Over-rated asset, you'd be way better off with stocks.
There is little use for gold beyond jewelry other than filling a vault with it.
Silver isn't a real key industrial essential either, no longer needed for photography. $50 / ounce in 1980, now about a third of that.
I'd prefer something that is actually useful like copper, but that is impractical to store in bulk.
Markup margins are reasonable on gold/silver bullion especially when compared against collectibles like rare coins, stamps, sports cards, etc.
It's still a losing battle with metals long-term, no dividends like a stock provides.
Silver was removed from US coins after 1964, they are roughly worth 10 x face value now for 90 percent "junk silver "
If you started hoarding silver coins say about 1970 or so when they still readily circulated but started to get harder to find, you would have a losing investment some 50 years later, you'd be kicking yourself for not selling in 1980 when the Hunt brothers tried to manipulate the market.
Things will never get so bad that only gold/ silver will be accepted as money, even if that did happen, you would be killed for just having it !
You would be better off buying lots of guns and ammo instead of metals if you are a survivalist sort.