The link to precious metals became less concrete. As governments needed to buy votes or finance wars, they yielded to the temptation of printing more notes than there was gold or silver to back them, and inflation resulted.

The process of currency destruction has accelerated, particularly since 1971 when the US closed the gold window, and stopped exchanging dollars for gold. In the last 10 years, the Fed has printed trillions of dollars backed by nothing at all at the fastest pace in history, a move that has driven the prices of precious metals skyward.

Meanwhile, gold and silver are in short supply. Twenty-two years of low prices has resulted in a dearth of production and exploration, while industrial applications for silver have soared.

China and India are enjoying a burst of capitalist prosperity, and have historically turned to precious metals for wealth preservation.

COMEX futures positions in silver, much of which must be covered by deliveries or purchases, are estimated to be equal to or greater than all new productions.

Think of gold as large denomination money, and silver as small change: while a 1-ounce gold coin now costs about $650, a roll of 90% silver dimes is a mere $50. Ruff predicts that silver will eventually be more profitable than gold by at least 100%.

Read The Case for Buying Silver: A History of Paper Money by Howard Ruff

I like what he says, “If you can’t hold it, you don’t own it.”

I like getting my silver bullion coins through several programs that you can learn more about on this web site.

Apart from the debate over 90% silver coins vs. bullion silver, I thought it important to note he talks about the changes made in laws (Financial Regulatory Reform Bill and Healthcare Reform Bill) making coin dealers fall into the same category as banks and other financial institutions.

It would seem to me the government is preparing to close the doors on silver investors from accumulating government issued silver coins. If we’re going to accumulate silver eagles or other denominated 90% silver coins, it might be best to accumulate those coins before January 1, 2012 when coin dealers will then be required by law to report to the IRS your silver purchases.

Hello? Can you see the door closing?

After January 1, 2012, the federal government could very possibly implement price controls on what coin dealers were allowed to give you for your denominated silver coins. It seems to me this is a pretty good argument for not accumulating ONLY denominated silver coins, but to also own silver rounds and silver bars.

Of course, I don’t know what the federal government might do in the future. These ideas are just something else to think about.

Here are some safe ways or steps if you want to purchase physical Bullion (coins or bars):

• First figure out what kind of Silver Bullion you want to purchase, coins or the bars.
• Know your budget when you purchase silver.
• Have a safe place to store your silver.
• Always bear in mind the current price of silver and compare the price to other dealers.
• Go around or shop for cheapest dealers in your local area.
• After you shop around, go to online shopping so you can compare the different prices of silver.
• You can also purchase silver at auction or from national mints.
• If you purchase from other dealers like jeweler or silver dealers, be sure they have reputable record.

If you want to purchase silver, the best deal you can get is the wholesale price or as close to spot price as possible. As we all know, the retail price is different from the wholesale price.

When investing in silver, most wealthy people who can afford it, pay the wholesale price rather than the retail price. They will have a larger profit when they purchase Silver Bullion at wholesale prices. Most small dealers sell silver at retail prices in order for them to have the bigger profit.

So if you are wealthy, go to the direct supplier or dealer of silver so you can get a cheaper price. The price of silver changes everyday. When there is an economic crisis, the price of silver tends to go up. Silver as an investment can be very profitable business, BUT only if you know what you are doing.

When you want to purchase Bullion for your collection, you don’t need to purchase a lot. Just be sure you know the current price of silver and do go shop around in order to get the lowest or cheapest price.

Online shopping is also convenient in time. You can go shopping through the net in your spare time. The internet is open 24/7 and you can shop through different kinds of website regarding silver and other precious metals. You can also compare the prices easily since some websites of silver dealers have the price posted on their site.

Always be alert of fraud on the internet. Be careful and be safe in shopping online. If you know of some reputable silver site, then go and have a look at their inventory.

Go local

Coin shops are plentiful almost everywhere. Generally your local area or city will have coin shops which you can visit to purchase silver bullion coins as well as collectible silver coins. Most of these coin shops are located in the larger town or cities. Better yet, use your local phone book and start walking those fingers through the pages to find out where the nearest coin shop(s) is located…

These shops provide coin collectors the opportunity to actually examine or scrutinize the coins that interest you. Fortunately, these coin shops are also replete with experts and coin lovers who share your passion and can offer their valid judgment on a particular coin’s grade or value. They can also offer helpful tips as well as advice.

Local coin shops may sometimes have a limited stock or collection of silver coins and the price they offer them for may be a little bit higher than some other places.

Auctions for Silver Coins

There are also auctions specifically for silver coins. This method is a very effective – if not excellent – way to purchase silver coins. It is extremely important that prior to attending an auction you know the procedures and rules that apply.

There are various types of auctions; bidding auctions via mail, internet, as well as auctions conducted by phone. Always be aware and wary! It is important to make sure that you set a fixed price on the coin you are about to bid on. Auctions can turn very emotional and aggressive. Practice discipline and try not to bid more than the ceiling price you have set for yourself.

I have purchased numerous silver coins on eBay for example. You can find good buys on silver bullion coins and bars, junk silver coins, numismatic silver coins, and just about any sort of silver coin.

Buying silver coins by mail

This method is a very convenient and inexpensive way to purchase silver coins. Most dealers that transact via mail usually have overhead costs that are low so they are able to offer similarly low prices on coins they sell.

Do not forget to thoroughly inspect a particular dealer’s policies before returning an item. Make sure that once you receive your coin, immediately inspect it for authenticity or damage. The coin you must have must be just as you ordered and what you expected.

An alternate way to get silver coins by mail is to join a “silver coin of the month” accumulation program like the one offered by Silver Snowball. While the initial cost may seem high, if you recommend the program to others, you can actually get your silver coins far below spot price.

In summary, silver coin buying is not difficult. All you need is to research and look for the best product available.

The average gold:silver ratio is 52, but currently sits around 63, indicating that silver has some catching up to do. That will likely happen in coming months and when it does, the silver price will jump.

Gold-oriented funds and ETFs have been the market’s best performers over the past month, fueled by troubles in the Eurozone. But demand for silver is growing too; the Canadian Mint and the US Mint are experiencing high demand for silver Eagles and silver Maple Leafs, and premiums for these coins are beginning to climb. And even though silver production is rising, investment demand, alongside industrial demand, is growing quickly, eliminating the surpluses expected from waning photographic applications.

It should be noted that silver is consumed and not recovered from these sources, so until newly mined silver supply grows in volume, silver demand will likely outpace production.

Other drivers for the silver bull include a criminal investigation into JPMorgan Chase’s activities in the silver market. Against that backdrop, the upside for silver could be as much as $100, and certainly more than $22, its 2008 high.

Silver investors need to have patience because when silver prices undergo normal corrections, it takes a few months for the bull run to resume; and when gold and silver prices correct together, silver tends to fall more than gold.

While silver has more uses than gold and is more fundamentally bullish, gold has a safe haven appeal that silver does not enjoy. Nevertheless, silver is an undervalued commodity and when the valuation catches up with fundamentals, prices will soar.

Article written by Myra Saefong
Source: www.marketwatch.com/story/golds-ugly-sister-gets-a-second-look-2010-05-14?siteid=rss&utm_source=tf

With the growing interest in protecting one’s wealth with silver and gold, there has been much hype on the Internet as numerous programs have appeared almost overnight. As with any business, you should carefully select the program you want to participate in and do your due diligence before joining any of them.

Silver Snowball is a well established program offering it’s members a single-tier affiliate program that allows them to get their real .999 Silver Bullion at below spot price with as few as three members. While Silver Snowball is a great program, it’s compensation plan does not allow you to earn from the efforts of others.

Numis Network came on the network marketing scene with it’s MLM structure, but it’s high entry fees and pricey collectible numismatic coins attracted mostly MLM heavy hitters with flashy websites and a hyped advertising pitch.

Several other programs offer privately minted silver or gold bullion coins, and there are even a few whose products are highly questionable or non-existent at all.

What sets XAG Network apart from all the above is they are the first MLM of its kind, offering uncirculated .9999 pure Silver Bullion coins from various government mints, a network marketing 5×8 forced matrix model, no high entry fees, and a monthly silver bullion coin purchase for a very reasonable price.

With their 5×8 matrix, there are only five people on the first level with others spilling over below those 5 members down eight levels. This is by far the best way to earn in the Network Marketing industry.

XAG Network is a very affordable alternative to the more expensive programs allowing a great opportunity for the silver enthusiast who believes in the network marketing model. Its free to join and at only $5/$12/$39 per month to be involved the risk is almost nonexistent.

There is a serious amount of money to be made in the silver bullion market as a record number of people are flocking the the safety of silver and gold. If you have a flair for network marketing, want to protect your wealth while accumulating real value in silver bullion, then XAG Network deserves your attention.

Silver although not as popular as gold has carved its own place in the investment market. These days more and more financial advisors are getting their clients to invest in silver bullion because they feel that this will offer them a lot of financial security in the near future. Economists of the world believe that during troubled economic times, most countries, government, and people start looking back at traditional values and this is where investment in silver and gold begins.

The world has barely started to breathe a little since the recession but the highly volatile market trends have not changed much. It has been seen in the recent past that strong currencies like the U.S. dollar and the British Pound have started to lose value. The British Pound has lost as much as 30% of its actual value against currencies like Japanese Yen. At the same time, the United States is trying to print green dough’s in order to find its way out of the recession crisis. This method of saving bankrupt companies has increased the fear factor in the average citizen because another bout of recession can end it all for the US.

This is one of the reasons why people should start investing in stronger portfolios like silver. Silver bullion is not just here to stay but silver in itself is a life saver. It will help in protecting you from any financial insecurity in the coming years and also help in protecting your underlying wealth. At least, you will have something that can be traded – you can’t trade stocks during economic crisis.

The stock market can crash but gold and silver are resources that will not lose their value. One of the best forms of silver investment is through bullion. The best place to buy silver bullion from is the mints. You can invest in silver rounds and bars, in 100-oz silver bars, and much more. When you are investing in silver bullion, check for.999+, purity in the bars. Silver bars are available in several weights but the most common are:

- 1 Troy Ounce
- 5 Troy Ounce
- 10 Troy Ounce
- 100 Troy Ounce
- 5 Gram
- 10 Gram
- ¼ Troy Ounce
- ½ Troy Ounce

These silver bars are also available in different sizes and thickness as well and can vary from 18.3mm in length to 150mm. The width can vary from 30.3mm to 76mm while the thickness will vary from 1.12mm to 26.9mm. The purity will remain.999 but this is something that you should always check before investing. Any silver bullion having purity of less than.999 will have much lesser return on investment value.

There are several other aspects to consider if you are planning to invest in silver bullion like collecting information in the market performance in the last decade, types of bullion available, storage for silver bullion, transporting it and much more. The more informed you are, the better silver bullion investment you can make.

Article written by Kelly Hunter
Kelly Hunter owns and operates Silver Bullion Bars and writes about Silver Bullion Bars

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kelly_Hunter

For a limited time, it is free to sign up as they are still in pre-launch. In just over 24 hours, they enrolled over 1,000 new members so this is growing by leaps and bounds. When they officially launch in June, the monthly cost to participate (including a 1 oz. silver coin) will be $35 – by far the most affordable silver coin MLM anywhere.

Their main product is the beautiful 1 ounce Silver Canadian Maple Leaf Coin! Minted by the Royal Canadian mint, which guarantees their silver content and purity, the Canadian Maple Leaf is the purest silver bullion coin minted by any government.

Depending on availability, other coins may also be offered including…

• The American Silver Eagle
• The Mexican Libertad
• The Austrian Philharmonic
• The Australian Kookaburra

A few features of XAGNetwork worth noting:

• They are completely International and will ship coins anywhere.
• Earn Monthly Residual Income on Your Downline Team (5×8 matrix) which means there is a possibility of spillover (once they launch June 1).
• Earn 10% on ALL Coin/Supply Purchases Made from Your Direct Referrals
• Included is a full arsenal of Marketing resources such as Capture Pages, Splash Pages, Lead Autoresponder System, Banners, and a tell-a-friend Email system.

Right now, XAGNetwork is FREE to Join and there won’t be a payment required until June 1st when you can decide whether this is something for you. In the meantime, check out the business, the back office, banners, the whole program and decide for yourself if this is right for you. You can start promoting the free signups and have a team already in place when it launches on June 1 before spending a cent.

Grab Your FREE Spot Now in XAGNetwork.

(Israel Friedman is a friend and mentor to Theodore Butler. He has followed silver for many decades. He has written articles for us in the past. Investment Rarities does not necessarily endorse these views.)

Based on the supply and demand situation of silver, it`s only a question of time when a silver shortage will come. Nobody can predict exactly when this is going to happen, but we have more and more signs that those who control the price of silver are sweating to balance the supply.

The biggest question I have is, will the shorts be successful to cover their short position on time? Right now the CFTC seems to want to force all the manipulators to get in line by making them obey new rules of position limits, but I feel that the banks who are the big shorts will be exempt. Mr. Butler thinks that the CFTC will do the right thing, but I am skeptical. We argue about this a lot, as we both have strong opinions.

If the banks will not be forced to cover their short positions, only a true shortage in silver will bring the right price. Be prepared for that to happen. How much will silver be worth in a shortage situation? It`s tricky to calculate, because a real shortage has never happened in silver history. But it is how you must think. My own thoughts go back to what some things cost during and after World War II in Europe. When there is not enough of something is when you see real crazy prices.

So I will give you my calculation. It will be a gradual explosion of prices and slowly the users and the new investors will eat up the world visible silver, which today is around 500 million ounces. In my calculation the first 100 million ounces of visible silver will disappear at a price of $60 to $100 an ounce. The second 100 million ounces will disappear by $250, and the third 100 million ounces will disappear between $250 and the price of gold ounce for ounce.

We will be left with 200 million ounces of silver which the owners will be not taking profits on at any price. The bullion in private hands I calculate will be the first to take profits, but Silver Eagle holders will hold for the long run. I still believe that Silver Eagles will do the best investment-wise and I will not be surprised that at one point the Eagle price will trade much higher than the price of silver in a bubble mania.

I am a fanatic silver believer and what I write is only my private belief. There are not many believers in silver. Just look at CNBC, the newspapers, other media, and gold investors. Hardly ever a good word on silver. Silver for them is a forgotten metal. One day they will be shocked when the shortage of silver will come and the price will go up and then gold will be a forgotten sister. There is more gold in the world than silver, so parity in prices is a must.

I think Ted Butler spoke the truth in a recent speech he gave: “The supply/demand set up in silver, which has evolved over an incredibly long period of time, has been one continuous process promising to culminate in an explosion in price at some point. Quite simply, we are rapidly approaching that defining moment when there just won’t be enough physical material to go around at anything but rapidly escalating prices. Those escalating prices will encourage and drive others, including industrial consumers, to enter what should become a buying frenzy. Superimpose upon that the sudden destruction of a decades-old downward price manipulation and you have all the necessary ingredients for a price event that will be referred to forever.”

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Join a fast growing reliable international silver business. Now is the time!

Get all the silver you can as fast as you can. Silver owners could be the wealthiest members of society when this meltdown continues. Remember “Wealth is not destroyed it is merely transferred”. What side of the transfer do YOU want to be on?