I don't understand people who think gold will save them in an economic collapse. People aren't going to be eating gold, or using it for shelter.
The point isn't that it has a practical use.
It's that it's rather limited and therefore precious.
People want Gold for things like jewelery, because it's shiny and rare.
And because of this the worth of Gold does not change too much. Meaning that investments in Gold will likely always return your money, if not some small profit.
If all of modern-day society and culture were to break down overnight, people would still value Gold for it's attractiveness and rarity.
The same is true of Silver.
My Chemistry teacher recommends copper for investments
Copper is in short supply these days.
While you could make a killing if you had a surplus of copper, it's not good for investments.
Due to the worth of it, it would cost you a large amount to purchase it.
At which point you likely won't be able to sell it for more than you purchased for.
And at some point it's likely to go down in worth, in which case you lose the money invested.
The only financially beneficial way to make money on copper currently is to steal copper and sell it, which is of course, illegal.