Many new gold buyers wonder how they can use their gold to buy food, gas, or anything else.
Oftentimes, new gold buyers think they will need to chip or cut off a piece of the gold to buy something in the real world.
Chipping the gold is one way to buy things with gold, but it is probably the worst.
As a seasoned silver and gold stacker (defined here), let me tell you a few ways to buy food and other items with gold:
You can purchase food and other goods with gold by trading coins, bars, or scraps of gold with willing barterers. Adapted sized bars and coins are the easiest means to purchase gold, although some sellers may accept gold scraps or chips.
The best way to buy less expensive items (such as food) with gold is by having very small denominations.
However, small denominations of gold can be much more expensive to acquire due to higher production costs.
It is just much cheaper to produce and purchase a 1 oz gold coin compared to a ¼ oz coin.
Therefore, a much better tool for barter is silver. Gold is more adapted to preserve larger amounts of wealth.
Let me explain in more detail.
If you are also wondering about who is willing to take your gold in exchange for food, I will also cover that in this article.
Avoid Chipping Your Gold to Purchase Goods
No matter the type of coin, bar, or gold item, one of the worst things you could do is lower or destroy the value by chipping off pieces.
Cutting, breaking, chipping, melting, or scrapping your gold should be a means of last resort to purchase items because it greatly reduces the overall piece’s value.
The best thing to do is be in possession of multiple small denominations of gold.
Here are some examples of how much gold you would need to purchase everyday items:
| Items | Dollar Value | Oz Gold (Spot) |
| 8 Loaves of Bread | $20 | 0.01 |
| Basket of Fruits & Vegetables | $50 | 0.03 |
| 20lb Burger Meat | $100 | 0.05 |
| 50 Gallons of Gas | $200 | 0.10 |
| Real Estate (Bungalow) | $150,000 | 77.70 |
The above table simply contains examples and was based on the conversion rate Spot Gold (defined here) to USD as of February 1st 2023 (at $1,930.39 per oz) and will probably have evolved by the time you read this article.
In our above example, you would need very very small denominations of gold to be able to purchase bread, a basket of vegetables, a few pounds of meat, and gas.
The smallest denomination I have of gold is a 1 g bar which corresponds to 0.035274 oz.
That can purchase a basket of fruits and vegetables.
However, such small denominations of gold are generally much more expensive to acquire due to higher production costs.
It is much cheaper to produce a 1 oz gold coin compared to a 1 g gold coin, and so the larger denominations are cheaper when you purchase them from dealers.
So gold is not a great tool when it comes to purchasing small items like bread, fruits, vegetables, eggs, meat, or firewood.
Gold can be useful to purchase other assets like Real Estate and is excellent at preserving wealth.
A much better tool for barter is silver.
Let me explain.
Buy Goods With Silver Instead
Silver is made for barter.
Silver is a stacker prepper’s best friend when it comes to opting out of the current financial system and being able to purchase goods and services with “real money.”
Just like gold, silver cannot be printed out of thin air like FIAT currency (defined here).
Silver has many industrial applications and a strong intrinsic value just like gold.
Let’s use our example above to explain how easy it is to purchase everyday goods with silver:
| Items | Dollar Value | Oz Gold (Spot) | Oz Silver (Spot) |
| 8 Loaves of Bread | $20 | 0.01 | 1 |
| Basket of Fruits & Vegetables | $50 | 0.03 | 2 |
| 20lb Burger Meat | $100 | 0.05 | 4 |
| 50 gallons of Gas | $200 | 0.10 | 8 |
| Real Estate (Bungalow) | $150,000 | 77.70 | 6,356 |
The above table simply contains examples and was based on the conversion rate Spot Silver (defined here) to USD as of February 1st 2023 (at $26 per oz) and will probably have evolved by the time you read this article.
As you can see in the above example, purchasing small items with silver is very easy compared to gold.
One 1 oz silver coin buys you 8 loaves of bread without any need to cut or chip a coin.
You can easily purchase 50 gallons of gas with 8 silver coins in our example as well.
However, silver is a poor tool for purchasing high ticket items such as real estate or cars.
You need 6,356 one ounce silver coins to purchase a Bungalow, whereas you only need 78 one ounce gold coins for the same item.
Silver is very heavy compared to gold and would take up much more space if you are waiting to purchase large-ticket items.
Therefore, silver is excellent to stack if you are looking to barter or purchase low-ticket items such as food, goods, and services.
Whereas gold is better to stack to preserve wealth and purchase high-ticket items and other assets like real estate.
Have The Right Tool For The Job
When looking to buy goods with gold or silver, you want to be sure to have the most adapted tool depending on what you are looking to acquire, as well as a variety of denominations.
Choose the right tool for the job:
- Gold to purchase other high-ticket assets
- Silver to barter and purchase small denomination items (food, gas, services)
Let me provide a few examples to help you decide which precious metal may be most adapted to your needs:
| Goods & Services | Precious Metal | Denominations |
| Bread | Silver | Sovereign Coins |
| Services (Hair Cut) | Silver | Sovereign Coins |
| Fruits & Vegetables | Silver | Sovereign Coins |
| Meats | Silver | Sovereign Coins, Rounds |
| Gas | Silver | Rounds, Coins, Bars |
| Car, Tractor | Gold | Rounds, Coins, Bars |
| Real Estate | Gold | Coins, Bars |
Here is how I am preparing my stack for barter:
- Sovereign coins are the most recognizable coins and can be used to purchase goods and services from people who may not be stackers themselves. These coins are minted by governments (I define this more in detail here)
- Rounds are generic silver coins and are less recognizable, therefore would require purchasing from someone willing to take them.
So there should be no need to chip or cut your gold in order to make a purchase in the real world.
Simply have the right tool for the job 🙂
Of course, you need to find the right people to trade with.
Who Will Sell Food, Goods, And Services for Gold
Another question new gold buyers have about purchasing things with gold is “who will take my gold in exchange for food, goods, or services?”
You may be surprised to learn that there are many people willing to trade for gold or silver, especially if the economy crashes.
Here are a few people typically willing to take gold or silver for barter:
- Farmers
- Bakers
- Preppers
- Tradesmen
- Stackers (defined here)
Here are situations where more of the population will be willing to take gold or silver:
- Hyperinflation
- Economic Crash
- Economic Depression
- Bank Run
- Recession
- (Civil) War
- SHTF (defined here)
If there is a big economic crash that further devalues FIAT currency value (defined here), then a wider amount of the general population will be willing to take real for trade.
I hope these tips help you in your own stacking journey 🙂
