Silver price

Silver, like other precious metals, may be used as an investment. For more than four thousand years, silver has been regarded as a form of money and store of value. However, since the end of the silver standard, silver has lost its role as a legal tender in all developed countries, although some countries mint bullion and collector coins like 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.

Millions of Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coins and American Silver Eagle are purchased as investments each year. The Silver Maple Leaf is legal tender at $5 per ounce and there are many other silver coins with higher legal tender values, including $20 Canadian silver coins. Silver is legal tender in the U.S. state of Utah, and can be used to pay all debts.

Like most commodities, the price of silver is driven by speculation and supply and demand. Compared to gold, the silver price is notoriously volatile. This is because of lower market liquidity, and demand fluctuations between industrial and store of value uses. At times this can cause wide ranging valuations in the market, creating volatility.

Silver often tracks the gold price due to store of value demands, although the ratio can vary. The crustal ratio of silver to gold is 17.5:1. The gold/silver price ratio is often analyzed by traders, investors and buyers. In Roman times, the price ratio was set at 12 or 12.5 to 1. In 1792, the gold/silver price ratio was fixed by law in the United States at 15:1, which meant that one troy ounce of gold was worth 15 troy ounces of silver; a ratio of 15.5:1 was enacted in France in 1803. The average gold/silver price ratio during the 20th century, however, was 47:1.

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