[Doug]

There's a hierarchy of value, based on survival value. Acquire in order:

1. Guns and ammo (this has to be #1 since it can help acquire everything else)
2. Reliable long-term food/water source + tools to grow/filter
3. Energy sources: gas, electricity
4. network of like-minded allies (friends/neighbors)
5. Gold/silver

You get your essential self defense tools, then have peace of mind in taking care of the daily requirements, then the higher level issue of electricity/transportation, then develop relationships with those who have other tools you might barter with, THEN you acquire precious metals (but NOT diamonds):

"I can't stand diamonds. No, really, they just tick me off, because nearly everything about them is a lie. Diamonds are neither rare nor intrinsically valuable nor uniquely romantic. Those are ideas invented by the diamond industry."
-Popular Science's Theodore Gray, p.70 Sep. 09