Worth it to buy physical gold/silver?

Compiled answers from having this question asked a few times before:

Q. Looking to make some long term investments...

A. TL;DR not silver or gold. Check the /r/investing FAQ

Q. I'd like to have something that would hold value if the economy tanks.

A. Silver and gold prices sometimes don't go the way you'd expect. In theory, people would flock to precious metals and such if the a depression or a recession hits, but more people would go for government bonds and such.

Realistically, unless there's a SHTF situation where there's a total government collapse, having your wealth in treasury bonds is a better way to preserve your wealth against inflation with virtually no risk. Meanwhile, putting money in silver doesn't guarantee that your wealth will be relatively stable.

Q. I'd just worry that in a depression or a situation like Greece was just in, where the banks decided to hold everyone's money and ration it out, gold might do better than and stack of $100's in the safe.

A. An economy tanking and a country going to shit are two very different things. The US economy tanked in '08, but our banks didn't start limiting withdrawals and such. If you're in a country where the whole Greece fiasco is plausible or likely, then stockpiling on food, water, and maybe ammo should be higher on your list of priorities than buying precious metals. I haven't found any news articles reporting people trading gold and silver for supplies in Greece, but even if there were, food/water/ammo would be more valuable than a silver eagle.

Q. Where's the best place to buy gold/silver bars?

A. For me, it's been silver.com for large purchases, and jmbullion for smaller purchases IF you don't really care about collecting different types of silver.

Q. What if I want to collect different types of silver?

A. /r/silverbugs has a list of reputable dealers who have different selections. Do your due diligence, but it's a great place to start from.

Q. I'd like to buy some precious metals in case of a SHTF situation.

A. Then here's a few things you should consider:

  1. To amend the words of /u/chendiggler :

    Don't buy gold or silver as a an etf, futures contract or index. If you can't hold it there's no reason to believe that you own it [in the event of a SHTF scenario]. The leverage on the comex is 100+ to 1, [which means that a company can sell 100 ounces of silver on paper and only have to hold 1 ounce in reality.] If you own the paper, you don't really own anything but a promise.

  2. The most common and recognizable (scroll down to silver bullion coins) form of silver is the American Silver Eagle. It's the silver that would be the easiest to trade with.

If it helps, the consensus among most /r/Silverbugs users is that you shouldn't "invest" in silver in the sense that you'll make money off of it.

/r/investing Thread