Widsith

Dear All, I often see comments about silver's diamagnetic nature when discussing using the magnet slide test. In my opinion, this is a mistake. Silver is a conductive material. It is its conductivity that 'slows it down'. When a magnetic field moves through a conductive material (like when sliding across a conductive coin) small currents of electrical current are formed in the coin. These are called 'eddy currents'. They are in a closed loop of current flow in the metal. These currents, in tern, create a magnetic field in opposition to the field that produced them (from the magnet). This results in a counter force that 'slows down the' magnet on its slide journey due to gravity. How much current that flows in the eddy currents are due to the conductivity of the material (based on 'identical' coin geometries). Copper has a lower conductivity and so the eddy currents will be smaller and the retarding force will also be smaller. So the magnet will experience a lesser retarding force and will slide faster. The same sort of thing will happen with other metals that are diamagnetic. The diamagnetic aspect just means that the magnet will not 'stick' to non-ferromagnetic materials. However, there are non-magnetic stainless steels and so the same argument (above) will apply there. Here is a vid that may help:

I think it depends on what happens to short silver positions if people demand physical?

I have 1980's electronic devices. In 1990 I was skint and tried to sell one for way under 'spot'. I could not give it away. Now they are worth ~£2k and sell in seconds. 10 years ago they were a fraction if this price. I think this is why I have the pre-47 buying mindset I have. It is a coin hobby, I like them and they are not that pricy for me even if over the current spot. I know it is a risk but as others have said, but silver may be undervalued and demand is set to increase. If they value is being artificially held low, then there may be a time that the price suppression is breached and I will have something of value. However, will we have anyone to sell to then (individual to individual) if disposable income declines? I do wonder if scrap might be the main option then. I don't see this a flipping opportunities but longer haul. But what do I know? I am a noob.

I thought I would mention oxygen-free copper. It is worth more than ordinary copper. Just a useless fact. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen-free_copper