Just for kicks, read "The Coming Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit from It" by James Turk and John Rubino. It provides a nice history lesson regarding the dangers of fiat currencies throughout world history and the reasons why governments prefer fiat currencies to gold and silver backed currencies (which relate primarily to their ability to print and spend more).
I'm putting all my money in coltran. It's the future!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671885286/qid=1133949904/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-7658784-2060762?v=glance&s=books
Very good book. "The Great Reckoning" Gold, Islam, computers, deflationary markets etc