Why don’t people consider industrial metals instead of gold? For example, nickel “rounds” used by electroplaters.
At today’s spot price of $7.58/lb., my .7 oz nickel rounds are worth about $.33 each.
You could do the same thing with copper wire.
Gold is more portable wealth, but the industrial metals are easier to use for small trades.
In a (for lack of better words) breakdown of society scenario, there won't be much industry around to need "industrial metals".
you don’t have to buy a 400oz bar (standard bar size in the movies)... you can get the bars of varying sizes. from as small as 1 gram.
some people swear by the coins, others like bars. for smaller then 1 oz, you’d prolly be getting bars.
do yourself a favor and shop around before buying. also investigate who you’re going to deal with.
you could also get other types of metals. silver has had a fairly good run recently as well. and it costs about $17 per ounce.
some links that might be useful:
monex: http://monex.com
24 hr gold price: http://www.kitco.com/charts/popup/au24hr3day.html
Pre 1982 (I think) pennies. All copper.
Might be handy some day.