You can’t open a newspaper or scroll through a news site without seeing gold glistening on headlines. Gold prices. Gold shortages. Gold forecasts.
Gold is having yet another huge moment, and the world simply can’t get enough.
I’m asked, on an almost daily basis, to give comment to the media. I’m stopped in the streets, by strangers, asking when I think gold will stop climbing, when is best to buy it, when is best to sell it. It’s non stop, it’s relentless.
But while everyone’s hypnotised by all that golden glitter, something far more interesting has been happening backstage.
And it involves the metal most of us have ignored, undervalued, and dismissed for decades… silver.
And trust me, in my world of valuations, fake spotting and market detective work, the stuff people overlook always ends up causing the biggest bang.
Glistening: The price of silver has outpaced gold in the past six months
This time is no different, in fact, I believe silver’s rise over the next decade will be the biggest commodity shock of all.
Because while gold has climbed a massive 35.6 per cent in the past six months, silver has almost doubled that return, soaring an extraordinary 65.4 per cent.
Let that sink in – even now, I find this just incredible.
Not long ago, pawnbrokers and jewellers would barely glance at your silver. Too bulky, too fiddly, not worth the trouble. But those days are over.
The so-called ‘difficult’ little brother is suddenly the top performer, the star of the show, and everyone In the industry who ignored it is scrambling to get their hands on it.
I know of many in the industry who scold themselves for not doing deals in silver. I’m one of them myself. Silver is growing up and fast.
Silver’s identity crisis finally working in its favour
Silver has always struggled with its identity. Is it a precious metal? An industrial metal? A hedge against inflation? A commodity?
The answer is yes to all of them. And for years, that made it unpredictable.
If gold was the king, silver was the cheeky, street smart hustler hanging around the palace gates.
When investors panicked, gold got all the attention. When factories slowed down, silver’s industrial demand dried up. Poor silver never quite got its big moment. Until now.
Something rare has happened: every side of silver’s personality is pulling in the same direction. Inflation, currency wobble and economic uncertainty are pushing precious metals up.
Meanwhile, industrial demand is exploding like never before. Silver is being lifted from both ends, investment and industry, and when that happens, markets usually follow with force.
Industrial revolution powering silver’s comeback
If you still think silver is just for tangled necklaces and tarnished teaspoons, think again.
Silver has become one of the most important materials in the modern world, quietly powering technology we all rely on.
Solar energy is booming, and every solar panel needs silver. A lot of it. Manufacturers have tried to cut usage, but global demand for solar is rising so quickly that silver consumption is still climbing.
Electric vehicles use nearly twice as much silver as petrol cars.
Then you have wireless technology, smartphones, 5G towers, AI servers, medical imaging equipment, battery storage – all needing silver and so much more.
It is fascinating that the most cutting edge of tech needs the most ancient of metal.
Modern life is silver dependent. That dependency isn’t slowing, it’s accelerating. Meanwhile, the supply is shrinking.
While demand is rising, supply is going the wrong way.
Silver is often found indirectly, around 70 per cent of global silver production comes as a by product of mining other metals.
Even if silver prices doubled tomorrow, silver production wouldn’t magically increase, because miners haven’t historically chased silver in the first place.
Add declining ore quality, tighter regulations, and a decade of under investment in exploration, and you get a worrying picture.
Multiple years of supply deficits, demand far outweighing production, means the market is tightening. Not temporarily. Structurally.
When commodities experience structural shortages, the ending is never gentle. It’s dramatic.
History says silver is seriously undervalued
To understand the scale of what’s happening, look at the gold to silver ratio, how many ounces of silver it takes to buy one of gold.
Historically, the ratio sits around 40 or 50. Today, it often sits around 75 to 90.
That’s another way of saying silver is cheap, very cheap, relative to gold. Bare in mind also that the historical ratio doesn’t take in to accurate technological demand.
We can suddenly see how silver has been seriously undervalued for decades.
And when silver gets this undervalued compared to gold, it tends to surge, violently.
Because the silver market is much smaller than gold, those sprints often turn into stampedes.
What this means for you, and your silver at home
Now here’s where all of this stops being theory and starts being personal.
Because this isn’t just something affecting big investors or banks. This affects you at home, right now, if you’ve got silver tucked away in a drawer somewhere.
Those silver rings you never wear. The bangle that’s gone out of fashion. The odd earrings. The broken bracelet. Grandma’s tarnished cutlery set. Old coins. Vintage tea pots.
For years people were told silver was ‘not worth much.’ Not anymore, because silver prices have jumped dramatically, every gram you own has jumped with it.
And if silver continues to strengthen dramatically, and the forces driving it suggest it could, you might be sitting on more value than you realise.
I see it every week, someone walks in with what they think is a bag of worthless silver odds and ends.
They walk out with hundreds of pounds. Sometimes more. A few years ago, that same bag wouldn’t have fetched the cost of a takeaway. Silver has become real money again, and quickly.
Dig it out: Silver jewellery is now worth much more than it was a year ago
Should you sell or hold?
Here’s the truth: if you have broken or unwanted silver, this is an excellent time to cash in. Prices are strong, demand is strong, and the market wants silver. If you need cash then cash in.
But if you’re holding pieces as a long term hedge, there’s a case for keeping them.
The structural forces pushing silver upward aren’t short term fads, they look set to continue.
I’m usually the first to roll my eyes when people say, ‘this time it’s different.’ Markets love repeating the same patterns. But silver genuinely breaks that rule.
We’ve never seen this combination before: urgent industrial demand, shrinking supply, technological dependency, government mandated energy transition, inflation pressure and currency uncertainty, all hitting at once.
We are in the eye of a perfect storm where silver is concerned and I truly believe we are about to see a meteoric, historic rally in the next decade or so.
Gold may still dominate the headlines, but silver, the younger, problem child brother, seems to be becoming reliable, grown up, ready, willing and able to steal Golds limelight.
And the silver you have at home might turn out to be your very own hidden treasure chest.
Send in your Modern Treasures
Dan Hatfield: Our columnist is ready to value your Modern Treasure
Dan Hatfield is This Morning’s money-making expert and resident pawnbroker. He is an international specialist in antiques, jewellery, diamonds and collectibles.
Dan’s first non-fiction book, Money Maker: Unlock Your Money Making Potential is available now.
This is Money’s Modern Treasures column is after your items and collections for valuations.
Please send in as much information as possible, including photographs, to: editor@thisismoney.co.uk with the email subject line: Modern Treasures
We’re after post-War items only please and we may contact you for further information.
Dan will do his best to reply to your message in his bi-weekly column, but he won’t be able to answer everyone or correspond privately with readers.
Nothing in his replies constitutes regulated financial advice. Published questions are sometimes edited for brevity or other reasons.
As with anything, if you are looking to sell items and collections, it is wise to get a second and third opinion – not just rely on Dan’s suggestions.
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