Metal in my hands

3:17 pm (Hawaii) A wee bit of silver and gold pornucopia. Below, a stack of 10 1-oz Sunshine Mint silver bars. Got it via auction on Quality Silver Bullion at 97¢ over spot. Good deal.

Below, a 1-oz Pamp Suisse gold bar from Provident Metals. Like these guys a lot. This is strictly for long-term savings.

Below, my first foray into junk silver, 30 Franklin half-dollars from Provident. Just about all of them are in nice shape. Good stuff if it ever comes down to bartering with real US coins, stuff made of (90%) silver. Can't exactly trade for groceries with a 1-oz gold coin or bar.

Below, I didn't go for a good, cost-effective deal at all. I gave in and treated myself to three Scottsdale Silver 5-oz Prey bars. This is the newest product offered by Scottsdale. Pretty cool that they'll offer it to members first. No discount or anything, but the design is attractive and I treated myself.

There you have it. One average joe's recent physical additions. I'd like spot silver to drop to 32 or less before I buy any more, but it doesn't look probable right now.

Note: If it seems unbecoming to show photos of silver and gold to anyone, let me be clear. I know the economy is fucked. I have friends who have been laid off for a long time. Friends who have worked and worked hard all their lives. The effects of no income are multiple and exponentially painful for families. I grew up as a poor kid, and I worked all my life, even before I was in high school, just to have enough for spending money and essentials. So when I buy physical, it's not to build a museum. It's to preserve my savings, to get away from the tyrannical system that eats away at our hard-earned dollars worse than starving termites. Let's face it: Uncle Sam is in NO position to bail us out. They've spent all the money and credit on bailing out the fucking criminals, the banksters, and there is no way to assume that us regular peons will have a safety net provided by govt.

So yeah, I am taking steps to preserve what little capital I have. And if anyone wants to take it from me, they're fucked, too. I've worked too hard all my life - and avoided all the credit traps - to let anyone own me.