There is a lot of focus on Gold when it comes to both financial security and the precious metals market, often leaving silver as a neglected commodity. However, as a stable investment silver has a lot of offer, particularly as it tends to be significantly cheaper that its golden counterpart.
If you are looking at the silver market you might be unsure as to exactly how you want to invest in silver – from stocks, mining and exploration companies, coins and solid bars, there are several options. While with gold there is also the option for investing in jewelry as a valid option, although silver jewelry can be just as sensational, it tends to be less of a secure investment.
How To Invest In Silver
If you’re looking to invest in physical silver generally your options are to either buy silver bars or coins. Generally, from a financial investment point of view it makes little difference which you choose to invest in. However, you will often find that silver coins have a mark up beyond the market spot metal price. This can be particularly true if you are looking at commemorative or collectable coins.
If you are buying silver bars you are generally paying just for the metal rather than an extensive market up beyond the value of the metal. This makes silver bars an excellent option for investment if you are looking at just the physical value of the silver content, rather than hoping that a collector coin will increase in value due primarily to its value as a collector’s object, bars are certainly a more worthwhile way to spend your money. Yet, there is no doubting that a wise (and lucky) investor who is purchasing commemorative silver coins can indeed make a tidy profit on the collectable nature of these items – but the trick, like most investments, comes with being able to sell at just the right time, as the interest in collectable items does wax and wane depending on a range of other factors. Sadly, for collectors, often the coins they had hoped would be of interest for the uniqueness of the coin are often only of value for the metal that will be extracted when they are melted down.
Of course, you might like to look towards stocks that are associated with silver mines. Whether risking on penny stocks that are in their infancy, they are unproven and still looking to find precious metals. If you can read geology reports and understand the risks this is always an option. Or you might like to spend a little more in the stock market and invest in one of the more established mining companies. However, there are significant risks involved in the stock market, the devastating crashes aside, they can be fickle and are not for the unaware investor.
You can also invest in silver on the stock market. The price of precious metals is set by physical traders in the metal, the price is then averaged, and this is basically how the spot metal price is determined. Supply and demand play a big role in the price of any of the precious metals, and we have seen the price of gold skyrocket as technology using gold has seen the demand for this metal increase.
If you are watching the silver markets you might be forgiven for thinking that it is an extremely volatile market, however this more due to the smaller size of the market than any genuine concern around sudden crashes.
Factors Determining Silver Supply and Demand
Once silver was the primary metal for metal objects in wealthier households. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver From teapots and serving sets to cutlery, as well as a host of medical implements, silver was a pure metal that was in great demand. However,it’s modern counterpart of stainless steel, which requires no polishing, rarely tarnishes and is dishwasher safe, has largely replaced silver in most households.
You might think that this decreased interest in household supply of silver would have caused a correlative decline in the interest of silver metal, however as with gold, modern technology and developments have caused a stability and increase in demand. From solar panels, x-rays, electrical contacts, and a range of expensive medical equipment, the precious metal has found a host of new uses.
As new technology is invented and developed, we constantly find new demands for silver.
