You have silver coins? What are they worth?
Actually, the first question is, “What is a coin?” Most folks have only a dim idea. A metal coin is typically made from metals of varying relative value. They are stamped to show that the weight is fair, the purity of the metal is correct, and the values are determined by the coins’ production in copper, silver and gold, copper being least valuable, gold, the most.
Normally, things like coins have fairly predictable values, but how do things tend to shake out when conditions get rough? Today, you can walk into any coin or precious metals dealer and everybody knows the value of the stuff they’re trading.
Besides the raw melt value of the metal, there is the scarcity and condition of the coin to be considered — which is far beyond the ordinary individual’s intention or perception. In short, most folks are ignorant, and it’s not just coins we’re talking about here.
But in a true raw survival scenario, out in the woods or on the open plain, the value system collapses down to immediate usefulness and recognition:
- Food, water, medicine
- Tools, fuel, ammo
- Skills and relationships
Silver coins—even beautiful Morgans—don’t check those boxes in the moment.
1. Recognition problem
Most people:
- Can’t tell silver from clad and don’t care about any of that sort of thing and think the whole thing is stupid.
- They don’t know what weight, purity, or value means, and they never spend anything except for the money and credit they use every day to buy things.
So your silver coin doesn’t function as “money”—it’s just a shiny disk. If you had a silver dollar and offered it to the average person, they would maybe accept it, maybe not, but only at face value, ie; “one dollar”. They have no idea it might be worth much more.
In the wilderness, you won’t have the opportunity to educate people about silver values.
2. Liquidity collapse
Even if someone suspects it’s valuable:
- They won’t know exactly what it’s worth, and they surely won’t take your word for it.
- They’ll lowball you hard, or more likely, refuse the deal entirely)
👉 Markets require shared trust + shared knowledge
Without that, pricing disappears, and nobody knows what stuff is worth, if anything.
3. Weight vs utility
Easily described:
- 10 pounds of silver = burden
- 10 pounds of food = survival
In a world of upheaval, that’s not even a close contest. Try carrying around ten pounds of dead-weight and see how long it takes before you put it down.
4. Spending risk
Also very real:
- Flashing valuables = attracts attention
- Attention = danger
In unstable conditions, just being noticed is a liability.
🧠 Where silver does fit:
Not during peak chaos—but only after things stabilize:
- When small trade networks re-form, but not before then.
- When people start remembering “silver = value” if that ever happens.
- When barter evolves into proto-currency, which could happen through crypto.
That’s when coins can come back into play, and not a moment before. Beads have always worked, but so have fresh eggs and salt.
👉 Think of it as phase 2 or 3 asset, definitely NOT phase 1
⚖️ Practical framing
Instead of “money,” solid silver coinage becomes:
- Stored value across time.
- A bridge between collapse → recovery.
- A way to re-enter structured trade later.
💡 My take:
In a real survival pack?
👉 I’d take:
- Calories
- Water purification
- Tools
- Lightweight trade goods (lighters, meds, batteries)
before I took a single Morgan dollar!
But…
If you’re thinking longer horizon:
👉 A small, hidden reserve cache of silver coins hidden away makes sense not to survive the crisis, but to participate in what comes after, if anything.
🧩 The deeper thing:
Money only works when:
- People instantly and mutually agree on the values of items traded.
- People trust the system to be fair and honest.
Take that away, and value snaps back to:
👉 “What helps me right now?”
And in that world, a mint-state Carson City Morgan dollar is just another pretty piece of metal.
🎒 Practical Survival Loadout (Reality-Based)
Think in layers of time, not just gear:
- Phase 1: Immediate survival (hours → days)
- Phase 2: Short-term stability (days → weeks)
- Phase 3: Trade & rebuilding (weeks → months)
🥾 CORE RULE (this is everything)
👉 If it doesn’t help you today or tomorrow, it doesn’t go in the pack!
Weight is your enemy. Every ounce has to earn its place.
🔥 Staying Alive:
💧 Water (top priority)
- Sawyer Mini or Lifestraw
- Metal container (can boil water)
👉 Without this, nothing else matters
🍲 Calories (compact + dense)
- Energy bars
- Nuts
- Jerky
👉 Aim: 2–3 days minimum
🔪 Tools
- Fixed blade knife
- Multitool
🔥 Fire
- Bic lighter (x2)
- Ferro rod backup
🧥 Clothing / Shelter
- Lightweight tarp or bivy or inflatable
- Extra socks (hugely underrated)
⚡ Stability
🔦 Light & Power
- Headlamp
- Spare batteries
🩹 Medical
- Basic trauma kit
- Bandages, antiseptic, painkillers
🧭 Navigation
- Paper map
- Compass
(GPS dies, paper doesn’t)
🔧 Repair / Utility
- Paracord
- Duct tape (wrapped around something)
💱 PHASE 2.5 — Smart Trade Items
(THIS is the sweet spot)
This is where people usually get it wrong—and where you were absolutely right about silver.
Instead of heavy silver coins, think:
🔥 High-demand, low-weight items:
- Bic lighters (these are pure gold in the wilderness)
- Extra AA / AAA batteries as needed by items.
- Small LED flashlight
- Antibiotics (if available)
- Painkillers
- Coffee / sugar
- Cigarettes (even if you don’t smoke)
👉 These trade instantly because people understand them immediately
🧠 PHASE 3 — Stored Value (NOT in the pack)
If you have:
- Morgan or Peace silver dollars
- Gold coins
- Rare Collectibles
👉These should be: Cached — hidden or buried, not carried!!!
Because:
- Too heavy
- Too risky
- Too slow to convert
- They invite theft
- They weigh far more than they’re worth
- Spending them exposes you to violence
But later?
👉 That stash becomes your re-entry ticket into structured trade, if you can access it later on. If not, you can rely on my “Ace in the Hole” — a single, very valuable, copper penny.
🔥 My Straight Take:
If you’ve been on my blogs a while, you already understand collectible trade values better than most people. So your edge isn’t just what you carry—it’s:
👉 knowing when each type of value matters AT THE MOMENT.
- Early chaos → practical goods of immediately perceived value — food, ammo, medicine, salt, sugar.
- Mid-phase → trade goods like cooking utensils, clothing, maps.
- Later → precious metals & collectibles, but MUCH later when things have thoroughly normalized, if that ever happens.
🧩 This is important:
The real “currency” in bad times is:
👉 competence
- Knowing how to fix things
- Knowing how to source water
- Knowing how to read people
That outweighs anything in the pack. Of course, none of this applies, if the person with whom you are trading has a gun, and you don’t.
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Hey, here’s the old Bardo bus, comin’ right along!
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See You At The Top!!!
gorby