Anyone Actually Used Gold or Silver Bullion as Cash in Rural Australia?

[Antalon]

Has anyone here actually used physical gold or silver bullion to pay for goods or services in rural Australian towns?

I’m thinking about taking a road trip through some rural areas and was wondering whether it’s worth carrying a small amount of bullion with me.

I know pawn shops and gold/silver dealers will generally buy it, but I’m more interested in real-world transactions. Has anyone ever walked into a local shop, pub, butcher, service station, farm supply store, etc. and offered silver or gold in exchange for things like: Milk, bread, fuel, meat etc..

I’m particularly interested in rural and regional Australia, where people might be a little more open to alternative forms of payment or simply know the value of bullion.

Obviously, I’d expect the seller to agree on the value and give change in dollars if necessary.

So, has anyone actually done this, rather than just discussed the idea?

If so, what town/state were you in, what did you use (silver coin, fiddies, pre 45, round, gold coin, etc.), and how did the transaction go?

I’m trying to work out whether I should throw a few pieces of bullion in the bag for the trip.

 

[boston]

No experience with this but let us know how you go.

 

[trew]

I also have no experience whatsoever but I can't imagine why regional Australia would be any more accepting of bullion for payment than anywhere else. Except maybe somewhere like Kalgoorlie where every man and his dog is out prospecting for gold.

Think about it. Shopkeeper runs a business in a small country town. Might be hundreds of kms away from a bank, let alone a larger town/city with a bullion dealer. Needs dollars to pay for stock, wages, expenses etc. Why would they want to accept bullion instead of dollars?

And if you start walking into shops and pubs offering to pay for things with bullion, shopkeepers and anyone else within earshot will know you are travelling around with valuable stuff in your car - makes you a target.

 

[spannermonkey]

I tool some 37 Crowns & round 50's to a few country swap meets & the 1 person who knew what he was looking at .
Was a prospector & would not pay anywhere near spot , he was at where he last bought them .
60% .
Took some gold and silver to Noosa to see how the locals worked .
Christian from Harringtons was easy to deal with .
But the pawnbroker , backed out of the deal " He offered "
But I will always travel with round 50's & Sovereigns .
I might come home with them .

 

[GoldenEye]

I've had a small amount of success, but only with people who were already awake and were keen to get some PMs. My advice is to take cash and maybe a few round 50s just to get people thinking about returning to the old reliable bartering system that we've used for thousands of years.