Silver as an investment

Silver may be used as an investment like other precious metals. It has been regarded as a form of money and store of value for more than 4,000 years, although it lost its role as legal tender in developed countries when the use of the silver standard came to an end in 1935. Some countries mint bullion and collector coins, however, such as the American Silver Eagle with nominal face values. In 2009, the main demand for silver was for: industrial applications (40%), jewellery, bullion coins and exchange-traded products. In 2011, the global silver reserves amounted to 530,000 tonnes.

When compared to the other two main precious metals, platinum and gold, silver is the least scarce among them. Platinum is about 139 times rarer than silver in terms of mined and available platinum to silver, and gold is about 8 times rarer than silver.

Millions of mint issued silver bullion coins, such as the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf, the American Silver Eagle, or the British Silver Britannia, are purchased as investments each year. While these bullion coins are legal tender, their inherent value is tied to the price of silver and so are rarely traded at face value. However, "junk silver" coins, which were originally minted as currency, can sometimes be found in circulation and are common targets in the practice of coin roll hunting.