Belt Auction - In the banking crisis should we hoard rare metals and antiques rather than cash?

In the banking crisis should we hoard rare metals and antiques rather than cash?

Given the economic crisis, would we be better off avoiding the banking system by hoarding say, rare metals and antiques rather than cash.

Public Comments

When inflation arrives. Before Hitler, and after WW I, it took 1 Trillion Marks to buy a loaf of bread. The way we're spending Trillions, that may happen here.
just avoid america.... convert your money into the chinese currency... because when the dollar collapses (which will be in about 5 years)... the euro also might.. same with the pound... it might create a domino affect.. but the chinese currency wont be hurt.. stay out of america.....
No, because if you buy Gold at $900/oz. unless you sell it privately to someone, the most that you'll get is $400/oz. It's a wonderful investment when you buy and a terrible investment when you sell.
hoarding is bad during an economic crisis that is how the stock market crashed in 1929 spending money would have prevented it but since it was the first time in human history that happen nobody knew but now we do
It's a steep recession but America has always bounced back. Those who think we aren't coming out of it don't understand how powerful our economy actually is. Excessive paranoia doesn't help; our currency is backed by trust in it.
During Jimmy "you can trust me" Carter's inflation people spent money as fast as they got it because it was evaporating. They invested in anything tangible; land, art, machine tools, precious metals, etc. Problem with metals is there is always someone with more clout and a bigger idea. The Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market and got it almost to $50/ox, clearly outside the bounds of reason. When gold hit $8-- and the general public woke up and rushed in to buy, the smart money was selling. It peaked there and once again the masses lost. But the dollar (federal reserve scam note) can not survive this present fiasco. It may take several years for the last of its value to get sucked away (leaving us with the paper) but in times of inflation anything real is better than paper promises which are gone soon like dry ice on a hot day. EDIT: lincoln 6 is wrong. if gold is $1k and you buy 1 oz krugerands your cost is 1070 plus sales tax. You can sell for 1002. So that's about 7% "spread" between bid and ask, plus the sales tax loss unless you find a way to buy it without incurring the tax.
Simple answer - No Invest in cheap stocks etc now while prices are low and reap the rewards when stable companies come out the other end