Although no major economy is using gold or silver as the basis of its currency anymore, investors continue to view these two metals as active deposits of value. You can buy silver through local dealers and pawnshops or from online retailers such as APMEX or JM Bullion. For those looking to invest in gold, a top rated gold IRA is a great option. Since an investment of the same size literally buys more silver than gold, that means silver farms will take up much more space and cost more to store and transport.
The two main ETFs that hold physical silver are iShares Silver Trust (SLV) and the Aberdeen Standard Physical Silver Shares (SIVR) ETF. Silver futures are an attractive way to play in the silver market due to the large amount of leverage available in futures contracts. If the price of silver goes up, you can make a profit with silver coins and ingots, but that's the only way to make money here, since the physical product doesn't produce cash flow, unlike a quality business. Those looking to sell silver will probably have a harder time finding a buyer than those who sell gold. Since it is affected by different influences, silver can be a good way to diversify and counter your portfolio against stocks or other securities on paper.
However, silver is an industrial metal and an investment metal, which significantly affects the evolution of its prices and its prospects. Silver maintains its value over the long term and does well when interest rates are low and fixed-income investments don't generate much profit. Therefore, if the economy falls into a depression and demand for specific metals increases, prices should rise accordingly if gold and silver are purchased. That means that if you want to buy silver in the form of a coin to use as a currency, it will be easier to break than a gold coin because it has a lower value.
Gold tends to get all the glory in the investment world; that's what people think of when they want an alternative investment to traditional stocks and bonds. Mining stocks, especially silver stocks that pay dividends, may also be a better option than silver ingots for some investors. When political and economic uncertainty abounds, legal tender generally takes a back seat to assets such as gold and silver. However, with an ETF you can avoid some of the biggest risks of owning physical silver, namely the risk of theft, lack of liquidity and low trading prices.
