The cashless control grid may still be coming, but it is not going to replace cash anytime soon.
Though millions of people have started using digital devices to pay for goods and services, the appeal of physical cash is soaring, not fading away.
Outlook for currency production shows an astounding 5 per cent increase per year for the foreseeable future in the printing of bank notes for currencies across the globe.
That’s because, in pure and simple terms, people are demanding cash in times of crisis, and there is plenty of crisis ahead. Greece is the perfect example of what may be coming to your neck of the woods – perhaps even when you least expect it. According to FT:
One reason for the enduring appeal of cold, hard cash is the global economic downturn. Giesecke & Devrient expects banknote production to rise by 5 per cent a year for the “foreseeable future”, despite projections of double digit increases in the use of cards and other forms of electronic payments.
“Cash is 100 per cent reliable in times of crisis. It’s in periods of panic where a solid financial system has to prove itself,” said Ralf Wintergerst, a Giesecke & Devrient board member. “In a crisis situation, the demand for cash typically rises sharply. The reason for this is trust in real currency.”
The turmoil in Greece, which not only sparked speculation of a return to the drachma but also led to a surge in demand for cash, is a case in point.
The Financial Times reports that banknotes were also in high demand after the 2008 collapse began.
When, and if, that time comes, people are prepared to deal in physical money and barter/trade in useable goods and services. Digital currencies, while they offer incredible purchasing power inside a global market on the Internet, may be worthless in a crisis or disaster – particularly if the situation involves power outages or cut off access from online networks.
People do not want to be corralled into a situation of complete dependency on government assistance once a crisis or disaster hits. Physical cash, if it is stuffed under the mattress, or withdrawn before the banks close, can be used over the table, or under the table, to meet needs in a disaster.
Though the system of fiat currency itself is flawed, the physical notes, verifiable and holdable, are reassuring – perhaps deceivingly so.
The enduring appeal of banknotes is not just down to the financial crisis. More than half of payments in stable, advanced economies such as Germany’s are still made in cash, while globally the figure is about 80 per cent.
One of the reasons people flock to notes during financial panics and natural disasters lies in the way they look and feel. The desire to store your wealth in a physical object increases as the world around you becomes more uncertain… The difficulties in replicating their design and their status as legal tender create intrinsic value. (Source)
In extreme situations, however, where hyperinflation or currency instability is major – the currency, whether physical cash or digital currency can collapse leading to the kinds of scenarios seen in Weimer Republic or the more recent events in Zimbabwe or Argentina.
Gold and silver, along with other precious metals, also remain solid stores of wealth in times of great system disruption or complete currency failures. Though their prices are continually suppressed now, their true importance will become clear when they are perhaps most in need. Smaller denominations of value, such as offered by silver ounces, or small weights of gold, such as European sovereign coins, offer appropriate sizes for payments without the need to liquidate larger holdings in less than secure environments.
As SHTF previously reported, “When the system collapses, commodities become money. It’s as simple as that.”
Read more:
What is Money When the System Collapses?
Food, Guns, Gold: “The Record is Rather Clear On the Side of Commodity Money”
Chapman: Will we look like Weimar, Zimbabwe or Argentina?
You Can’t Eat Gold… But It’s Portable, Easy To Trade and Confiscation-Proof
It Took 22 Years to Get to This Point
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I can and will barter when the time is right. Hell, I already do.
BigB
As i’ve said many times, i’ll be willing to trade a can of Chef Boyardee to the first HUNGRY/STARVING person offering me a gold coin. 🙂
Eventually cash will be eliminated as that is the ace in the hole for the Banksters to force us into their Ponzi Scheme.
i’ll trade a can for SILVER….sorry to underbid yuh, rodster.
Ill trade a bag of veggies for a days work in the fields
Ammo can also be used as currency. Although I would not tradeout any ammo bigger than a .22 cal. The rest is for my party time in SHTF.
~WWTI
This is like saying lasers will replace bullets soon. Ain’t gonna happen. Millions won’t comply and barter instead. F uck the government.
Zero, lasers can get fried by an EMP but won’t do anything to cash. Cash will only lose its appeal to me when they finally eliminate it and I won’t go for any digital crap.
Cash, about 3 months expenses, should be an integral part of a family’s plan for surivingu the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse… Which will begin 3 days after the banks and food stores close and after the EBT refills stop. Imho be ready w cash & the 4 basic metals (gold coins silver brass lead)and food and ammo. Be ready . Cities will be Zomie Zones asap
A handful of .22 shells for a handful of gold coins sounds about right.
.22 shells are lighter to carry than gold. Plus .22 rounds are more versatile. They speak almost every language known to mankind.
BigB
The problem with PM’s is the 20-25% premium you must pay to the dealers to purchase them.
Swinginrichard. Right now dealers are selling silver .999 rounds- 1 Oz @ .75 cents to a dollar over spot. Not 20%+.. Get away from Biggies corner Pawn Shop.. ha!!
~WWTI
The price over spot gets past on when you sell and the gap will incrrease as paper prices for metal continues to fall.
That leaves Bitcoin that comes with a 35% chance of not seeing a cent because the agents vanish with your cash when you try to purchase them of the fiat banking system that has this cancer known as inflation and money printing.
I will keep stacking more when prices seem to have hit rock bottom, no other option
What?? You mean Bitcoin isn’t real money???
I had to explain to my idiot brother last weekend just what buying gold and silver actually was…. Think it was the first time he’d ever seen a silver bar or gold coin…
At least the rest of my family is starting to see that the market is going to crash. Maybe they won’t be a total burden when the SHTF after all, we’ll see…
I’ve managed to save some cash living like a pauper and about a hundred ounces of silver. I want to relocate away from the packed rat race, concern about the ever growing police state and the ability to potentially drive 1 or 2 thousand miles away is troubling. I’m thinking the cops are going to stop me and steal whatever I have accumulated with no crime being committed by me. It is my major concern about leaving.
aljamo, you are awake and so far ahead of the vast majority. Follow God and ‘Fear Not’.
Justified concern, a friend went to the mainland and took cash with him in a belt stuffed in his bags,
It was taken by TSA inspectors
5k gone just like that
Kula.
Man that even has me PISSED OFF!
The TSA is known for their thievery. The Spokane airport is notorious that if you fly with a gun in cargo to go big game hunting, the weapon never arrives. What do we expect when we give low iq 13 bux and hour and unlimited power? The TSA has stopped me from flying cold. I will drive my van from coast to coast b/4 I will ever fly again unless it is an emergency. But be informed also the police will confiscate cash as well. If you are traveling in a van outfitted to live in or a motorhome, the police MUST obtain a search warrant before entering your dwelling. By that time you can get yourself a lawyer standing outside your vehicle and that will deter the thieves. It is way past obvious the so called protectors have become the predators.
Yea, it was a bummer for them, he was taking his family to florida to disney and it was cash he saved specificly for the trip, they ended up having to use credit cards for everything and the TSA said they couldnt do anything about it..
.02 and Kula, braveheart never flies anywhere, period. If he can’t get to someplace by driving there, then he doesn’t go. I never give up anything to anyone, period.
Have any of you tried to barter something?
I had two successful barters recently. I had two trees that i needed cut down. On the first tree I traded a Mosin Nagant Rifle with bayonet and 100 rounds of ammo. It was about a $120 value trade.
The second tree I traded three rounds of silver, then it was about a $63 in value.
So for $183 i had two trees cut down and cut up. I had a cash bid of $400.
The gun trade was to a prison guard the silver trade was to a meth head.
I have acquired 10 mosin nagants for trading. I got them from J&G sales for $100 each. If you are going to barter, you have to have something the other people will want. Some people says they would never trade a gun, but I think there are so many guns out there anyway that it really does not matter. Of course, I would never trade to a felon or a thug.
John Stiner, That’s a great idea about the cheap rifles for barter. But is it a good idea to let a meth head know that you have silver?
Probably not a good idea, but if the Meth head comes back with the wrong intentions. I’m sure Mr. John Stiner will offer him some Lead instead of Silver.
Situation Resolved!
When it comes to drugged out zombies and you want one shot and one kill, make mine a 45. In a shtf scenario why waste ammo?
.02, spot on. Better yet, don’t deal with any such scum if you can avoid it. If they come to me, it’s hot lead and nothing else.
Have you ever met a roofer, painter, handyman, or laborer that was not a meth head drug addict?
The only ones that arn’t are Mexicans, and they may be more dangerous than the drug addicts.
aljamo, these accounts of “civil asset forfeiture” by police around the country just destroy any thought of freedom…guilty first, prove your innocence after, if you can afford to..disgusting.
We’ve relocated away from said rat race and have found relative peace, but there are always trade-offs. Wherever you go, research thoroughly first..
Ditto on the silver!
Its not even guilty.
Civil asset forfeitures are based on “preponderance of evidence” not “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
That means the government only has to prove that the money is 51% likely that the proceeds are from a criminal enterprise rather than prove 100% that the money is from criminal proceeds.
The cashless society is coming.
But right now, possession of cash/coins is king. When the Atm’s go down, having some small bills, 1’s,5,10’s and change will be valuable.
But, the cashless society will bring on the mark of the beast
so many talk about. Think about, when and if all monetary transactions are done digitally, think of the control.
Nevertheless, keep preparing, we are not truly ready for the events that preparing to unfold.
You had a meth head cutting trees on your property?
Brave guy.
I don’t even let methheads near me.
I have read some articles lately that claim the Iran Nuke deal has nothing to do with nukes. It has to do with Iran’s markets opening up. The articles said that Europe will no longer go with the sanctions we have had on Iran for the last decade. It would mean that Iran would deal in oil in currency other than US dollars. That could lead to the fall of the dollar as reserve currency.
Bartering may become a way of life quicker than we thought!
Mike, as is … Iran does NOT sell their Oil for US Dollars.
This has been the problem from day #1. Iran has been selling their oil in return of different currencies.
This is why Iran gets a bad name in the MSM, and nothing more.
This is why IRAQ, LIBYA … (add others here that we bomb or institute a puppet regime here)
Iran does not need Nuclear weapons to protect itself, it never did. They are strong enough to defend themselves.
The crybabies, such as Israel does not want Iran to have the capabilities of enriching Plutonium Grade Weapons, yet Iran has been not achieving such a percentage per Atomic Inspections.
Iran is, and has been a member of the IAEA.
Israel is NOT, and by now. Everybody should know by now that Israel possess numerous Nuclear warheads. It’s not a secret anymore.
The bottom line here is – If other countries refuse to sell their Oil for US Dollars.
“We’ll bomb the fuck outta ‘ya and smear bad publicity about you too”.
If the US dollar is taken down as the world reserve currency, then the dollar becomes worthless in just months, and people will wish they had gold or silver, food and preps.
The dollar being taken out as the reserve currency is the worst possible event. It will be America’s Weimar Event. Runaway Hyper-inflation is the only result. Oil and other trade contracts can be good for months, so the dollar destruction wouldn’t be immediate, but as contracts unwind and no new ones replace them that use dollars, the dollar becomes worthless.
Since our infrastructure has been destroyed by outsourcing and cheap imports, if the dollar dies you won’t be able to afford buy food or even a lightbulb.
John Kerry was quoted as saying that ‘if we don’t do this deal with Iran US will lose world reserve currency status’. The way Russia and China back Iran, I’d say good ole USA got backed in a corner.
If I have said it once I have said it 100 times.
IF YOU DON’T HAVE IT (cash/silver/gold) IN YOUR HAND YOU DON’T REALLY HAVE IT. Paper and digital silver and gold means nothing!
I use the barter system when I reload. Two your you and one for me. Works well. Firearms training. I train you and you buy me AMMO. Or like the last one I did. I trained Momma, Papa and three baby bears. They got me a gift certificate, and I used it to buy me a Nagant and 500 rounds. I like the barters system!
Sgt.
lot that SGT………. yep in your hand or it’s not yours.
lot that SGT………. yep in your hand or it’s not yours.
Had a run in with gravity today. Was speed walking to get in better shape and I crashed and burned on the paved trail in the Forest Preserves. I was too far to the right side of the trail in order to give the cyclists plenty of room. No more. I’ve got real good arm strength, so I didn’t break anything when I kissed the ground, but I’m on blood thinners and my left leg is still oozing blood 2 hours after. Just a reminder to exercise before it’s too late. Get in shape before the balloon goes up.
That’s unfortunate Prophet!
The thing I like to keep in the back of my mind, is if I find myself in a situation like that….
Anything in your hands – toss them away from you.
Don’t brace or try to regain yourself.
Do what is naturally and tuck and roll.
May you heal and recover quickly.
Heal quickly my friend. I just started running again last week. It’s been three years. Anyway, I ran 1/2 miles of. 2 mile loop Thursday, then 1.5 miles of two miles loop Saturday. I was really drained… Don’t think your gonna desk jockey w occasional yard work to keep in shape then go full tilt when shtf. You will be physically and mentally exhausted and get sloppy, miss something or make a mistake.
I was reading one article from the past dated 2011. There was talk about body armor then. Plus a few other items.
Rule number ONE; you must make it to the other side for any PM’s to be worth anything. If you get there who is going to determined what the PM’s are worth aka: the new bankers?? Good clean water (with a reliable source) is all the wealth you will need in the fore seeable future IMHO.
Thank you. There was no time to do anything. Must have been an extra strong gravity warp. Hee, Hee.
Everyone has an opinion on what will work for “money”.
I have joked about being a bitcoin millionaire, but I have never bought a single bitcoin.
I agree with the author that FRNs will be useful for a time, as they are easily recognized by most as “money”.
The world is in a deflationary death spiral that it will never pull out of. Gold and silver are not useful in times like these. They are being crushed because they are simply traded as commodities and not money…like all commodities. They need a working monetary system with inflation in the commodity sector to determine their value as “money”. No one, but “hard money” backers value precious as money and they are few and far between. Most people will take an FRN before silver and I expect that will continue until there is no longer a viable economy except for barter of food, ammo, petrol and sex.
The most valuable one of those will be petrol. Start stockpiling it as a currency now. You will be the local feudal lord. Yes, much like 1984 was more a tale of fact and not fiction, so was Mad Max…
I’m all for a hard money backed system, but truth is, we haven’t had one for over one hundred years on a local scale and few recognize the value and they are not used worldwide either.
The facts are, the world economy does not operate on paper, PMs, or bitcoin. All of those are just a proxy for hydrocarbons…the REAL currency of Industrial Civilization. Right now, the oil sector is taking up so much productivity in EROEI to pump it out and get it to market that it has become a drag on the world’s economy. Cheap oil is gone (and, no, $40 a barrel is NOT cheap oil) and the world is in a deflationary death spiral because of that.
Billions of unfunded liabilities will soon be liquidated by starvation and unrest. Try not to be one of them..
JRS, I expect it all depends on the need(s) of the seller on what would be acceptable to let something go.
During a trip last week around the Oregon border in the Tulelake, CA area I saw a complex visible from US 395 about 20 miles south of the Oregon border. No car stopping (except for the bug station) but I saw alleged checkpoints being built between intersecting highways. I also saw acres of empty new townhouses with security fences and camera towers in the middle of nowhere; no cars, newly planted trees, no people etc. A major train route operates along the highway between the lake and a the highway with a steep mountainside on the other side. A great location to isolate to train traffic only.
“If you don’t hold it, you don’t own it”…Ponce
Ponce who ?
🙂
de Leon.
Cash transactions are hard to track.
Digital transactions are easy to track,
Guess which ones will be allowed and which ones will be outlawed in the near future.
Both statements above are true.
However, since much of the above ground economy depends on the untrackable underground economy, how do you kill it without killing the golden egg laying goose ?
For example: Illegal drug sales. That would stop almost overnight with a trackable, all digital economy…..thus winning the “war” on drugs.
But WHAT do drug dealers do with their earnings ? They eat…they pay their rent…they buy $250 sneakers…..they buy Escalades with big shiny wheels…and all that money floats into the real economy, paying sales taxes, property taxes, income taxes and so on.
You can’t take away one without taking away the other.
THAT is the problem ! And why we won’t go digital for a long time, if ever….
We wont get any warning as to when king dollar plummets.
I have been a faithful reader of this site for a long time now. I’ve decided it was time to join the discussion.
My wife and I and our 5 kids moved out of the city 9mos ago and bought our house with acreage in the country(paid for in cash…no debt here)
Thanks to Mac and many posters here, we are way ahead of the game…..but have a long way to go.
My advice to anyone just waking up is to prep food,water, ammo 1st. Get out of all debt if possible, then buy silver,gold etc.
We found it to be of the utmost importance to educate ourselves continually. Lots of trial & error.
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to say thanks and WOW it’s been great to breath the country air again!
Trailblazer. Im right there with ya at my BOL and on schedule before SHTF if it does. Working on the gauntlet gate, all land sides have a 6 Ft 3 strand barbed wire fence. Motion detectors, stealth game cams. Etc.. Gators in the mote and backed up to swamp…. nothing is coming from that direction but wild game that resides on the property. Check out some of the other sites listed here on SHTFPlan for ideas.. property security is all about layers and stealthy, etc..
~WWTI. Good Luck!!
Thanks WWTI!
Will check them out….and secure the property for sure.
Went to buy some ammo today at Dick’s. They were having a good sale, so I stocked up and brought my cash. Went to to the check out counter and am forced to show my FOID card(the great state of IL) and they typed my number into their computer.WTF!! Now I’m on the grid. Might as well have used my credit card. Never shopping at Dick’s again! I haven’t bought any ammo for awhile. Is this the new way for tracking ammo purchases? Is this at Dick’s? Or are they doing this other places? Anyone else bought ammo in IL lately?
In CT they are making people buy ammo permits if they do not own a gun, other wise show your ccw. As of the time I moved out they were not tracking numbers. The state just wants the money for the licenses.
They’re ever turning up the heat and I can’t get my skin off to get comfortable. Getting skinned by the government hasn’t helped. Gotta be patient! Ribbit ribbit ribbit…
GOT P and J?
canned peanut butter is my new thing.
now i’m into buying canned peanut butter, gonna keep buying a few cans every month till i’ve enough to last 3 months just eating peanut butter.
with my 3 month stash of chocolate and peanut butter at hand, i’ll happily sit content through any shtf event in my remote woodsy dugout cabin , snug as a bugbear, as the Zog Amerikan tax debt slave Sheeple turn into Zombies after the shtf in the town’s scattered around the valley below me.
;0)
tradable goods…..beats cash any day.
I’ll buy that the day you can:
Take a live chicken or box of .22 ammo into Walgreens and trade it for your blood pressure medicine.
OR
Send a box of watermelons from my garden in Tennessee to a dealer in Oregon for a jug of PRI-G over the internet.
OR
Pay the federal excise tax on a set of tires
OR
any one of a million other things you can’t easily barter for…
So, no….trade goods DO NOT beat cash any day….or even most days. This ain’t 1750 and you ain’t running a trading post on the frontier.
Money is a handy, human invention. If trade goods beat it, then trade goods would run the economy.
The question then becomes: “WHAT IS MONEY ?”….and who gets to control it ? Since Congress gave up their Constitutional responsibility to “COIN money,and regulate the value thereof” to a private banking cartel in 1913, the question of what is money has been up to the bankers. Not a good place to be for the rest of us.
TN Andy- The question then becomes: “WHAT IS MONEY ?”….and who gets to control it ? Since Congress gave up their Constitutional responsibility to “COIN money,and regulate the value thereof” to a private banking cartel in 1913, the question of what is money has been up to the bankers. Not a good place to be for the rest of us.
Your observations are correct for the status quo scenario, and I agree 100% about our money system. Can we get back to the mandated constitutional system?
Barter items will apply for a grid down scenario. Air, Water, Warmth and Food are first priorities for survival.
In the case of a total economic collapse the internet, cell phones, land lines, atms, banks, communications providers will be seized for national security reasons. BP meds, tires or Pri-G will not be available. The businesses that made those items will be closed down and boarded up when the magic green disappears.
I’ve been teaching myself small engine repair. however gasoline will also be in high demand and low availability.
I live in Virginia with wildlife abounding all around us and fresh water and firewood. My network is a few trustworthy neighbors and country boys and a small community organization can be had here in a few days.
I don’t think we’ll devolve into the Road scenario, Japan didn’t, but the next round will have to be simpler.