As has been pointed out gold (and silver) is terribly volatile, making it a poor store of value over the short term and even the long term depending on when it were bought. Most people buy in times of high inflation or financial market volatility, the people who bought at the height of the 1970s stagflation wouldn't have made even a real terms break even in the height of the 2007-10 financial turmoil. http://www.macrotrends.net/1333/historical-gold-prices-100-year-chart Currencies are only worth what people believe they are, large amounts of the gold value is to do with speculative demand rather than any goods demand. This volatility is why central banks have moved away from gold as currency reserves. (Though if you are interested in gold I've seen gold go below its scrap value for it's carat at auctions regularly, however commission,time costs and travel eat up the saving) Silver behaves much the same: http://www.macrotrends.net/1470/historical-silver-prices-100-year-chart Natural diamonds are only the value that De Beers tells you they are. Besides whatever kind of economic breakdown where currency becomes valueless is going to come with significant social upheaval and crime. As bill burr said: "Start reading up on s***, get some powdered food, plant some zucchini, get a windmill, right? And that’s all well and good, but if you don’t how to fight, all you are doing is gathering supplies for the toughest guy in the block, right? Just thinking about that, what am I going to do when some dude turns me upside down, starts shaking the gold coins out of my pockets, I got to get a gun." (not a gun advocate or opponent of sensible possession BTW) (also didn't realise how old that comment was I was replying to)
The best curency is a skill. Gun run out of ammo/someone will always have a bigger gun. There will almost always be able to out fight you. But if you have skill then you buy/exchange all the protection you need. Know how to make something that would be important in the increadable unlikely event of complete society breakdown. No one can take knowledge from you and if they kill you they loose that knowledge.
The point wasn't so much about getting a gun, more about the folly of trusting gold over other currencies or assets where if something so terrible happened that these assets became worthless probable social upheaval would just mean you've been saving up for the toughest guy in your neighbourhood. The best idea, if you have money to invest, is to create a portfolio of various assets to remove unique risk of any single asset. Ol' billy boy is a helicopter pilot though if that would count.
