medical skills, brewing, fermenting, cheese making, and foraging.
Take your pick of everything in between.
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u/piprod01 Jan 31 '26
Honestly, a good relationship with your neighbours would be far more valuable to you than hoarding toilet paper or bottlecaps like Smaug. People are not going to accept you as a petty lord for having saved gold under your bed. Unless your imagined scenario somehow involves police and a system of law being maintained for the rich.
People think that people would get more individualist, but any time there is a big disaster, it seems like the opposite happens.
If I had to pick an object... I guess something like antibiotics/common essential medicines. And barter. Something hard to produce without modern manufacturing. Probably avoid alcohol as a store of value as it's incredibly easy to make. The reason it's expensive is largely because of tax.
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u/BadAssOnFireBoss Jan 31 '26
You'd have to be smart about what you trade and who to. Bartering is about identifying the buyers need. Thirsty? Water. Hungry? Food. Sick? Medicine. Then none-essentials like alcohol and tobacco are next. Learning to brew beer and wine will be a great skill. Things like gold and silver I believe would be better kept until bullion exchanges come back then you could trade for new world currency.
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u/No_Effective_4481 Jan 31 '26
My dad messaged me a few days ago harping on about GBP tanking and only people with gold and silver reserves having any source of usable capital. He forgets the method of buying and selling his gold and silver is an online service that pays out via the banking systems.
IMO if the West falls and the banks all fail completely, gold and silver will be worthless to most of us who will have more important problems to solve like personal protection, food, water, shelter and medication.
We will be bartering daily use items and services in the short term. If some guy wants to buy my bread with gold, what use is that to me? I can't do anything with that. What I would want is food, tools, weapons and clothing.
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u/No_Topic5591 Feb 01 '26
It could be anything of which there is a limited quantity (that's supposedly why bitcoin has value). If you've been watching the Fallout TV series, they use old bottle caps, from before the war, as the technology to make more of them no longer exists.
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u/Suitable-Hand-4884 Mar 08 '26
excuse me for my two penneth worth, but short term gold ect might work in the beginning, food in the middle but Long term, meds would be a real bargaining chip, even "Out of date" Meds can be of some use.
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u/Icy-Bat-2096 Mar 20 '26
Depends how long the situation goes on for ans how bad supply networks are. Too start cash in small demoninations. Then as that becomes worthless gold and silver.
But if it is extended for a long period of time with limited surplies or strict rationing, things people need for their immediate needs. Medications, antibotics, food, water, water purification tables, food items etc.
Best bet have a little extra of everything
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u/No_Mycologist1494 Mar 30 '26
i feel like food and medicine definetely, but also things in a scarce society that reminds us of the past, or makes things that might have happened easier, cigarettes, other nicotine products, alcohol, drugs, chocolate, coffee, and of course other tools and resources. It will be sustained on trades, and a smoker with ptsd will trade more highly valuable things for a few cigarettes. whatever is important to the specific person.
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Jan 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/Loud_Matter359 Jan 27 '26
Okay so lets just say hypotethically something happens like what has happend in Iran where the Sterling or Euro collapses what then.
Im not talking speculation about the current commodity, just what actually would be the currency in a collapse.
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u/FantasyJunkie91 Jan 27 '26
Keep in mind what 'money' is (whether that is in the form of precious metal coins, paper notes/bills or digital crypto).
It's tokens that we have collectively agreed have value so we can exchange them for good and services but can be stored for later and carried more conveniently than raw goods or hours of work (think of 'caps' in the Fallout universe).
Precious metals and jems at least have some inherent value (they are rare, pretty and have a few technical uses), but the paper money we use day to day and the 1's and 0's of crypto are only good for as long as we all agree they are. Or in the case of crypto, as long as the current digital financial system is functioning.
'Money' is simply a way of storing wealth for later, for example: A medieval farmer grows 100 sheaves of wheat. He takes these to the miller and they get ground into flour, he now has 60 bags of flour He gives the miller 5 bags for the use of his mill. He now has 55.
He keeps 10 for his family, gives 15 to his lord and 10 to the church (because he is a medieval farmer, I'm pulling these numbers out of my arse). He now has 20 bags left.
But he doesn't need 20 extra bags of flour right now. He needs meat and vegetables and ale and leather and cloth and someone to repair the the cart and someone else to sharpen the plow and he needs to pay the midwife and the doctor and he needs pots and pans and wood to fix the roof and on and on all through the year.
Paying the midwife two cups of flour and the blacksmith half a bag isn't really practical however. And neither is trying to store all this extra flour for the long term. So instead he takes to to market and sells it to people individually, or in bulk to a merchant who will take it further than the farmer can himself, for mutually agreed upon tokens (in this case gold/silver/copper coins) that he can use later, bit by bit.
After WW2 the US put serious effort into making the dollar the standard international currency but the last 10 years or so have eroded the trust in that system.
Gold and silver used to be the standard and we might end up going back to that but others here are right to point out that in a desperate situation you can't eat gold.
So, worst case scenario (civilisation as we know it completely collapses) in the short term we will be trading goods and work for goods and work. Mid to long term we may go back to precious metal tokens.
In a not quite as bad scenario (goods shortages, inflation and ineffectual government) paper money may still be accepted (and offered) by government bodies but people will be bartering amongst themselves. That barter will probably rate gold/silver over paper money but below physical goods.
In either scenario crypto and any digital wealth (ie money in the banking system) is fucked.
I would say it is worth it to have a small amount of precious metals but not much. It it will probably be better to have jewellery rather than bullion since if you are trading it person to person its only value will be in its aesthetics. Go to a pawn shop and buy a couple of chains with the carot value stamped on them and leave it at that.
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u/Emotional_Passion929 Feb 01 '26
Gold is up, urging all thugs
Trade in y'all chains for cash and splurge it on drugs
A more secure investment
Food and water, a couple of gallons for your cutest daughter
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u/txe4 Jan 27 '26
If civilisation is basically intact but there is a financial/economic crisis like a hyperinflation - typically the currency of the nearest significant stable non-enemy state is used. The default currently is dollars. Eg Zimbabwe used ZAR and dollars; Serbia used Deutschmark. Gold would be reasonably convertible to it but you wouldn't want great bricks of it; sovereigns not krugerrand. Often in such circumstances governments take steps to confiscate foreign currencies and gold.
The most useful currency will be the one the underworld - drug dealers, prostitutes, black marketeers - uses.
If civilisation broadly is seriously impaired or your part of it is isolated then barter is more likely. Typically in such situations - like prisons or completely isolated societies - the medium of exchange/account becomes some portable high value good *of use* - cans of tuna or cigarettes.
Gold is no use to starving people.
Gold is a useful store of value if there's some functioning civilisation to escape to or obtain goods from.