If i am worried about US financial collapse (i am) and want to...

If i am worried about US financial collapse (i am) and want to hedge against it using gold/silver, what is the recommended way to do this?

I have signed up for an account at the mint and apparently i can have bullion delivered to my house, or use their storage service... but is there another 'clean and safe' way to achieve this?

What do you guys do ie instead of buying the physical metal or is physically buying it the 'best' way... ?

Thanks for any thoughts and opinions on this and yes i know it's a subjective question...