One of my concerns with gold is just that.
In a time of crisis why would people swap anything for a piece of gold? Since they’re not used to it being “money”, why would they suddenly swap something of real value to them for something they wouldn’t know how to use?
And if its market or inflation ups and downs that a person is trying to protect himself against, then these same people have to admit that gold also goes up and down.
People always need a medium of exchange. When fiat money is no good, historically people have used gold and silver. My real problem with gold is it’s worth too much for everyday transactions. How is a pile of gold Eagles going to help you buy a chicken off your neighbor? A silver quarter would be more practical. I suggest stocking a pile of old quarters and dimes, along with your actual survival supplies.
Trust me, regarding real bad times, your concern is valid and based in reality.
Preppers need to have gold too. The fact is that in a low or no government scenario people are not just going to go around killing each other like Rambo because you need a pair of shoes. You are going to barter for most everything even shoes. Now in this fictitious scenario there is a shoemaker 50 miles from your bunker. The shoe maker does not accept gold, like you he only wants stuff. A pair of shoes coats 80 pounds of seed corn. You have some penicillin that you can trade for a guy that will give you gold. So you take the gold walk 50 miles with a few ounces of extra weight to the shoe guy. He does not want gold but a corn broker will and he is near the shoe guy. So you buy 80# of seed corn and then trade for shoes. You saved having to hump 80# of corn 50 miles.