November 16, 2009
- Gold And Silver Prices Per Ounce – Climbing Higher Every Year
Another strong month for gold and silver prices per ounce, with gold sticking around the thousand dollar range and silver piercing fourteen dollars an ounce.
Now more than ever, it’s simply a good idea to hold some gold and silver investments. Gold and silver prices per ounce are high right now, and all evidence points to the probability that they have yet to peak.
The gold and silver investors who chose to begin investing in the metals a few years ago, before the recession was made “official” are experiencing quite a nice profit on their investments, but even those who were a little late to catch the gold rush are patting themselves on the back all the same.
Of course, these boosts in gold and silver prices come as no surprise to anyone who knows a little bit about economics. Ever since we were taken off the gold standard, the value of a dollar has been in a constant state of up and down, while the value of gold and silver remains essentially the same in a basic sense.
Of course, the dollar value, the actual gold and silver prices per ounce go up and down at the same rate as the dollar, only inverted, so to justify the above statement… there’s only so much precious metal in the world. Therefore, the actual, literal value of an ounce of gold is always going to be an ounce of gold. Just as a loaf of bread is only ever worth as much as a loaf of bread is worth, an ounce of metal is only ever worth an ounce of metal.
The dollar, on the other hand, who knows what it’s really worth? The actual value of a dollar is, well, the paper it’s printed on, and that’s it. The only practical purpose a dollar can ever have is that you could bleach it and use it to take notes on. That sounds crazy, but think about it: A penny contains more than a penny’s worth of copper.
Now… ten years ago, you could buy a hundred page notebook for fifty cents. Now, it’s a couple dollars. At this rate, in ten more years, a notebook will be in the area of eight dollars. If the rate of inflation keeps quadrupling the price of a notebook every ten years, then eventually, it’ll be cheaper to just write on money!
So with that in mind, here’s something to remember about gold and silver prices: They have almost nothing to do with actual gold and silver value.
Gold and silver prices per ounce may be a rough approximation of their actual value, but the actual value of an ounce of silver is, again, an ounce of silver.
As such, it would be wrong to look at the gold and silver prices and say “gold is up”. Gold isn’t up, gold never becomes somehow significantly more or less rare than it currently is. So when gold and silver prices go up, their actual value is not going up at all, but rather, the value of a dollar is going down.
In other words, the dollar, initially intended to be nothing more than a certificate used as a placeholder and tied to the value of gold, has become an entity all its own. Since we took it off the gold standard, it simply has not been reliable.
Unfortunately, the dollar is what makes the world go ‘round. You can say “I don’t like cash, since it’s unreliable”, but how are you going to pay bills? We don’t really have a choice but to go along with the same crazy notion that everyone else has to buy into; that paper money actually has any value whatsoever.
It’s almost an existential question of doubt. We hand someone a dollar believing that it’s worth something, and hoping that they believe that it’s worth something, when in fact, we’re all entertaining a fiction and we know in our hearts… it’s just paper.
So… that’s where gold and silver investing comes in. You can rely on the paper dollar to hold some abstract “value” when you buy a bottle of Coca Cola or put some gas in your car, but you can’t rely on that value to be the same ten years from now.
So… silver isn’t worth about fourteen dollars an ounce right now. Silver is worth its weight in silver, and it always will be. That’s how you measure real money.
More on Gold And Silver Prices Per Ounce – Climbing Higher Every Year.
November 15, 2009
- Scrap Sterling Silver Prices
When times get tough, one of the first things people turn to is buying and selling valuable materials, such as sterling silver and gold, and it's really no surprise. After all, they maintain their value. With the economy in its current state, this method of managing money issues has turned up again, as more people discover the value of scrap silver.
If you're willing to pay attention to prices and you know what you're doing, you could make quite a lot of money buying and selling scrap sterling silver. However, if you don't know what you're doing, it's possible to lose money. Let's take a look at how you can recycle scrap into real money without a lot of risk.
Scrap silver can be a very profitable sideline since its value continues to rise. Silver is in short supply and any scrap you come across probably has some intrinsic value. There are many ways to find scrap silver, including by taking apart old electronic items, collecting coins, and by buying broken jewelry. This silver isn't wearable anymore (if it is, you should never sell it as scrap) but it's still worth its weight as sterling silver, and if you know where to send it, you can make some real money. The current going rate is about fifteen dollars per ounce, but that changes by the day and even the hour, so you'll need to check carefully if you want to be sure you buy and sell at the right time.
You can find some really amazing deals on real silver jewelry and other pieces that have been dented or tarnished beyond being cleanable, but you need to know what you're looking for. Pure silver is obviously best, but alloys can also be valuable. Make sure that you choose pieces that are real silver, and learn what the telltale signs of real silver are over those base metals. No one wants to buy a piece they believe is a good investment only to discover that it's a fake, after all.
If you're buying jewelry you hope to sell for scrap silver, be sure not to pay too much. You'll usually have to spend some time on it, especially if the real jewelry needs to be sorted out from lower quality material in a large lot. Since you're trying to make a profit, it's important to think about time spent, as well as the value of the material itself. Remember that prices fluctuate all the time. While silver retains an enduring value, the amount you'll make at any given time will be different.
If you take a little time and care to do some research, you could really profit from scrap silver. You'll find plenty of information to help you get the best deals on scrap silver at sites like the one listed in the link below. There are great deals showing the most popular scrap silver auctions. This way you will know which auction is the best. The site will show auctions with the most watches and how many bids have been placed. It is a great way to find deals and hot auctions.
November 11, 2009
- A New Exchange Traded Fund May Have A Major Impact On Long Term Silver Prices
Last week after much publicity and a long wait, the Barclay's Silver ETF (SLV) finally started trading. And it looks like the wait was worth it. Each share represents 10 ounces of silver. Trading began at $129 a share and at the end of trading for the first day, the new Exchange Traded Fund closed at $138.12 after trading more then 2 million shares on it's first day of trading.
This new fund appears to be immensely popular with traders. It is one of the new Exchange Traded Funds that is acting more like a commodity then a stock. Exchange Traded Funds which ten years ago were very conservative and were mostly mirrors of major stock indexes, are now getting very creative in the sectors they represent and also in the underlying financial instrument they represent. You can now but an ETF that invests in gold, silver or oil. When the equity markets are looking dull, investors can now move their money into funds that are driven by commodities. While not as volatile as the futures markets, these funds can still have wide price swings.
Silver and Gold have been recently trading at multi decade highs. With inflation beginning to increase and volatility in world energy markets, these metals could continue to increase in value. Another factor, especially driving the price of silver is the approval of Barclay's new silver fund. The fund is backed by physical silver and trading in this fund has created a demand for physical silver. This will likely continue to drive the price of silver upward.
As the second day of trading ended with 1.5 million shares traded and silver continuing to move slightly upward, there is speculation on how long this trend will last. Silver however, is not driven by day to day news, like many equities. It is driven by long term trends. This particular trend started with the introduction of the gold standard and the end of the use of silver as money. With the introduction of the new Silver ETF, this long term trend is reversing. Silver is now for the first time in years, being stored as wealth again.
Another trend is the use of silver as an industrial metal. With the industrialization of India and China, the use silver as an industrial metal is increasing. There is now competition for physical silver for use as an industrial metal and for storing of physical silver for investment. This appears to beginning of a long term trend that will keep the pressure on silver prices to move upwards.
More on A New Exchange Traded Fund May Have A Major Impact On Long Term Silver Prices.
November 8, 2009
- Scrap Sterling Silver Value
Scrap Sterling Silver Prices
When times get tough, one of the first things people turn to is buying and selling valuable materials, such as sterling silver and gold, and it's really no surprise. After all, they maintain their value. With the economy in its current state, this method of managing money issues has turned up again, as more people discover the value of scrap silver.
If you're willing to pay attention to prices and you know what you're doing, you could make quite a lot of money buying and selling scrap sterling silver. However, if you don't know what you're doing, it's possible to lose money. Let's take a look at how you can recycle scrap into real money without a lot of risk.
Scrap Sterling Silver For Sale
Scrap silver can be a very profitable sideline since its value continues to rise. Silver is in short supply and any scrap you come across probably has some intrinsic value. There are many ways to find scrap silver, including by taking apart old electronic items, collecting coins, and by buying broken jewelry. This silver isn't wearable anymore (if it is, you should never sell it as scrap) but it's still worth its weight as sterling silver, and if you know where to send it, you can make some real money. The current going rate is about fifteen dollars per ounce, but that changes by the day and even the hour, so you'll need to check carefully if you want to be sure you buy and sell at the right time.
You can find some really amazing deals on real silver jewelry and other pieces that have been dented or tarnished beyond being cleanable, but you need to know what you're looking for. Pure silver is obviously best, but alloys can also be valuable. Make sure that you choose pieces that are real silver, and learn what the telltale signs of real silver are over those base metals. No one wants to buy a piece they believe is a good investment only to discover that it's a fake, after all.
If you take a little time and care to do some research, you could really profit from scrap silver. You'll find plenty of information to help you get the best deals on scrap silver at sites like.
- Why Should I Sell Silver Now?
In times of recession and economic adversity, savvy investors look for a safe haven to use to protect their assets. When the stock and bond markets are taking a huge dive, investors need somewhere where they can put their capital and still expect to make some returns but primarily, gold and other precious metals maintain their value in hard times - in short they are safer than plain cash at the bank.