If you want (like I did) to avoid the high commissions of the TV Gold and Silver dealers, you can always buy a Gold Trust like GLD or IAU.
Both are ETFs that track the price of gold and are backed by physical gold bullion on deposit at major Wall Street Banks. IAU, for instance, is backed by a big pile of gold on deposit at JP Morgan Chase. Shares of the ETF are shares of that large pile. Can you get your hands on the physical gold? Nope..but the ETF shares ‘should’ still be valuable if gold skyrockets. One pretty credible Wall Street analyst (David Hunter) is forecasting Gold to $2,500 (from ~$1,700 now) this year and $10K by end of decade. Is he right? Who knows..as Bogle said “Nobody Knows Nuttin”..but it’s a good inflation hedge, IMHO.
That said, IAU (and presumably GLD) have been tracking the exact opposite of the 10-year T-Bill yield. Weird. That to me says the market volatility isn’t due to “fears of inflation” but something else - possible market top with the smart money getting out, etc..
Other options are International stocks, foreign currencies and commodities. Just look at the run commodities has had already this year including oil, lumber and others..(whew..really glad I decided not to build that new house..lumber is going crazy after already having gone vertical over the past 2 years or so).
I went that track too until I realized if they shut everything down, then if you don’t have physical gold in your hand, how are you going to use it as barter? If you have had one of these “sellers” hold your gold, you are totally at their mercy if you need it out. Several have been sued out of existence for not returning physical gold. I took actual possession from a large TV broker, and was cheated. I suggest that if you want physical gold, go to a local seller (many are in pawn shops), and they will give you a better price when selling (or buying). You can check the price on a daily basis. As far as owning paper assets, I have done that and realized that you are trusting that the system will remain intact. I don’t believe that it will...