The Value of Gold and Silver Coins in Barter

(Provided by Jerry D. Young)

Pre-1965 dimes, quarters and halves are 90% silver.  Right now a bag of $1,000.00 face value sells for approximately $ 5,300.00.  The value can never go below $ 1,000.00 since that is the face value, even if the price of silver drops to next to nothing. If it goes up, they can be sold.  But if Badtimes come many people are going to want a medium of exchange.  Money.  And I personally think that many will trust and use pre-1965 US coins and gold coins, once things stabilize.  It will be too hard, just as it is now, to make direct one-to-one barters.  Sure, many will be done, as they are now, but money makes it easier.  Not everyone will be willing to accept them, but I think many will.  The value will be set by supply and demand.  In one of the stories I’ve written,

(Jerry’s stories can be found at http://thesurvivalist.tripod.com/survival/id11.html I believe that one of the stories called “Percy’s Mission”)

a silver dime is worth a meal, a quarter three meals or an hour of labor and 1/10 ounce gold Eagle was worth 20 silver quarters or 50 silver dimes, using a 36 to 1 silver to gold ratio.  That is something I just came up with because it was easy to calculate for the story. 

The real value would evolve based on the supply of silver and gold verses the commodities and services being bartered.  Most coin shops can get and will sell rolls of the coins that have no numismatic value for just a little over the spot price of silver. 

Any other questions feel free to post or PM me.

You can reach Jerry D. Young at Survival Talk Forums.  http://www.myfreebulletinboard.com/f/index.php?mforum=survival&act=idx