But why would they be trying to sell you soon to be more valuable precious metals for soon to be worthless fiat currency? One would have to be an idiot to do that, are they idiots? Or is the premise flawed.

Because metals dealers sell metal. That's their business model.

The physical value difference is already evident. That's why there's a premium on physical metal. Paper metal is a scam.

Check the price of physical silver vs spot price. It's a couple of $$$ per oz. They make a profit.

The reason is simple, during economic downturns the shrinking economy will lead to less demand in manufacturing for precious metals, resulting in price drops, the currency on the other hand can be used to purchase other assets less susceptible to inflationary pressures that are far more liquid than precious metals.

The opposite is true during hyperinflation.

The currency supply has increased by 40% since 2020. We're already in hyperinflation. The price of metal has increased.

Plus the central banks are buying up record quantities of gold. They see what's coming ahead.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2023/04/10/central-banks-gold-buying-spree-implications-for-the-global-economy-and-investors/.

Metals can be traded, and will skyrocket in value. It's still expensive to mine metal, so mining stocks go up.

Currency devalues quickly and more is needed to buy diminishing quantities.

Metal in hand is better than stock that is sold for currency.

Precious metals are not particularly good investments as a hedge against inflation or the very unlikely scenario of total economic collapse.

Gold has beat every commodity since 2000.

It was at $300. Now it's at $2000.

Gold is up 40% in 2023 over the yen. And probably similar with other currencies.

The collapse is impossible to imagine for most, until it occurs. Then it's obvious to everyone.