About 4 or 5 bucks

Anyone buying

Why would anyone buy silver? Honest question.

You never know when the vampires will show

Or is it the warewolf ?

Silver has been a struggling asset for several years. There was a peak in the last ten years, but it hasn't changed recently in any noticeable amount. It seems to be an undervalued asset in relation to gold. Near 100-1. It still attracts some buyers, whether in the futures or the bullion markets. In the futures market it seems to be used as a portfolio diversification item, or a hedge against other investments. In the bullion market you have those that buy to hedge against a devalued dollar. I hear that there are some shortages in supply in the bullion market appearing. Some vendors are reportedly out-of-stock on some items. What items, I don't know. Not really sure what the "hot" items would be. I know when silver shot up within the last 10 years (sorry don't really know when that was), local auctions made a killing selling old coins or anything made of silver. Don't really know how things have been lately. More and more are becoming on-line events.

Since it's used in tech stuff a lot, I would expect silver to go up when news of production normalizing appears.

I buy a 20 count of silver eagles every year. If you hold onto things long time, sometimes they become more valuable.

Wish I had waited a couple more weeks to buy.

The people selling silver are good at advertising and selling. Money is made trading silver not holding it. Just my opinion and I have held clay target boxes full of silver. I'm happy that I always sell it all when the market goes up. Currently I have very little. Wish I would have waited before I bought $5000 worth for my wife's Christmas gift.

If you can do that and put it away, I think you do ok over the long term. You might even do better than ok. I know a few people that do that. I don't know the amounts they buy, but I know they buy different sized bars, eagles, and some of the other rounds that are available. Others buy in the junk market and have "collections". It almost seems to be a hobby/investment for most I know.

I don't get what the attraction is of silver as an investment; it's not even a good hedge.

Most silver production is merely a by-product of copper, lead and gold mining, very little is produced as a primary product of silver mining. Therefore silver is being dumped on the market at prices less than it costs to produce it at a silver mine.

Silver has been a terrible investment for years. I laugh when I hear the radio advertisement that says "If silver were to go back to it's all time high, that would be a gain of 200%".
Yes, but that was in 1989 when it was at it's all time high.

Sorry to throw a wet towel on the silver enthusiasm, but I just don't see it.

In 2009 I started buying $1000 worth of silver rounds each December for the first granddaughter's Christmas gift. Stopped after 5 years and two more grandchildren. Wonder if they are still holding the silver?

Silver was 16.00 oz in 1980 when I lived in Colorado. Haven't seen hugh changes over the years. Some short spikes but seems like more work keeping track and selling and buying. Nothing wrong with it but dont see it as a retirement plan. I still like the stuff though

I get that silver is a by-product of mining for other metals. Coons are a by-product of my coyote trapping. A complete nuisance. Yet, for a little effort on my part, I can make my by-products pay for my gas, needed to chase after coyotes. In certain market periods, my coons may produce a higher rate of return than my coyotes. Shear volume may make them more attractive than my coyotes during those market periods. Investing isn't usually about how attractive the product is to you, it's about how much it will be attractive to a future buyer. That's how I look at it. Investing is about the future, whether it's the next moment or the next millennia.

You do have those that believe the dollar system will collapse due "money-printing" by the fed. This leading to higher and higher deficits and more and more credit being issued to those who will be unable to pay. The "housing-bubble" on steroids theory. Which, taken against the back-drop of history, is a possibility. Growing up, I heard these kinds of stories from survivors of the Great Depression. A distrust of the banking system and a particular distrust of the fed. They shook their heads in disgust over the removal of the gold standard. These stories continue to exist today all across America in households and in some of the talking points of big name investors.

Whether you're trapping or investing, you never know for sure how the market will be when you start. And, just like all the differences between trappers as to how, when, what, where, why, etc., we all try what we think will work best for us when we invest in other areas. Just my thoughts on it.

I buy high and sell low same reasoning I use to trap and farm

You're a professional gambler then.

Sometimes we get lucky and reverse that trend and that is what keeps us coming back.

Great catch eb. Missed that myself.

Cfowler,
Your coon/coyote is a perfect analogy for silver/gold, lead,copper.

If all those gold, lead and copper mines stopped operating or slowed way down that would greatly reduce the amount of unneeded silver on the market, and silver would go up.

If unwanted coons (non-target coon) stopped coming on the market it would help out the coon price.

The fur market problem is a little different than the metals market though;
Silver miners are smart enough to shut down when it costs more to produce silver than it sells for.
Coon trappers on the other hand seem to keep producing even when it doesn't really pencil out.