Silver: Prices Going Up in 2009?

While in my opinion there is no doubt 2009 will be a great year for silver, and prices will go up for silver futures, coin and bullion, as well as many silver mining company stocks.

A major reason there's been so much confusion surround the behavior of gold and silver recently, is because the unusal situation of forced liquidation has kept them down in price while the U.S. dollar has remained strong, even though underlying fundamentals said it shouldn't have.

Because of this, companies were forced to sell their positions in gold and silver and other commodities in order to raise much needed cash, this kept things where they have been for silver and silver futures until recently. It seems companies' positions have largely unwound now, and silver and gold are starting to be the investment of choice for those interested in both safety and getting a return. This will be true for silver, whether it's silver dollars, silver futures, silver bullion, or any type of silver coin, and most well run silver companies. Silver prices in the near future should do very well for silver investors, and whether you take physical possession of silver or buy silver company stocks or silver futures, they should perform strongly in 2009, as prices of silver go up.

This is one of the questions I've been asked about a lot lately, on whether silver prices are going up or will rise in 2009. The answer is almost assuredly yes! And considering the price of silver in contrast to gold is so large, the percentage of silver should outshine gold and probably perform even better in that regard. The one thing to keep in mind is if safety or a haven for your money is more important, gold will be the obvious choice, and it should give a solid return for the 2009 economic circumstances. Silver will do well to, but it could be more volatile than gold, but also has a better chance of making you more money. It's the old risk versus reward this year in silver and gold investing.

We shouldn't be afraid of those worried over the overall commdodity sector, and those making it look like everything connected to raw materials will fall this year. That's going to be absolutely false. I think they're asserting that so you don't pull your money out of their investments and put it into commodities, where is several cases prices should do quite well this year. Obviously we must do our homework in our commodity investing, as a number of raw materials will definitely fall in price, and so will be risky. All we have to do there is understand what sector we're investing in, and what sectors are weak as far as demand for raw materials go.

Back to silver, investing in silver will be profitable this year, and silver prices will rise in general across the board. Silver futures prices will rise along with other commodity futueres, and in some cases phyiscal silver in the form of bars and bullion should rise right along with silver futures. Investing in the stock of silver mining and silver companies, as in all cases, must be handled differently, and things like management and operations is as important as anything else. Silver prices will enable companies to expand, the question is whether it'll be done responsibly or not.

So in answer to the questin of whether prices of silver will go up this year, it is absolutely yes. I think investing in silver futures and physical silver, as far as bars and bullion will be a surety for profit, when you get into silver coins and numismatic value, obviously there are many more factors involved in silver coin prices.

iShares Silver Trust Bullion Increases by 30.69 Tons on December 26

iShares Silver Trust (SLV) increased its physical bullion holdings by 30.69 tons on December 26, the highest level since the latter part of October.

The iShares Silver Trust fund is the largest ETF backed by silver in the world. They now have a total of 6,792.99 tons of bullion on hand, against the 6,762.3 tons they had on December 24.

Since the early part of December, silver tonnage held by the trust is up 1.5 percent or 106.24 tons.

Investing in Silver - How to Buy Silver Bullion Coins Under Spot

How would you like to buy silver bullion coins at a discount?

I'm going to tell you about a certain type of coins that you can purchase under the spot price of silver.

Yep. Below cost. The type of silver bullion that I'm referring to are 90% silver coin bags.

You'll often hear 90% silver coin bags referred to as 'junk silver' bags. They aren't really 'junk,' though. This term is simply used to describe a bag of circulated silver coins in average condition. These coins are really only valued for their silver content, not their collectible value.

'Junk silver' bags contain coins that were struck in 1964 or earlier, such as the silver Kennedy half dollars, Roosevelt dimes, and Washington quarters. They are comprised of 90% silver. After 1964, the amount of silver contained in coins was reduced to 40%.

Here's the neat part - the 90% silver bags containing dimes or quarters can be purchased through some dealers for as much as 1% under spot! It's like getting silver on sale! How cool is that?

Yes, the coins will look worn, have nicks, scratches, and show their 40-plus year-old- age. However, keep in mind, it's what inside that counts. And these 'junk silver' coins will usually still contain over 99 percent of their silver content.

So which would you rather have? A newly-minted, pristine American Silver Eagle that costs 9% (at current prices) over spot? Or a bag of 90% silver coins that you can buy for 1% under spot? If you buy the bags, you can get 10% more silver! Amazing, huh?

You can purchase 'junk silver' bags very easily online from any of the larger, reputable dealers or from your local coin shop in various sizes and denominations. Or, you can try one of the popular online auctions sites for even greater savings.

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