People who hoard gold for when the economy collapses crack me up. Gold (silver, diamonds, etc) has no inherent value...if things go to shit, food, water, and land are the real commodities.
That said, you can make some money trading precious metal commodities but it takes a lot of time, research and you really have to have a lot of money to invest to make real money. Buying a few thousand dollars worth of this and that won't amount to a serious payday. Big rewards come from big risks.