So Why Are You Collecting Silver?

Don't forget water, too!

I like silver for two reasons, one, it's pretty, and two, it helps diversify my investments and provides an excellent hedge against inflation.

I love silver .. but not because as I think it's an "investment" I think gold can be played as a partial "investment" as mentioned earlier just as a hedge against inflation.. but not too much more than that really..

I like silver because I like the look of it.. the "ring" to it... I just like it... I like coins... but I choose to collect for the most part silver ones... as opposed to the current metals used by mints..

I honestly don't think that economically we'll be in such dire straits that we'll need to stack bullets and food and that sort of thing. But I also like buying silver every month as it's a way for me to BUY something which retains some sort of value... I could do art... or antiques or even a simple bank account... but silver to me is a lot more enjoyable... I've been buying since silver was in the $9/oz range and felt the rush as it was almost $50 and the depression as it's now in the teens... GEEZE what a RIDE! I don't think antiques or art would provide such exhileration! So why not right? The money I spend on PM's is money I would otherwise waste away in some other way as my needs are very few.
I only hope that when it comes time to "cash out" my little pile of metal has some value and I can do something with it... if that's the case I'll be happy ..

I started with bars and rounds to diversify. Hey gold is great but too pricey for me to buy much of at once. Although still good to diversify... now it is more because I really love how the light comes off a silver bar, round or coin. Just makes me happy. There was a recent thread about collecting ASE's that illustrates what I mean in the pics submitted. If that much treasure wouldn't make you start talking and dressing like a pirate I don't know what would.

So far I'm enjoying this thread and I'll add a little more on the enjoyment side. I usually have a small amount of silver in my pocket. Sometimes it's an old "scrap" coin sometimes an old sterling spoon with a bent bowl (I'd guess it was used at one time to open a bottle). There are even times I end up with poured J&M 10 oz in my pocket.

Why?.......not sure. Kind of like having a hot wheels car in your pocket when you were six. Just nice to have it there.
I don't mean to change this to a pocket piece conversation, I'm still very interested in the "Why collect silver at all?
Liverpool

I have a savings rule that automatically transfers $50 to a secondary savings account with each direct deposit. I spend money every paycheck on stuff that sees no potential past the purchase. I go out to eat, I rent movies, and I pick up a coin. Looking back at all of the bullion, coins I've purchased...that value still supercedes any savings I've aquired. Money runs tight, I pull cash out of the seconadary to make ends meet. Car blows a gasket, needs an oil change, wiperblades etc. I pull money out of savings. I don't spend my ASE's on these unforseen things. They are still here & always will be until I sell them for something like a sailboat.

It protects a portion of my assets against life, and...me.

I like to collect silver and gold coins because they look so nice especially when its say an animal series, such as the Somalia elephants or even those antique finish african ounces,,, there is some nice nice nice stuff being put out in coin form.

I like the shine, the heft, I like learning about the country that issues the coin, or just what topic, region or series the coin is about.

coins are just really nice and you learn a lot.

I dont believe in this end of world stuff. IF the financial system melts again,I will be again selling short, buying USD, and hiding out in the US long bond.

I would say that because it's a very cheap and easily attainable precious metal it lets me keep my junk silver collection very versatile and branch out to acquiring silver from many countries.
Gold limits me to usually just a couple of coins. I don't really hoard much though, more of a Collectible Coin guy myself.

These are very interesting to read.

I got into it just 2 months ago when my mom brought down a Morgan dollar. We found a local coin shop and for fun stopped by to see what it was worth. $35. I couldn't believe a dollar could be worth that much.

Ever since, I have enjoyed collecting all over the place. One of my favorites is collecting silver from other countries. I liked the ASE, but kinda got bored because they all look the same to me (except the date and a few like the 13).

For a while, I thought I could make money long term off the coins. However, give coins don't provide dividends or passive income (i.e., rent), I realize it is more for fun, and not to make money.

One weird thing I can't explain though is that fact that I am somewhat "addicted" to buying the stuff, especially the first month when everything was so new. I even follow the price of silver everyday, even though I don't plan to ever sell my collection and I don't really buy enough for the spot price to make a difference. I can't really tell the difference between $20 when I started and $17. I guess if I ever bought large quantities like monster box, it would make a big difference.