[JRandomFreeper]

Would someone please notify me when my twenty year old ingot of 99.9 fine silver is anywhere near the worth it was when I bought it?

During the Hunt Brothers run up to $50/oz on silver? It won't ever be.

I've got some I bought at $3.50/oz with no premium that I could unload at a profit, though.

/john

[gcruse]

Here's my take on silver. As you can see, silver was
about $4 and ounce in the seventies. It recently
got to and held at $4.50 after years at $5.00. None
of these numbers is inflation adjusted. Hint: how
much is a 1972 dollar (before Carter's inflation
malaise) worth now?

One of the largest, if not the largest, users of
silver is the photographic industry. For environmental
as well has financial reasons, electrolytic and other
means of silver recovery have become de rigeur. I would
estimate that 85% of all photo silver is reclaimed and
reused. That's silver that doesn't need to be mined.

Digital cameras have broken the $500 barrier and the
price continues to head down. The silver based
photofinishing industry will be gone in less than
twenty years.

Silver should be classified for what it is, an industrial
metal. There is nothing precious about it anymore. Put
your money in something else.