Talk:Silver as an investment

Plagiarism?

The "Investing Strategies" section has some of the exact same sentences as this article: http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/bms/2006/0626.html Specifically, the line "And in today's economic climate, there are plenty of risks to hedge against: currency exchange declines, loss of purchasing power..." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.193.162.40 (talk) 03:24, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

NPOV

similar issues as Gold as an investment, including the title (it's not an "investment" in the strict economic sense).

RandomP 23:34, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Actually I agree -- "savings," yes -- "investment," no, "speculation" possibly. If we define savings as "setting aside excess capital today for tomorrow's needs." And investment as "risking capital today to secure future income/value growth based on fundamental valuations" (in the Benjamin Graham sense). And speculation as "gambling on short-term price movements" or something similar. I don't actually know quite how to resolve this though -- in modern American parlance, the concepts of saving and investing and speculating are pretty much used interchangeably. Georgevtucker (talk) 23:27, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

Not an investment? Read the definition.

This is no more than one long advert for silver from those with vested interests. It has no place in wikipedia. e.g. 'now is the time to increase allocations to gold and hard assets in order to maximize returns.' Roll up folks! Get your silver here! (unsigned comment)

The best thing to do, especially since silver is still going up, is to simply mention that it is/has been going up, and give some verifiable explanations as to why.Radical Mallard (talk) 20:22, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Gold and Silver as a hobby, Gold and Silver as investment for capital gains, and Gold and Silver for SHTF survival are three very different things with completely different psychologies at work. Yet there is some misleading information in this entry and I will post my thoughts to this talk page hoping a more experienced wiki user could make the edits upon approval -elysianfury 150.250.191.149 (talk) 13:44, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Merge with "'other precious metal' as an investment"

I think we can merge the precious metals, at least. That's silver, gold, platinum, palladium, aluminium (history only)? At the very least, can we merge everything but gold? The issues are mostly the same, huge tables of prices are unencyclopedic anyway, and the history might be more interesting that way (and contain a valuable lesson for gold bugs in the case of aluminium :-) ).

Thoughts?

RandomP 23:36, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I disagree, silver (like gold) has many unique investment characteristics, which are different from say palladium and platinum. For example palladium, due to its industrial uses in the automotive industry, rose in price sharply over the 1990's when other precious metals were falling. To merge them together would be, in my opinion, a mistake. 86.133.21.82 08:07, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

I too disagree with a merger, for the reasons given by the previous objector. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Frixa (talk • contribs) 13:33, 5 June 2006

I also disagree with a merger, again for the reasons cited above, as well as the relative scarcity of some metals as opposed to others--Morgan 07:26, 22 June 2006 (UTC).

Also disagree -- both gold and silver have VERY long historical track records. Both platinum and palladium are relative newcomers. There's a case to be made that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service only recognizes these four metals as legitimate non-collectible tangible assets? But that's hardly compelling... Having said that, I think the "valuable lesson for gold bugs" is necessary! Georgevtucker (talk) 23:31, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

Units

It's not stated whether the ounces are avoirdupois or troy ounces. So which? Msmi121 21:49, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Troy -- equivalent to 31.1 g.... RobertAustin 14:01, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

You refer to the graph? Yes, each axis of any graph should be labelled with the quantity being measured and the units. The Y axis on this graph needs such infomation. Regards, ... PeterEasthope (talk) 12:13, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

There needs to be some discussion of COMEX's role in shorting the price of silver

Silver is seen by them as a commodity in industrial production that must be kept cheap. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.89.71.11 (talk) 22:18, 19 January 2007 (UTC).

Mistake

The 122500 million oz. seems to be a mistake. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 87.194.4.21 (talk) 10:40, 19 March 2007 (UTC).

Thanks, its a typo. It should have read 122.5 million ounces. I have corrected and updated the article. nirvana2013 10:07, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Could be clearer

The article says, "for example, U.S. pre-1965 half dollars, dimes, and quarters are 90% silver." Are 1965 half dollars, dimes, and quarters silver? I believe so, but this statement doesn't seem clear to me.

1964 is the cutoff 150.250.191.149 (talk) 13:46, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

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NYMEX contract settlement?

On NYMEX, does silver trade for delivery or for cash settlement? --JHP (talk) 00:59, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

I looked and I cannot find a clear answer either. Georgevtucker (talk) 23:34, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

Silver content in US coins.

In the early 1960's, the silver supply for the nation's coinage was dwindling rapidly. As Congress and the Administration debated over silver's future role in coinage, the silver market jumped 10% immediately, and another 30% by 1962. This set the stage for the complete elimination of silver from our coinage by the end of 1964.

Any United States dime, quarter, half dollar or dollar that is dated 1964 or earlier is made of 90% silver. In the dime series, all coins dated 1965 or later are clad coins and contain no silver at all. Quarters dated 1965 or later are all copper-nickel clad coins except for the dual-dated Bicentennial Quarters that were sold by the Mint in special Mint Sets and Proof Sets. These quarters contain 40% fine silver and have an "S" mint mark. They are different from the Bicentennial quarters you can find in circulation and were sold by the Mint at a premium to collectors.

In the Kennedy Half Dollar series, the 1964 of course is 90% silver. Halves dated 1965 through 1970 contain 40% silver. Halves dated 1971 or later are copper-nickel clad coins with the exception again of the special Bicentennial halves sold in the Mint Sets and Proof Sets with the "S" mint mark, which are 40% silver. Among Eisenhower dollars, coins dated from 1971 through 1974 with the S mintmark are 40% silver. In addition, the special Bicentennial Sets contained 40% silver coins. All other Eisenhower dollars are copper-nickel clad coins. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.49.66.19 (talk) 20:13, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

While this is good info I'm not convinced this is the correct place for it. Individual pages on U.S. coinage already exist. Georgevtucker (talk) 23:35, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

chart caption

The caption of the chart reads "The large spike in 1980 was a result of the Hunt brothers' failure to corner the market and Silver Thursday". Did their failure of their attempt to corner the market cause the spike? It seems to me that the faiure caused prices to drop, but the attempt made prices spike. Is that right? Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 20:53, 14 September 2011 (UTC)

easy, word it like this: "The large spike in 1980 was a result of the Hunt brothers' attempt to corner the market." 150.250.191.149 (talk) 13:50, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

The inflation adjusted chart data is about 10-11 months lagging. It might be time for an update. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.77.237.180 (talk) 03:33, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Also the inflation chart indicates its data goes to 2011. A quick look at the chart shows the data is through 2013. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.77.237.180 (talk) 04:35, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

Silver as Legal Tender in the United States

The first section has a part which reads as follows:

"However, since the end of the silver standard, silver has lost its role as legal tender in many developed countries such as the United States. In 2009, the main demand for silver was for industrial applications (40%), jewellery, bullion coins and exchange-traded products.[1][2]"

Bullion coins (at least, the American Eagle Fine Silver coins) ARE legal tender with a $1 face value. So yes, silver is still used as legal tender in the United States. The first sentence states otherwise and is incorrect.

Psychonaut25 (13375p34k!) 12:03 PM EST, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

Would you also claim that zinc, copper and paper are legal tender? Not per se, only in the form of specific coins and bills whose value as legal tender is independent of their material value. Similarly, while the American Eagle coins are legal tender, silver on its own is not (except in Utah, apparently, where the value of silver coins supposedly is based on the silver content). Huon (talk) 22:27, 24 November 2013 (UTC)

Is a penny legal tender? What about a morgan silver dollar? I can bring both into any store and purchase an item for $1.01, however it would be quite foolish for me to do so. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jim767676 (talk • contribs) 22:57, 24 November 2013 (UTC)

OP is technically correct -- modern bullion coins like silver American eagles have a face value and are technically legal tender. However they're not intended for circulation or use as money (hence their absurdly low face values) any more than the UK's gold sovereign coins (today's price £402 , face value £1/1) are.

If the OP's point is that silver isn't money any longer in the U.S., he's 30% right and 70% wrong. Georgevtucker (talk) 23:44, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

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A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

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Link spam

I've removed multiple links to non-reference, commercial websites. Recommend more vigilant spam policing for this page.Georgevtucker (talk) 00:01, 1 December 2020 (UTC)

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Merger discussion

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section. A summary of the conclusions reached follows.

Closed with no objection to (accomplished) merge. Felix QW (talk) 13:13, 17 May 2022 (UTC)

---

I propose that Junk silver be merged into the "Investment vehicles" section of the article, since most of the "junk silver" article mostly consists of listings of each type of coins considered junk silver, which reminds me of WP:Fancruft. Without those content, the article would be better suited to be a section of Silver as an investment. Why not merge it into one article for types of silver investments? --NotReallySoroka (talk) 16:53, 4 April 2022 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Junk silver minted at inception?

user:John Maynard Friedman re: “Other countries… also minted junk silver coins in the past.”

Uh really? Those coins were junk from time of birth? 😁 As oxymoronic as “old people were born”. Feel free to rephrase this one as you see fit. But of course they were born as brand new circulating coins which just turned junk over decades. Thanks. Oppa gangnam psy (talk) 16:47, 11 May 2022 (UTC)

Thank you for engaging bin WP:BRD rather than reverting again.

Yes, that is exactly what they were. Technically speaking, the coinage was debased. "Silver" that is anything less than sterling silver is not "investment grade" silver (which is the topic of this article), it is a silver alloy that has to be refined to get rid of the contaminants. In a word, junk. --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 17:56, 11 May 2022 (UTC)

Hmm and that's quite different from what I know is junk silver. It's those old silver coins from granny's chest which is still worth scrap. Ok let's let this one stand until the next guy picks it again. FYI an old Junk Silver page got redirected here so let's see how many previous authors sees it again in brand-new form. Thanks. Oppa gangnam psy (talk) 20:53, 11 May 2022 (UTC)

Granny'd heirloom Victorian "silver" tableware is also junk silver if, as is probable unless she was the Duchess of Westminster, it is a similar alloy with no value above its metal content. Context is all important: here we are talking about silver as a raw material. --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 21:49, 11 May 2022 (UTC)