If you want real metal, your best bet is probably US Mint "gold eagle" coins.<p><a href="http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/?action=american_eagles" rel="nofollow">http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/?action=american_eagles</a><p>You can also by stocks (in a gold mining company) or futures in a commodity market. There's also a dizzying number of derivatives.<p>I gotta say though, its far from a certainty that now (or any time) is a "good" time to buy gold. Its just a commodity (and not a particularly useful one) that has some elements of currency because of its relative scarcity. It can suffer a plunge in value from a crisis in confidence like any other currency. It seems like a good bet against inflation, but if you took that bet in 1980 (the last historic high driven by inflation fears) you didn't recover until <i>2007</i>!<p>If you want a precious metals hedge, getting some silver (low value, easy to trade) or some platinum (actually <i>useful</i> for many things as well as valuable) wouldn't be a bad idea.<p>One final thought, it is good to value food, shelter and clothing, but don't forget tools and weapons. If you get to the point where your food and clothes are a deciding factor, a good saw and a strong, sharp knife will be just as precious.