Silver Prices - Overlooked and Undervalued

By analyzing the historic ratio between gold and silver prices, I would be the first to admit that you should invest in gold. However, when you look at the current historic trend of gold and silver in the last thirty years, silver may actually surprise you. That is one reason why I would consider investing in silver more than gold. The price of silver has increased dramatically in the last few years giving them the chance to be reviewed more closely.

In 2001, prices for silver were quite weak. It was selling for a little more than $4 per ounce. Normally, it's a great investing price but due to its less than stellar historic performance, it was more likely that people would invest in stocks or gold. Nevertheless, in eight short years, prices increased by a whopping 300%, to over $16 per ounce of silver. With those numbers, it is true that people have overlooked and undervalued the potential.

What Silver Prices Consist Of

Silver is not a luxury precious metal like gold. Gold is almost entirely viewed as a monetary symbol while silver is rather multi-purpose. There are various industry sources which state that the demand for silver is divided into the following categories:

· 45 percent from the electronics industry

· 30 percent from the jewelry industry

· 20 percent from the photography industry

· 5 percent from investors

With these numbers, I can see why people have repeatedly undervalued and overlooked silver. Nonetheless, there has been a steady increase in silver investors which has helped the price to skyrocket. Just like in any investment, there will be risks to investing in silver as it is viewed as a multi-purpose industrial commodity before being viewed as a monetary symbol, like gold.

Should You Invest in Silver?

Silver has been a stable yet unlikely precious metal to invest in. However, due to its recent history and incredible percentage increases in relation to gold, I would consider investing in silver as it has been overlooked and undervalued for too long. Caution should be taken for any investment opportunity but silver definitely seems to be on the rise and a major player in the investment world for years to come rather than simply an industrial commodity.
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