Silver is known as a precious metal and much, much more. This metal of ancient civilizations and of modern technology has been used as a medium of exchange through the ages, and is an important investment metal with a variety of industrial uses.

Silver like gold has been used as money for many centuries. It is also commonly used in jewellery and collectible coins. Silver has extremely valuable industrial uses such as malleability, thermal and electric conductivity, and its resistance to corrosion is unmatched among precious metals. Everybody knows the old expression warning against selling the ‘family silver’ but not everyone appreciates its wisdom.

Silver and gold are not simply commodities but more importantly currencies which cannot be debased like our modern fiat paper and digital currencies. Gold and silver has been used as money in more regions and countries and for longer periods of time than the relatively modern use of paper currencies. Interestingly, silver has been used in more regions and countries and for longer periods of time as money than gold. Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman, said of silver “The major monetary metal in history is silver, not gold.”

Silver is unique in terms of being both a monetary and an industrial metal. Silver industrial and investment demand is increasing very significantly and meanwhile supply is falling. The fact that the huge majority of the investment public and financial services industry remains ignorant of the fundamentals in silver means that the bull market in silver remains in it’s early stages. Silver remains probably the most undervalued asset class.

Silver, like gold, has been and is increasingly again being regarded by many investment managers as a great financial hedge against terrorism, war, fiat currency crises, deflation, inflation, stagflation, hyperinflation or a combination. A combination could see the western world experience inflation in essential goods and commodities for society to function such as wheat, grain, rice, natural gas and oil and deflation in non-essential and over valued items such as luxury goods and over valued assets such as some equity and property markets.