/biz/ - Business & Finance

OP, the best option for a purely investing standpoint is bars.

Bars are the equivalent of bulk buying at a grocery store, getting you literally as close to spot price as you can get. Often you can buy a 10 oz bar within $1 of the spot price if not less.

Given silver's non-volatile and very steady price, every cent will matter. The simple price increase from $17 to $19 is ~12%. That matters, especially when you're buying, not selling.

With coins, they carry a subjective value upcharge. So if you want to buy a 1 oz coin, it won't be close to spot. Expect to pay a few dollars over per ounce. Coin collectors in my mind are like autistic people with train sets in their basement.

>Look! I'm an investor! Look at all these coins! I'm like a pirate! Wha? No I don't keep active track of my $/oz haha

What is subjective, you ask? The year, the design, the condition, the mint, etc. In comparison, a bar is purely just the weight, how much you paid for it, and the current spot price. No speculation or arbitrary values.

>But bars can be faked!

Sure, everything can. I don't recommend ever buying metal from non-professional dealers. The idiots who post dummy bars are the same people who buy silver from ebay and craigslist.

Bitcoin is backed by no external value aside from people saying it is currency or worth something.

Bitcoin is a fiat currency.