Currency, or staying solvent WTSHTF

Unless you live in a fully self-sustaining farm, off the grid, far from your neighbors, with no needs that you cannot personally provide from raw materials, there's a good chance that some form of barterable currency has a cozy spot in your contingency plans. Now, the casual survivalists that we know aren't big hedge fund dudes or loud-talking gold bugs or even latte-sipping, Euro-hoarding weenies. Rather, they are smart, fun-loving sorts who can pull a good time out of a shitty circumstance with just a few resources at hand.

Yes yes yes, you mutter, starting to skim over the last part of that paragraph. What does this have to do with MONEY? What should I be stocking up on? Okay, here's the breakdown that I personally think looks good, as of this second - make of it what you will:

GOLD

So gold is a great investment, if you got into it 5 years ago when it was still $400/oz or so. Nowadays, with it stumbling around on the thousand dollar mark, I'd avoid it. Who knows, maybe it will skyrocket up to $5000 - there are a lot of arguments that spell out how seriously UNDERvalued it is now, even at $1000. My personal opinion is that anything that is the size of a brass button and costs more than a new computer is probably going to get lost at some point. As for it being a barterable medium or somehow getting you out of trouble in tough times - eh, maybe you could sell a 1-oz coin to make the rent some month, if you're short, but in real crisis or disaster situations I think it would be more of an anxiety and a liability to carry around a bunch of gold. Which brings us to-

SILVER

I like silver. It's not an easy think to like, if you follow the daily spot price, but overall I think it makes sense to have a little bit on hand. Some people go with 100oz bars; I just have a couple dozen 1-oz coins. I got them when silver was still down around 10 bucks an ounce, so I see each coin as about an hour of honest human work, in terms of bartering. Plus, they are pretty.

MATTRESS DOLLARS

So the banks are looking a little iffy lately, aren't they? I'm sure they'll be fine but - just in case - I think it's wise to keep a little smidgen of cash around. Now, for security reasons, I'm not saying where I keep mine, or how much, but think about some likely situations and what kinds of tender are likely to help. Small and medium bills, maybe kept in small easy to count bundles. Probably a roll of quarters would be a good thing to have too. What I don't recommend is taking your entire savings out of the bank and keeping it in a greasy paper back under the radiator. Balance, Daniel-san.

BARTERABLES

Our thinking is that if the shit REALLY goes down, the best things to have will be useful, in-demand skills like beer brewing, solar power know-how, gardening and farming expertise, etc. In terms of quick, material barterables, probably the best bet will be lightweight, high quality tools. Cooking knives, multitools, gardening implements, hatchets - things that go quick when society hits a little speed bump.

Just remember that the only worth any form of currency has is what you can get for it in trade. You could someday find yourself buying a bathtub martini for two rolls of toilet paper - plus tip.