Precious Metals Investing in Silver?

Greetings one and all.

My curiosity was sparked the other night after my Dad came home preaching about Silver. I'm not sure what got him onto the topic, because I've never heard him talk about investing ever.

Anyway, I was just curious to learn a little more and get some more knowledgeable/experienced opinions on this.

He seemed to think that silver was now a better investment than gold for some reason.

I've had a look at the iShares Silver.&.Gold Trust ETF's and Gold seems to have done far better than Silver.

So, share your thoughts if you have any. Would be interesting to hear what you guys have to say.

 

Hey Compleks,

Because America has lost its credit rating, I think Monday will be a monkey fight on the world market. So I think, in the short term, both gold and silver will rise. The problem with both these metals is, they don't provide any dividends. All you get is growth. You only get wealth when you sell. If you want to buy gold or silver, you should have bought it many months ago. Still, who knows what is going to happen in the world over the next few years.




Johny.

 

My understanding is that the pros of silver over gold are, that silver was actually a more traditional form of currency way back in the day, there is also less silver in the world than gold, it's currently more affordable and silver is also used as an industrial commodity and is used in many modern consumer electronics.

That said, those that invest in silver and gold as a "money making" strategy just don't get it. Silver and gold aren't "investments" because they aren't productive in themsleves, they are just alternative forms of currency - ie if you don't trust what the FED is doign with the USD then diversify your currency holdings into other currencies (two of which could be gold or silver).

I think the biggest reason gold as silver are rallying so much of late is not because the money printing of the FED but that most other currencies look equally bad.

I have owned gold and gold mining companies since 2008, but I don't think I would have been forced to put money in those sorts of investments if there were reasoanble currency alternatives and there was somewhere where you could place your money and be quite confident that you get it back at much the same value 5, 10, 15, 20 years later.

 

I have a collection of Canadian Silver Dollars. Not only are they worth more than a slab of silver, they are beautifully designed and crafted. A spot of silvo and they shine. These dollars are about 1.5 inches in diameter. I can't imagine a pocket full of them, so they must have been collectables from the start.

Silver was also used in photography( silver nitrate) before digital cameras.




Johny.