Unlike paper currency, Silver and other precious metals have intrinsic value, meaning that they can be used in a context besides currency. while paper grows on trees, silver is a little more hard to come by. silver can be used simply as metal or an electrical component, paper money, despite weather a $100 is printed on it or a $1,000, they are both only pieces of paper, worth less than a penny.
Paper money works as long as the issuing institution has a good reputation and can enforce the money's tenure. When this does not happen, inflation immediately occurs, forcing the value of the money down. An unlimited supply of paper as money. Silver is rare. Hence, it cannot be inflated. in 2005 and 2012 respectively, The silver market apparently boomed. The price per ounce was the highest its been in fifty years. To date, silver hasn't gone back to its original price. It just so happens that these two jumps corresponded with times when the US indulged in hyper inflation, printing money at an enormous rate. They call this Quantitative Easing (QE). Knowing this means that the value of silver wasn't the thing that changed. The American dollar merely lost it's former buying power.
To illustrate, if you had $100,000 dollars in saving in 1970 and left it in the bank, today it would have less than1/6 of it's buying power. Inflation has robbed you. If that money was in silver, it would be worth $653,282.72 dollars today. Again, its not just that the silver grew more valuable, it's that currency grew less valuable. $100,000 dollars to people living in the 70's has the same value as 653,282.72 has to us now.
Therefore, silver has two advantages: it has intrinsic value and is an Anti-inflationary value.
Sources:
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Inflation Calculator:
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