What is the Best Barter Currency?
Being that this is a website about precious metals, you might think that this article is written to extol the virtues of precious metals functioning as a barter currency in the event of a currency crisis or collapse in national currencies.
In fact, precious metals could serve in that capacity (especially for larger ticket items), and many customers seek ownership of metals explicitly as an insurance policy in the event that national currencies become undesirable to the people with whom they trade on a day-to-day basis.
Our opinion is that gold serves as a long-term store of value much better than it serves as actual tradable currency. Silver is much more useful for day-to-day trade.
One item that you may have not considered as a possible barter currency, much less as an investment asset, is liquor. Any hard liquor will do: whisky, vodka, rum, even guaro.
Liquor actually has a number of monetary characteristics: (1) It is durable. That is to say, it is virtually non-perishable. (2) It is divisible. You can easily put it in smaller containers in order to adjust for the size of your anticipated transaction. (3) It is fungible (at least within any particular brand/type). One liter bottle of Johnny Walker red label is equivalent to another liter bottle of Johnny Walker red label. (4) It is portable. It is relatively easy to carry a fifth of whisky in your jacket pocket, you could even hand-carry a gallon jug if absolutely necessary, just like back in moonshine days. (5) It is in limited supply. In the event of a currency crisis the supply chain would likely become a lot more limited. (6) It is highly recognizable. Aside from the brand recognition of the major liquor producers, liquor also has an unmistakable taste and smell.
Of course acquiring this type of "currency" to stash away for potential future use is very simple at the present time. You just go down to your local supermarket or liquor store and buy it. It may not be so easy in the event of some monetary or political crisis.
Perhaps liquor's cash-like properties have now been discovered, however, because a trading and investment platform has been created for scotch whisky. This is a very interesting concept because, although it has the money-like properties mentioned previously that make it a reliable vehicle for storing and trading value, unlike cash, scotch also becomes significantly more valuable over time.
When you open an account with WhiskyInvestDirect, you will receive a free sample including a small amount of both whisky and cash (the currency denomination of accounts is British Pound Sterling) in your account so you can test out the trading interface without having to deposit your own money. Try it out today free of charge and see for yourself the tremendous potential that this market offers.
In fact, precious metals could serve in that capacity (especially for larger ticket items), and many customers seek ownership of metals explicitly as an insurance policy in the event that national currencies become undesirable to the people with whom they trade on a day-to-day basis.
Our opinion is that gold serves as a long-term store of value much better than it serves as actual tradable currency. Silver is much more useful for day-to-day trade.
One item that you may have not considered as a possible barter currency, much less as an investment asset, is liquor. Any hard liquor will do: whisky, vodka, rum, even guaro.
Liquor actually has a number of monetary characteristics: (1) It is durable. That is to say, it is virtually non-perishable. (2) It is divisible. You can easily put it in smaller containers in order to adjust for the size of your anticipated transaction. (3) It is fungible (at least within any particular brand/type). One liter bottle of Johnny Walker red label is equivalent to another liter bottle of Johnny Walker red label. (4) It is portable. It is relatively easy to carry a fifth of whisky in your jacket pocket, you could even hand-carry a gallon jug if absolutely necessary, just like back in moonshine days. (5) It is in limited supply. In the event of a currency crisis the supply chain would likely become a lot more limited. (6) It is highly recognizable. Aside from the brand recognition of the major liquor producers, liquor also has an unmistakable taste and smell.
Of course acquiring this type of "currency" to stash away for potential future use is very simple at the present time. You just go down to your local supermarket or liquor store and buy it. It may not be so easy in the event of some monetary or political crisis.
Perhaps liquor's cash-like properties have now been discovered, however, because a trading and investment platform has been created for scotch whisky. This is a very interesting concept because, although it has the money-like properties mentioned previously that make it a reliable vehicle for storing and trading value, unlike cash, scotch also becomes significantly more valuable over time.
When you open an account with WhiskyInvestDirect, you will receive a free sample including a small amount of both whisky and cash (the currency denomination of accounts is British Pound Sterling) in your account so you can test out the trading interface without having to deposit your own money. Try it out today free of charge and see for yourself the tremendous potential that this market offers.
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“An almost hysterical antagonism
toward the gold standard is one issue which unites statists of all persuasions.
... Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth.
Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector
of property rights.” ~ Alan Greenspan, 1967 |
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“Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” ~ Lord Acton |
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“Permit me to issue and control the
money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.” ~ Amschel Mayer Rothschild, 1838 |