Koolau
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Just another flavor of commodity speculation IMO.
I can't imagine how gold coins would be of much value in a SHTF situation.
I mentioned one in my previous post. Given a couple of hours (and any interest) I'm sure I could find several more that have actually happened in the past 100 years. A Google search would probably get you there if you have actual interest in the topic.
SHTF is a colorful and expressive way to describe any number of bad situations, but it's not very specific. In my post, I mentioned the apocalypse. I'd say that qualifies as a SHTF situation (apocalypse as in the-end-of-all-or-most-all-civilization-as-we-know-it). Gold probably would not do much good in the apocalypse. But I usually think of SHTF as something a bit more manageable. A half mile wide asteroid striking Buffalo might qualify. Maybe a less intense SHTF event would be huge solar flare knocking out N American power grid(s) for 6 months or 2 years. In that specific case, cash might be king for a while, but gold has been money 5000 years longer than the dollar. Wild guess is gold would become an acceptable store of wealth (and trade) when ones and zeros no longer flow. Of course, we'll never know until, well, you know, TSHTF.
I don't feel as if I'm commodity-speculating as much as I am purchasing a certain level of SHTF insurance. Like most insurance, you hope you never need it. You probably don't buy it if you are living paycheck to paycheck. But if you've met most of your other FIRE needs, thinking about SHTF possibilities and "insuring" for them might come to mind. BUT the real reason to hold PM (IMHO) is that they have been shown to smooth portfolios when held in 2% to 5% of port. IIRC this is primarily due to gold's aforementioned negative correlation to most "normal" investments. The SHTF scenarios are fun to talk about (and imagine ) but I think of them as secondary to (arguably) good portfolio management. PMs absolutely smoothed my port. during the '08 - '10 unpleasantness. BUT, more than most subjects, this is a YMMV situation.