The idea behind gold and silver's rise is the expectation of the devaluation of currencies and rampant inflation caused by traders and little lines on a chart. I believe that the actual price of a hard commodity is more about greed and sqiggles and lines on a chart than actual demand.  The traders cause the price. This is such a huge disconnect from reality IMO.
 
 
So, for those that think they have safety because they have something solid in their hands, keep in mind that the price of that solid object is dictated by paper.

Interesting discussion.
 
Gold has long been a hedge against inflation. Holding your wealth in (fiat) US paper dollars is a losing proposition. Gold, on the other hand maintains it's level of wealth.  In the 20's when gold was $20/oz, you could buy a nice man's suit for one ounce of gold in value..... today, you can buy a nice man's suit for one ounce of gold.... but you can't even buy the tie for that suit with a $20 bill.
 
Paper has lost huge amounts of value.... gold has retained it's value.
 
That kind of puts salaries into proper perspective. I remember my father telling me he made $9 a week working in the Philadelphia shipyard as a welder. So, in reality, most people are still working at that same level..... inflation just made the numbers larger.
 
Greg has a good point..... Where's the coffee?   When the SHTF paper money will not be worth anything. Maybe except to burn in a heater for warmth, if you can get enough of it. However, the currency will quickly swing in favor of hard assets. Coffee, sugar, silver, gold, ammo, chickens, goats, horses, eggs, and of course, salt and whiskey.  The hard commodities will become our new currency and anything else that will be used to trade between people.
 
Remember that during the early days of this nation, we used all sorts of things for currency and to effect trade between people and states. Barter will once again become common.

The next day they will change it anyway.