Is Silver The “Poor Man’s Gold”?

[Serendipity]

Due to its lower price as compared to gold, silver in India is frequently called “gold’s little brother,” “poor man’s gold,” and the “common man’s metal.” Please feel free to comment whether you agree or disagree with this perception of the white metal.

[JunkBond]

"Gold is the money of kings, silver is the money of gentlemen, barter is the money of peasants – but debt is the money of slaves."

So I guess it plays second fiddle, yes.

When I am feeling a bit tight I buy silver not gold... 😂

[AurumArgenti]

Which would you sooner have 1 kg of gold or roughly 85.5kg of silver? I'll take the gold please.

[daca]

5 minutes ago, AurumArgenti said:

Which would you sooner have 1 kg of gold or roughly 85.5kg of silver? I take the gold please.

I'll take both

[Draconicus]

Well....if people prefer chocolate than Silver...I think Silver it's doomed anyway:

 

 

[daca]

10 minutes ago, Draconicus said:

Well....if people prefer chocolate than Silver...I think Silver it's doomed anyway:

 

Stupid people 🤬.

[Draconicus]

Just now, daca said:

Stupid people 🤬.

Yes, truly amazing!

[Notafront4adragon]

11 minutes ago, Draconicus said:

Yes, truly amazing!

This has to be a set up. Hersheys chocolate is garbage.

[tallyhojim]

1 hour ago, JunkBond said:

"Gold is the money of kings, silver is the money of gentlemen, barter is the money of peasants – but debt is the money of slaves."

Like that. Stealing it.

[JunkBond]

1 minute ago, tallyhojim said:

Like that. Stealing it.

Feel free, I did. 😉

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/629946-gold-is-the-money-of-kings-silver-is-the-money

[silvernewbie]

1 hour ago, AurumArgenti said:

Which would you sooner have 1 kg of gold or roughly 85.5kg of silver? I take the gold please.

Ditto id also take the Gold! 

I prefer Gold coins and Silver Bars

[SILVERFINGER]

if the silver was in 5kg bars then I would take the silver

[Chicagodogs]

1 hour ago, AurumArgenti said:

Which would you sooner have 1 kg of gold or roughly 85.5kg of silver? I take the gold please.

I'll take the silver. 

[Abyss]

1 hour ago, Draconicus said:

Well....if people prefer chocolate than Silver...I think Silver it's doomed anyway:

Same experiment done with Gold and Snickers bar by Mark Dice

And done with no chocolate involved just selling 1 oz Gold coin for $25 / 100 oz Silver for $25.

 

[KDave]

Gresham's law

The evidence says silver is second best to gold throughout history through the process of Gresham law. Silver circulated far in excess of gold and was used for lower denominations in more advanced monetary systems from the medieval period onward - this tells us silver was less valued in free market/barter and in state driven currency systems. It is not known why humanity uses gold as its primary choice for money, I have seen many explanations for this phenomena that make logical sense but there is nothing logical about it when you think about what we are discussing, the exchange of metallic discs - something intangible is going on and is missing from the explanation.

In modernity fiat has replaced silver you can see it in British currency/money since Victoria, first the coins were devalued to hold less silver, then silver was removed all together. It was not so with gold, for a reason. Why were the gold coins not devalued?

Today silver and gold are very different thanks to the monetary system. Silver does not function as money most of the time it has reverted to a hybrid status, shared between industrial and monetary properties, the latter that only manifest when the primary money (gold) is in high demand. I think for this reason it is incorrect to say silver is the poor mans gold. Perhaps the gambling mans gold, or the speculators gold when the timing is right and gold is rising, the rest of the time it is perhaps the fools gold. I hold quite a lot of it myself 

[HawkHybrid]

35 minutes ago, KDave said:

I have seen many explanations for this phenomena that make logical sense but there is nothing logical about it when you think about what we are discussing, the exchange of metallic discs - something intangible is going on and is missing from the explanation.

 

imo the biggest advantage of gold is corrosion resistance.

many underestimate how important this is. gold holds it's

value because it does not physically degrade with time.

(silver tarnishes so easily, by comparison gold is almost

immortal amongst the metals)

 

something made using gold is likely to stand the test of

time.

 

HH

[KDave]

Is the corrosion of silver significant enough to affect its function though? I have silver coins in my possession that are over 2000 years old and while they may be the lucky ones, they have not corroded significantly. The same can be said of the bronze coins, although they have developed a patina the functional properties of the metallic disc has not changed. 

The fact gold remains shiny surely does not justify its primacy among the metals, otherwise platinum group metals would rank alongside it, which they do not. Something else is going on. 

[Xander]

2 hours ago, Abyss said:

Same experiment done with Gold and Snickers bar by Mark Dice

Do you think if we gave him the forum address he would experiment on us?😎

[HawkHybrid]

55 minutes ago, KDave said:

Is the corrosion of silver significant enough to affect its function though? I have silver coins in my possession that are over 2000 years old and while they may be the lucky ones, they have not corroded significantly. The same can be said of the bronze coins, although they have developed a patina the functional properties of the metallic disc has not changed. 

The fact gold remains shiny surely does not justify its primacy among the metals, otherwise platinum group metals would rank alongside it, which they do not. Something else is going on. 

 

gold has the most uses of any metal known to man.

 

think useful/flexible to create many things + durable

enough to maintain your efforts once you've created

your desired item.

(the flexible of plasticine crossed with the durability

of diamonds)

 

HH

[SILVERFINGER]

I would sooner be like this guy and have a silver casket.

 

 

[Martlet]

8 hours ago, HawkHybrid said:

gold has the most uses of any metal known to man.

Apart from iron, aluminium, copper... actually most metals have more uses than gold, because they can be alloyed and are cheap for common use. Gold's main use is jewellery and its value.  Dont see any gold pots, hammers or engine blocks. 

[Martlet]

10 hours ago, KDave said:

In modernity fiat has replaced silver you can see it in British currency/money since Victoria, first the coins were devalued to hold less silver, then silver was removed all together. It was not so with gold, for a reason. Why were the gold coins not devalued?

Because gold were not used much in common trade, the gold coins were replaced by notes before it became necessary to mess around with their gold content.

[mr-dead]

15 hours ago, AurumArgenti said:

Which would you sooner have 1 kg of gold or roughly 85.5kg of silver? I take the gold please.

Silver sounds good in theory based solely on more weight for your cash until:

1) You realise storing a 1kg bar the size of a smart phone is much easier than 85.5kg of silver

2) You wont get 85.5kg of silver as the premiums are significantly higher than gold

3) You can walk into a dealer and sell your 1kg gold in 1 hit with a tight buy/sell spread, selling that much silver takes time and a dealer is a non starter as you'll be about 20% down before you start.

[KDave]

58 minutes ago, Martlet said:

Apart from iron, aluminium, copper... actually most metals have more uses than gold, because they can be alloyed and are cheap for common use. Gold's main use is jewellery and its value.  Dont see any gold pots, hammers or engine blocks. 

Exactly my point, why does aluminium or lead not have the same characteristics of gold. What is it about gold as a metal that makes it more valuable than the rest. 

What it is about silver that allows it to take on monetary qualities? Why not lead or copper. 

If the value of gold is purely an idea, where is that idea coming from and why does it persist. It can be seen why metals were used as currency but at what point did gold and silver become money, and why is silver no longer money all of the time or to the same extent as gold? It makes me wonder if silver will have any monetary value when the generations that used circulating coinage have gone. I think my question is what gives silver and gold its monetary properties, because we have concluded it is not only the physical properties. 

[silvernewbie]

1 hour ago, KDave said:

Exactly my point, why does aluminium or lead not have the same characteristics of gold. What is it about gold as a metal that makes it more valuable than the rest. 

What it is about silver that allows it to take on monetary qualities? Why not lead or copper. 

If the value of gold is purely an idea, where is that idea coming from and why does it persist. It can be seen why metals were used as currency but at what point did gold and silver become money, and why is silver no longer money all of the time or to the same extent as gold? It makes me wonder if silver will have any monetary value when the generations that used circulating coinage have gone. I think my question is what gives silver and gold its monetary properties, because we have concluded it is not only the physical properties. 

You do realise we used to have the Gold standard until very recently (bloody Reagon!) so all paper money was backed up by Gold.  We wouldnt have all the economic problems if we kept this system Instead govts keep printing money