Homepage  / Buying Guides: Silver Guide

Last Edited on 06/14/2025

This Page is Under Maintenance...

Due to this, some images and/or text on this page may seem out of place or illegible.

Silver Bullion Buying Guide
with a list of Reputable
Silver Bullion Dealers

Silver Facts

Silver ore exists in the Earth's crust in many forms; it is found in its "native silver" elemental form as nuggets or crystals of pure silver. It also occurs naturally as an alloy with gold, known as electrum.  However, it is most commonly found alongside other metals, including copper, gold, lead, and zinc ores.

Mexico is its leading producer of silver, followed by China, Peru, Chile, Poland, Australia, Bolivia, Russia, the United States, Kazakhstan, Argentina, and India (source).

Silver's atomic number is 47, its chemical symbol on the Periodic Chart is "Ag," the abbreviation stands for the word for silver in Latin: Argentum.

Silver has a brilliant whitish metallic luster that can take a high polish, it is the most reflective element and is used in mirrors, telescopes, microscopes, and solar cell.

Silver is the best elemental conductor of electricity. Silver serves as the benchmark for measuring other conductors. On a scale from 0 to 100, silver scores a perfect 100 in electrical conductivity. By comparison, copper ranks 97, while gold ranks 76.

Silver is the best thermal conductor among all metals. Silver paste is used in every computer; it is applied between the CPU and motherboard for its effectiveness as both an electrical and thermal conductor.  In addition, only gold is more ductile than silver; one ounce of silver can be drawn into an 8,000-foot-long wire (source).

It is estimated that silver was first used by man around 5000 BC, it has been used as money since as early as 600 BC.  Silver has long been used as a store of wealth; the words for "silver" and "money" are the same in 14 different languages.

---

Silver Demand

Silver has two roles in the markets, its primary role is as an industrial metal (solar industry, chemical catalysts, etc.), its second role is in jewelry and in coins and bars as a monetary metal.

Silverware and silver jewelry are purchased for their beauty and durability because silver holds its intrinsic value.

Physical silver bullion in the form of coins and bars are purchased for the same reasons from collectors and investors worldwide.

---

Silver's Price and its
Surplus & Deficit

The first chart to the right gives you look into the silver market's surpluses and deficits over the last nine years.

The chart is from the Silver Institute's 2025 World Silver Survey (page 11), it shows that the price of silver isn't influenced much when there is a surplus or deficit in the silver market.  

Unfortunately, deficiencies in the silver market are often used as a marketing scheme by some in the industry to create a sense of urgency for those interested in purchasing silver, or a Buy it Now or you'll loose out mentality.

We all know what happens when a market runs out of something that is in strong demand, the price skyrockets until demand is met; oddly that isn't what is going on in silver's market.

In the next chart (right) from Resource World Magazine, it shows that their is practically no correlation between the price of silver and its supply and deficits.  For those who understand the laws of supply and demand are likely scratching their heads by now. 

(Note: there are some surplus/deficit discrepancies between the Resource World Magazine's chart and the other charts because the magazine's chart doesn't include coins and bars)

The last chart in this section from The Natural Sapphire Company (below), shows that silver's supply has been hit with surpluses, and deficiencies since 1960, and likely longer. 

Prior to 1971, when President Nixon ended the Bretton Woods system, which pegged the dollar to the price of gold, silver's was price under $1.20 an ounce.  

After 1971, the price of silver shot up in price, but not due to deficiencies, but because it was now traded and priced as a commodity, not controlled in price as a monetary unit.  In 1980, the highest green bar occurs during silver's highest surplus, at that time, the price of silver was worth around $50.00 an ounce.  At the end of the chart below during times of deep deficits, the price of silver all through the 1990s was under $10.00 an ounce, as seen in the chart above.

Again, to those who understands the laws of supply and demand you are likely going as crazy as I am writing this section. 

What the surplus / deficit charts are showing as well as the price is that silver doesn't have a supply issue, demand is being met (somehow) and the price is staying under control.

Either the laws of supply and demand don't pertain to silver or in the years silver supply was in deficit, those who needed silver found it somewhere in previous supply because there is no other way to explain how or why the price doesn't skyrocket when demand isn't met.

Price manipulation is one way that those in the industry conclude this issue, but it doesn't explain were the deficiencies in the silver supply are made up to meet demand. 

All the charts information come from credible sources, as each one shows (CPM Group, Silver Institute, LBMA, Bloomberg), somewhere something is not right, the question is: where?

The charts in this section prove, silver's supply is often hit with deficits, and regularly bounces back surpluses.

Facts are the demand for silver is being met, and the notion that we are running out of silver isn't the case.

Silver is consistently being discovered in new areas, and new mines are often coming online as the articles below show, plus scrap silver is constantly being recycled.   

Remember: Fear is the psychology behind the silver deficit scheme or the thought of "missing out," which are never good mixes with smart investing.

Silver's price is much more dynamic, like all markets it involves supply and demand, but because silver is also form of money and a store of wealth, peace (certainty) or unrest (uncertainty) in the world are what drive the price of the precious metal.

There is the argument that the price of silver is manipulated, which I'm not denying, but what these charts denies logic.

---

---

Silver's Monetary Role

Silver is a monetary metal. 

Silver's secondary market shares the same asset principles that gold possesses.  Gold's primary market is as a monetary metal, less than 15% of its market is used for industrial purposes.

Monetary metals like Silver and gold are 'de-centralized' forms of money, they have no liabilities and they will never be worth zero.

This is the greatest monetary reason individuals should purchase precious metals because they protect and hold their value also known as "purchasing power."

Silver's Purchasing Power

Silver's other monetary role is as an investment asset. 

All investor's invest in an asset to receive the greatest return and it is for this reason alone that silver bullion is a greater investment asset than gold, platinum, or palladium bullion.

Silver possesses this investment power because of its value, and it has the potential to rapidly move higher by percentage points than the other precious metals.

It is this investment property that allures many investors who are willing to brave the risk to receive the reward.

The rest of this page will help you learn more about how silver serves as an investment asset. 

In addition, this link to this guide's Gold Buying Guide page will help you understand how gold and silver serves, its role, as monetary insurance a.k.a. Safe Haven Asset.

Silver's Volatile Market

As mentioned above, silver's market is dominated by the industrial market because of this it moves with the volatility of the industrial markets.

The chart below offers you a glimpse of silver's volatile market, in relation to the gold market.

The gold and silver markets react to different variables, Gold acts more as a currency than a commodity, in addition, gold is known more as a safe haven currency, than silver.

Silver is also a safe haven, as mentioned above, however, silver has more industrial uses and trades more as an industrial commodity, than it does a safe haven currency, in the markets.

chart photo courtesy of TradingView.com

Violent fluctuations in some markets are unusual, but in the Silver Market, it is the norm.  

If you choose to purchase silver as an investment vehicle, the volatility in the Silver Market should be known and expected. 

Patience is required if you choose to invest in silver bullion because the  violent swings in price can cause anxiety.

Investors who want to buy silver, should follow the silver market and understand what causes these fluctuations in price.

Bullion Market News is posted daily, on the Guide's homepage, to help you better understand the ups and downs in the silver market. 

In addition, the news on the homepage is there to help you decide when to buy, hold or sell precious metals bullion.

Why You Should Own Silver

---

---

Understanding the
Gold to Silver Ratio

Silver is known as the "Poor Man's Gold", but for many of those who invest in physical silver bullion, they consider Silver to be the "Smart Investors Gold." 

The reasons behind silver's 'Poor Man's' label is this simple truth;  Silver is priced less than gold and other precious metals.

This fact doesn't devalue silver's relationship to other precious metals, it simply states the obvious, that silver is more affordable. 

For those who want to invest in silver to receive the greatest return, want to watch the Gold to Silver Ratio.

When the Gold to Silver ratio is above 65, silver has the greatest possibility of multiplying in price.

GOLDSILVER Quotes by TradingView

A reading of '65' in the Gold to Silver ratio means that it takes 65 ounces of Silver to be equal in price to 1 ounce of Gold.

In monetary comparison, from 1100 A.D. (12th Century) to 1700 A.D. (18th Century), the Gold to Silver Ratio was as low as 12 to 1.

The 2014 mining ratio of the Gold to Silver ratio - measures to be about 8.3 to 1. (8.3 oz. of silver mined to 1 oz. of gold mined)

If the 12 to 1 ratio were true today, the price of silver would be over $100.00 an ounce, or if silver traded near the mined gold to mined silver ratio, silver's price would be between $120 to $150.00 a troy ounce.

A few other reasons behind silver's capacity to multiply have to do with the size of the physical silver market, it is extremely small in comparison to other investments. 

In physical terms, each year, nearly one billion ounces of silver are mined and traded. 

That makes the physical silver market equal in size to just One Large-Cap Stock. (Over $10 Billion in market capitalization) 

On the other hand, silver's paper market is much larger, in 2014, Bloomberg valued the paper market of Silver around $5 trillion.

Furthermore, Silver's paper to physical silver ratio sits around 250 to 1, meaning that for every ounce of physical silver, there are 250 ounces of paper silver. (paper silver = silver futures contracts)

"If the price of silver were based directly on the real physical silver market, silver’s price should be at $5,000 an ounce."  - Gold Broker

---

SD Bullion - 4.8 star Customer Reviews Affiliate Ad

---

Types of Physical Silver Bullion

There are many different forms of physical silver bullion that one can choose from; they include:

Silver Bullion Coins

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Other forms of Silver Bullion include:

• Pre-1970 U.S. Mint "Junk Silver" Coins (see this Guide for more)
• Silver Rounds (made by numerous Private Mints & Refiners)

• Silver Bullion Bars ranging in size from 1 gram to 400 oz., by some of the following refiners: PAMP, Johnson Matthey, Engelhard, Heraeus, Sunshine Minting, Inc., etc.)
• Silver Bullion Jewelry, and Sterling Silver Jewelry & silverware

List of Reputable
Silver Bullion Dealers

---

Note: As a suggestion to anyone interested in buying bullion from any one of the sites listed below, Please Read each company's ordering instructions and shipping rules carefully.

---

BGASC 

(Silver Bullion link)

"BGASC" is a acronym for "Buy Gold And Silver Coins" they are a Precious Metals Dealer based in California, and is one of the largest coin and bullion dealers in the United States.
   
Buy Gold And Silver Coins.com's goal is to be the kind of dealer they've always wanted to trade with: to be in stock, ship fast, be fair & reasonable, and operate honestly and efficiently.

They are an Official PCGS Dealer, member of the Certified Coin Exchange (CCE), an NGC Collector's Society Member, and a Bulk Purchaser of United States Mint non-bullion coins.

Every single package they ship is sent fully insured for its time in transit. Customers all across the country have quickly come to recognize BGASC as one of the fastest, and most trusted online precious metals suppliers in the U.S.

---

---

---

Money Metals Exchange

(Silver Bullion link)

Stefan Gleason is president of the Money Metals Exchange, which is a national precious metals investment company and news service with over 500,000 readers and 75,000 customers.

Gleason founded the company in 2010 in direct response to the abusive methods of national advertisers of collectible, and numismatic coins.

Money Metals Exchange believes the average investor should never purchase precious metals that are not priced at or near their actual melt value.

Now you can safeguard your assets from financial turmoil and the devaluing dollar – without paying costly middleman mark-ups or fending off high pressure, bait-and-switch sales tactics.

Savvy, self-reliant investors are embracing Money Metals Exchange as their trustworthy resource for gold and silver bullion.

---

---

---

SilverGoldBull

(Silver Bullion link)

SilverGoldBull.com provides you with competitive, up-to-minute pricing and we make sure your precious metals are delivered to your door discreetly and fully insured.
    
SilverGold Bull's in-house customer service representatives will work to assure your satisfaction in a timely, friendly, and professional manner. Never hesitate to get in touch - building relationships with our clients is our number one priority.

If you would like to learn more about what our customers are saying about our service, please view our customer reviews (below).

SilverGoldBull has tens of thousands of satisfied customers who have taken their financial future into their own hands by investing in gold and silver.

This bullion dealer is based in Canada and offers a wide variety of precious metals bullion for you to choose from, their commitment to you is to provide extraordinary service throughout your bullion buying experience.

---

---

---

---

Silver, Gold, and Platinum
Bullion Broker &
Storage

---

Bullion Vault

The video below goes into further detail about Bullion Vault's services. 

---

Other pages you may like...

---

---

---

---

For Bullion Market News...

Visit the Homepage

---