Why Are American Silver Eagle Coins a Good Investment Now

Why Are American Silver Eagle Coins a GoodAt the close of the market the same day, one troy
Investment Now?ounce ofsilver was selling for $21.30. On that day the
Like other precious metals, silver is often used asgold/silverratio was 1:67. In other words, one troy
aninvestment. Although no longer considered to beounce of goldwould buy 67 ounces of silver.
legaltender in the US, silver has been regarded as aSilver has been appreciating rather dramatically since
store ofvalue and a form of currency throughout the2005.
world for morethan 4,000 years.To put things into perspective, the yearly
If you compare the price of silver to the price of goldcumulativeaverage price of silver in 2000 was $4.95. In
youwould see that silver is considerably more volatile.2005 theyearly average cumulative price rose to $7.31.
That'sbecause there are fluctuations in the way silverThroughout
is used.2009 the average cumulative price of silver was
There can be large fluctuations between store of$14.67.
value andindustrial uses that affect its valuation. And,It appears that silver is rising in price very dramatically.
becausesilver has lower market liquidity than gold itsPerhaps it's because people are concerned with the
volatilityalso is greater.economy.
Silver still often tracks the price of gold because ofSince the global recession began in 2008 investors
theintrinsic value of the metal. However, the goldhave beenincreasing their demand for precious metals.
silverratio can vary by quite a bit. The lower the ratioThat's becausewhen inflation increases precious
the moreexpensive silver is when you compare it tometals have historicallyincreased in value.
gold.One of the most popular ways to invest in silver is to
In 1792 the United States fixed the gold/silver ratio bybuysilver coins. One example is the American Silver
lawat 1:15. This meant that you could buy 15 troyEaglebullion coin. The American Silver Eagle is the
ounces ofsilver with one troy ounce of gold. During theofficialsilver bullion coin of the US. It is only struck in
20th centurythe ratio was 1:47. In other words, ononetroy ounce sizes and is guaranteed to contain one
average, one troyounce of gold would buy 47 ouncestroy ounceof 99.9% pure silver.
of silver.Theses coins sell for a very small premium over the
On September 22, 2010 gold hit a new high. At thespotprice of silver. Because of that American Silver
close ofthe market one troy ounce of gold was sellingEaglecoins have become one of the most popular
for $1,291.20.ways many peopleuse to invest in silver.