Investing in Silver vs. Gold: Pros and Cons

Investing in SilverAre you faced with a dilemma of whether you should be investing in silver or gold? You are not alone – millions of American and International investors have asked themselves the same question. The question of investing in silver vs gold is as old as time. However, the most brilliant minds of the precious investment world choose to disagree. Some of them favor gold, others silver and the rest everything in between. What should you choose, investing in silver or gold?

It is a very personal decision and depends on a lot of factors that need to be looked at individually based on your situation. Read below to find out what important pros and cons you need to consider before buying silver or gold.

Investing in Gold Pros

  • Investing in gold is like locking in value in a single gold bullion coin and bar. The value of gold has been historically much greater than that of silver. There’s just no going around this!
  • Gold is more portable than silver. You can stash your gold bullion coins investment in your purse or pockets and get on the road when need arises. It’s not so simple with investing in silver since it will take so much more space for the same price point.
  • Timeless beauty of gold holds so much collector’s and investor’s interest that you simply can not go wrong if you invest in gold.
  • Superior liquidity of gold coins and bars means that you can always sell them if you need.

Investing in Gold Cons

  • 24 karat gold bullion coins are very prone to nicks and scratches. Therefore, it is essential to handle them carefully to preserve their value in the long run.
  • High prices are perhaps the biggest gold’s con that might stop you from owning this sparkly investment. Some investors prefer to buy gold coins of smaller sizes to somehow reduce the investment costs. Don’t go this route since you will be paying a lot of gold dealer premiums! Want the cheapest way of owning gold? Turn to gold bars that come with the lowest gold content to gold premium ratio. Even better, look into buying wholesale silver and gold to save even more money, however, this might require significantly larger purchases.

Investing in Silver Pros

  • Silver has displayed much higher historical appreciation potential compared to its gold counterpart. Taking a brief look at 30 year historical silver price charts allows you to witness silver going from mere $5.00 per ounce in the 1980’s and 90’s to all the way up to $40 for a silver ounce in September of 2011.
  • Silver coins are very practical for survival purposes allowing their owners to buy basic essentials and food in difficult economic times when paper currencies can potentially default.
  • Silver has more industrial applications in various fields ranging from photography, electronics, jewelry to solar energy and medical uses. Since a huge emphasis is made to continue developing self sustainable energy sources and doing without fossil fuels, silver is an essential component in manufacturing solar energy cells.
    Silver is very expensive to mine independently apart from gold and it appears much scarcer in nature than gold, so silver has a huge potential to appreciate vs gold. Silver is mostly obtained as a byproduct of gold mining industry.

Investing in Silver Cons

  • Silver requires a lot more storage space than gold which might entail higher fees in the long run. However, if you have a secure storage facility with no space limitations, it should not be a problem.
  • Silver bars and coins can lose in their value due to tarnishing. To preserve their value, store your silver bullion investment in forms of bars and coins in special plastic cases and handle only with gloved hands.
  • Silver investment is not very portable; it’s like comparing carrying a mound of silver to a pouch of gold coins. Silver coins value is undeniably beneficial for your portfolio, just do not go overboard with it. Own as much as you can realistically carry with you in case you have to relocate in a hurry under unforeseen circumstances.

To round up our analysis, you can see that investing in silver and investing in gold is about personal preference and your financial goals. Do not invest more than 5% of your funds in either silver or gold because due to the nature of virtually any assets they have a tendency to come down at some point. If you have a lot of money to invest, buy gold. If you are under budget constraints, buy some gold and some silver for survival purposes. Go easy on silver stocks and silver futures, it’s a very volatile market commanding a very special set of skills to figure out what to buy, when to buy and when to sell – you can lose a lot of money doing that.