My general expectation is to the contrary. I think people underestimate how psychologically ingrained the dollar is into the american people. Money will still be worth something, maybe not as much as I like, but something. People have so much faith in the system, that everybody will be hedging against "when things get better".

Even then "failure of banking" does not have to be universal. Maybe my assets are frozen or other similar, localized issues.

In the grand scheme of things, gold is also likely to be difficult to liquidate. It does not really have any intrinsic value at this point.

As to where: On a hill, by a lake, surrounded by paranoid gulf war vets with lots of guns.

I would personally stockpile hard liquor if I wanted to hedge for a social collapse. Whiskey never goes bad, it's always useful and a few ounces can go a long way.

> Whiskey never goes bad

As long as you keep it sealed in an air-tight container and in complete darkness. Oxygen and/or light will trigger chemical processes that result in undesirable flavor changes.

Just a heads-up, speaking from experience and research :)

Stockpile antibiotics.

In the Argentina bank crash, the government froze all assets, but they also printed a lot of money so cash went way down in value too, but yeah, I believe it would still be worth something.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998%E2%80%932002_Argentine_gr...

Edit: I think that other posters mentioning other practical barter-friendly alternatives to cash have a point (stuff like whiskey or soap)

lots of practical things have value other than money and gold, like ammunition and whiskey.

tennessee, remember?

You'd be surprised how effective simply burying something in the middle of the woods at a known location is.