fatjoe10

I see gold/silver being called an "investment." Like ^ said, it is a currency hedge. It is about wealth preservation, not so much about earning a return on it. For merely "trading it" for quick profits, there's always paper gold and silver.

In addition, putting PM's in a safety deposit box makes it easier to be confiscated if/when that time comes. It happened once already.

Cali Vroom

My wife's family has been in the silver jewelry business for over 30+ years... buying silver as a raw material in 100s of KG at a time. The reason I bring this background up is that we have been able to weed out the middlemen over the years and now purchase silver directly from dealers and refiners as close to spot price as one can possibly get at this level... and we don't "bank" the silver. One thing a silver (or any precious metal) investor needs to consider is disposition, how will you sell it? How long will you need to hold it for the appreciation to cover the spread the buyer will undoubtedly take? While I am certainly not saying silver is a bad investment, but it is a niche investment that is truly long term at the very least. I agree with fatjoe10 in that silver is a currency hedge... not a speculative play.