Silver coins as an investment

Silver, like other precious metals (Gold, Palladium, Platinum), may be used as an investment. For more than 4000 years, silver has been regarded as a form of money and store of value. However, since the end of the silver standard, silver has lost its role as legal tender in the U.S.

Buying silver coins is a popular method of physically holding silver. For example: the 99.99% pure Canadian Silver Maple Leaf. Silver coins may be minted as either fine silver or junk silver, the latter being older coins with a smaller percentage of silver. United States pre-1965 half dollars, dimes, and quarters are 25 grams per dollar of face value and 90 percent silver (22 and 1/2 g silver per dollar).

Junk silver coins are also available as sterling silver coins, which were officially minted until 1919 in the United Kingdom and Canada and 1945 in Australia. These silver coins are 92.5 percent silver and are in the form of Crowns, Half-crowns, Florins, Shillings, Sixpences, and threepence. The Crowns weighs 28.27 grams (1.54 grams heavier than a US $1), and the tiny threepence are 1.41 grams. Canada produced silver coins with 80 percent silver content from 1920 to 1967.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia