The Return of Real Money: Trading Gold & Silver

At face value and by all visible metrics, the Australian economy appears stable. But behind the veil of official statistics, fiat currency is being slowly undermined by unsustainable debt and inflation engineered by design. Australians, particularly those outside the urban bubble, are quietly turning back to gold and silver as money. Not as investment assets—as money.

In a fiat world built on trust and confidence, a single shock—be it geopolitical, financial, or social—can pull the rug out from under it. When that happens, history shows us what follows is a flight to hard assets—tangible, immutable, and borderless gold and silver—and this trend already has a foothold in Australia.

Sound Money in a World of Debt

Australia’s household debt currently sits at around 111% of GDP, among the highest in the developed world. Our economy is not just debt-based; it is debt-dependent. It functions only as long as credit expands. But credit expansion has a limit, and inflation has broken through the glass ceiling. In this environment, currency debasement is policy, not an accident. When confidence in fiat erodes, real money returns, and gold and silver shine. Gold and silver don’t require central banks, settlement systems, or digital infrastructure. Jim Rickards has often stated, "Gold is not an investment. It is money par excellence." They are the final settlement in your hands.

Why Businesses and Individuals Are Turning to Bullion

In every fiat transaction, the bank stands as a third party. With bullion, you settle directly. No frozen accounts, no failed payments, no system outages or counterparty risk. This becomes crucial when the system falters.

Fiat money loses value by design, but silver and gold don’t. While the Reserve Bank targets 2–3% inflation, it’s effectively a 2–3% theft of your purchasing power per year. Gold holds its value over time, making it a solid way to protect your wealth. Silver’s lower price and smaller sizes make it handy for everyday trade, especially when things get shaky.

Finally, gold and silver can be used globally. They cross borders when capital controls go up. In wartime or monetary reset scenarios, this portability becomes invaluable.

Where It's Already Happening

In Far North Queensland, the Bullion Barter System enables people to trade goods and services using silver by weight. This isn’t a fringe movement—it’s a resilient, localised monetary network with traders, mechanics, farmers, and service providers all opting out of the dollar.

They operate with rounds, ingots, and sometimes pre-1966 Australian silver coinage (92.5% sterling). Prices are often quoted in grams of silver instead of fiat dollars. It’s a quiet but deliberate return to the pre-Bretton Woods standard.

Across parts of the Northern Rivers and inland Victoria, an informal economy is emerging within communities where local food, alternative medicine, and building supplies are being traded for silver, particularly junk silver, valued for its historical and monetary significance. One farm near Byron Bay has even begun accepting silver bullion as full payment for regenerative beef boxes.

Byron Bay Precious Metals, led by local David Warth, has brought together a community of like-minded individuals and businesses in Byron Bay committed to trading with tangible, asset-backed value. The initiative began with a shared decision to use 1oz silver rounds in place of $50 fiat currency for everyday transactions. The group adopted the Ainslie 1oz silver round and affectionately dubbed it the ‘Byron Bobb’. As the movement grew, there was a demand for smaller denominations to facilitate more practical day-to-day use. The community turned to Ainslie’s 1/2oz silver rounds—referred to as the ‘Half Bobb’—and the 1/10oz silver round, fondly called the ‘Bobbett’ by the group.

While still niche, there are private settlements, particularly in northern NSW and parts of Western Australia, where land deals and high-value private transactions have been made using gold bars and coins, prompted by banks refusing to process large cash transactions or when both parties understand that gold is outside the system.

A Slow-Motion Reset

The shift to gold and silver as money isn’t sudden; it’s a monetary reset unfolding in slow motion. It has long been argued that the endgame of fiat is not an explosion, but a controlled demolition. Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are already being trialled by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Once introduced, they could allow authorities full visibility and programmable oversight of how digital dollars are used, marking a fundamental shift in money and personal financial autonomy. Gold and silver stand as the last line of financial defence.

Legal Considerations

Investment-grade bullion (99.99%+ purity for gold, 99.9%+ for silver) is GST exempt. GST-free when purchased in Australia. While selling bullion at a profit can carry tax implications, some communities prefer to trade it peer-to-peer, valuing metals by weight rather than relying solely on daily spot prices. Many barter economies/systems measure value in weight, not fiat price, detaching the trade entirely from AUD fluctuations.

Re-Monetisation Has Begun

Confidence in the fiat system is steadily declining, and what you hold outside that system will increasingly define your financial independence. Gold and silver aren’t relics of history—they remain core assets in shaping the monetary systems of tomorrow. And here in Australia, that shift is already quietly in motion.