We decided that we would start saving change for melt value when we were completely set up...which means never. I personally think it's a lot of work for little gain. Money - gold/silver/copper will be useful but I think it's a better use of resources to buy what you need now and have practical items to barter for a SHTF scenario.

That's just my opinion and YMMV!

I don't know where I stand with this, my significant other and I have had conversations about precious metals and I ponder whether it would take a great deal of effort for what might be little gain. Even today we have local bandits who have been stripping the copper out of whatever they can find ( light standards etc) here in Victoria. I guess in a shtf scenario, I lean towards barter-able goods... I keep reading that salt will be a highly desirable item, it is so multi functional in a shtf scenario.

Your home is already full of copper, you don't need to save pennies. I am considering buying silver in 1oz bars (wafers) maybe only about 20 , should cost me about $650 to $750.
I think a great point was made by paintergirl, barterable goods - SALT stores forever - I'm thinking of storing seeds (tomato, spinach, beans, peppers) - Vacuum sealed BAKERS SEMISWEET Chocolate. I'll bet that chocolat will trade as good as gold after a few months of collapsed economy .. just a thought

Interesting news

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/01/13/loonies-toonies-dollar.html

Steel yourself, Canada, new one-dollar and two-dollar coins are about to become the latest version of the proverbial plugged nickel.

In an effort to save taxpayers about $16 million annually, new versions of the loonie and toonie will be introduced this spring made from steel, replacing the more expensive nickel found in the current versions of the coins.

A detailed summary of the change filed by the federal government in the Canada Gazette last month says the new coins will be slightly lighter, cheaper to produce and ship, and harder to counterfeit.

They're also going to cost Canada's coin-operated industries about $40 million in recalibration costs to make vending machines recognize the new coinage, says the government.

And businesses who count their coins by weight will have to first separate the old currency from the new.

The new coinage was announced in last year's federal budget but only received final cabinet approval late last month.

The roll-out has been delayed in part because some manufacturers in the vending industry weren't ready to handle the new coins, according to Kim Lockie, the past president of Canadian Automatic Merchandising Association.

"It only delayed it, it didn't postpone it," said Lockie, a Fort McMurray, Alta., businessman whose company has 1,200 machines that required reprogramming — a three-month project.

"We just have to be ready as operators to be able to accept that."

Lockie, who spent last year as his industry association president dealing with the mint, said operators never like eating the cost of currency changes, but the process has been handled well by the government.

"It's going to happen anyway so if we can partner we can both come out ahead — I can have ample leeway time to get my machines programmed," he said in an interview.

The Canada Gazette says the current coins cost about 30 cents each to produce, while Kim says he's been told the new loonies and toonies will cost between four cents and six cents apiece.

A spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mint had little so say, because a major media roll-out is planned nearer to the coins' actual release. Alex Reeves did confirm the new coins are about to go into production and should be in circulation in "early spring" — likely late March or April.

When the new coins were first proposed, the expectation was that they would weigh exactly the same as the old versions.

Consumers likely won't notice the weight difference, but the Canada Gazette states that a truck load of the new loonies will weigh 980 kilos less than the old version, and 286 kilos less for a truck full of toonies, thus "improving fuel efficiency of transportation and reducing the carbon footprint of delivering coins to the Canadian public."

More than one billion loonies have been produced by the Royal Canadian Mint since the coin was introduced in 1987, while some 700 million toonies have been minted since 1996.

The mint produces about 30 million of each coin annually, and the government says the elimination of the nickel element will reduce nickel demand by about 539 metric tonnes a year — just a tiny fraction of Canada's domestic output.

The current loonie is made from bronze-plated nickel, while the toonie has a ring of pure nickel around a copper alloy centre. The new coins will use the same multi-ply plated steel technology used in the penny, nickel, dime and quarter.

The change comes as nickel prices have fluctuated by as much as 1,000 per cent in recent years, according to the government, creating both supply and cost issues.

The only metal I consider worth collecting is lead. IF there is a total economic collapse, the starving masses won't give a hoot for silver, gold, or nickle, but a well placed ball of lead could feed you for quite some time. You can't eat coins and they won't help collect or filter drinking water. Stock up on barterable goods or find a skill that would be tradable for something you need. Raise a couple goats for milk or learn how to make toilet paper. Trade that for what you may need like wheat or corn for flour. For shorter term cases, keep cash on hand...small bills 5-10-20.

Old coins are worth collecting, "junk silver" especially. Right now silver is cheap and I'll bet old silver coins are still worth 10 times face value. US nickels have 7 cents worth of copper (or nickel?) in them.
A true shtf is so unlikely here that collecting stuff to barter doesn't make much sense.
Collecting stuff because it's as cheap as it will ever be makes a TON of sense. Tires, shoes, paper towels, cans of tuna, you name it.
If you are doing metals, coins are the best, Maple Leafs or Eagles. Nobody has to "verify" what they are, unlike wafers or bars.

I have a bit of gold, more silver and a fair amount of copper jacketed lead.

I've saved my coins for years. The last time I counted them, I ended up paying off my truck and my credit card. For me the best use for your coins is to buy the things you need to get by in rough times. If TSHTF the most precious commodities will most likely be the things that keep people warm and fed. Like the Perfesser, the metals I save will be used to hunt food or protect me. I figure you could spend hours trying to light a fire with your gold or silver coins and all you'll get is frustrated. I prefer to put my money into food storage or other preparations.

I do spend most of my cash on prep type stuff. I have been slowly dumping my investment money into physical metals though I do still have a gold/silver/platinum ETF. The rest of the metals are physical coins. The economy must suffer a devaluation of paper money and paper assets ...... and soon. The metals are not an investment, they're just a way to protect from inflation eating away your paper assets.

It's official, they're phasing out the penny beginning this fall.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Budget+Penny+pinch+Canada+phase+copper+coin/6381000/story.html

It's official, they're phasing out the penny beginning this fall.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Budget+Penny+pinch+Canada+phase+copper+coin/6381000/story.html

And everything will be rounded up, so imagine everything you buy going up by 4 cents. Now add the increase in gas, hydro, medication shortages, strange weather, stupid people and the country will pretty much go to hell in a handbasket. There will be an increased strain on food banks and government financial services... it is the beginning of a pile up. I am not looking forward to the next couple of years. 🙁

I have some gold, some sterling bars and a bunch of old Canadian 'silver' dollars tucked away. However, amassing a large precious metal collection is not part of my main prepping objectives. Bartering usable objects, food, knowledge and skills will be much more effective in a SHTF situation in my opinion. If you can't eat it, shoot with it or use it to build a shelter or grow a garden then it won't be much use.

The whole thing is, is that most people will collect BLING instead of food. I mean really, most people, if given a situation where they can have a pound of food or 5 silver dollars will take the silver. Why? Because of the possibility of getting more food somewhere else with the silver. Then a month latter on I come along, and find 5 silver dollars on a bloke that starved to death. 😈