As people make preparations for numerous potential scenarios where survival will be a struggle for most, the thought of bartering comes into play, especially for those who think an economic collapse is on the horizon. When society collapses and the money is only worth the paper it’s printed on, trading the neighbors a bag of rice for a bag of flour seems like it could become a new way of life.
We are not fans of bartering, especially in a SHTF scenario.
Bartering just doesn’t seem like it will be a reliable means of exchange. Not when you really think about it. Things will be very volatile and very unpredictable. I’ve done a little research on bartering in general, and while I can’t quote an exact study, from what I’ve read it seems as though one party always gets the short end of the stick in a bartering arrangement. It seems as though it’s quite rare for both parties to benefit and be pleased with the arrangement. I’m sure it happens, just like when the worst team wins a game once in a while. If only one party benefits on average in normal times, what could this look like in frantic and desperate times?
When it’s a struggle to survive, people change and their character changes. You could see yourself in a position where you might have your goods taken from you by force. You are also in effect advertising to the public that you have supplies, and that could make you very vulnerable moving forward for the duration of what we go through. The negatives seem to outweigh the positives on a grand scale.
An Example Worth Looking At
I’ve always found the country of Argentina to be very interesting, for a multitude of reasons. Argentina has seen their currency collapse numerous times over the last few decades. Several times there has been hyperinflation that rivals the Weimar Republic (Germany) in 1921 and anything really from the past century. From my detailed research, I haven’t seen any evidence that bartering really came into play in Argentina. Each time hyperinflation happened, everyone but the very wealthy struggled, and the government tried to subsidize the public with food to avoid civil unrest and rioting.
Most recently, in 2023 it is the same old story in Argentina. In attempts to combat inflation, or hyperinflation depending how you look at it, they have raised interest rates to over 140%!! Large stacks of cash are necessary to eat lunch in a restaurant. The rate of exchange versus the U.S. Dollar fluctuates rapidly and Argentinians have to check the status of their Peso vs the Dollar on a daily basis.
The Silver Scenario
Some preppers are stocking up on silver coins as a means of exchange for what they’ll need. Some people devote large portions of their prepping budget to fractional silver rounds and the old pre-1963 coins that had actual silver in them, hoping to trade a couple old dimes for a loaf of bread.
Investing in silver coins is probably actually a really good idea in general. Wherever you are as you read this, your nation’s currency will continue to degrade over time, and your silver coins will go up in value over time. So silver is good, but silver should have nothing to do with your prepping at all, in our humble opinion. In a SHTF scenario, you don’t want to be out mixing with a desperate public negotiating barter deals. You want to be hunkered down at home, and you want to have everything you need to weather the storm.
When it comes down to it, you don’t want to be trying to
