Is Silver The “Poor Man’s Gold”?

[Notafront4adragon]

55 minutes ago, silvernewbie said:

You do realise we used to have the Gold standard until very recently (bloody Reagon!) so all paper money was backed up by Gold.  We wouldnt have all the economic problems if we kept this system Instead govts keep printing money

I think it was before Regan actually wasnt Nixon in charge when America abandoned it? 

I'd say have a look at the busts and economic woes people faced when on the gold standard. Don't think it was better then. Also then all my gold would be roughly 35 dollars an oz!

 

[SILVERFINGER]

If our country's/banks/governments started to withdraw all the metal coins and replaced them with plastic I think a lot of people would be upset and would feel the coinage was worth a lot less because it was no longer made of metals, I think this has been different country's/banks/governments aim for the past 3000 years lol, precious metals were the currency to begin with and worth the most, country's/banks/governments wanted to control the money/taxes etc so they brought in coinage, people wouldn't readily accept it so it contained a large % of precious metals, over the decades less valuable metals were sneaked in for the lower denominations, then the pm contents/% were lowered until they were no longer put in mainstream money, thus making us dependant on our respective country's/banks/governments worthless crud. 

[KDave]

2 hours ago, silvernewbie said:

You do realise we used to have the Gold standard until very recently (bloody Reagon!) so all paper money was backed up by Gold.  We wouldnt have all the economic problems if we kept this system Instead govts keep printing money

Yes we all know this but what does that have to do with golds use as money as oppose to silver. Why has history not produced a silver standard with gold just used as an industrial metal. It's not all to do with the physical properties so what is it about?

[HawkHybrid]

5 hours ago, Martlet said:

Apart from iron, aluminium, copper... actually most metals have more uses than gold, because they can be alloyed and are cheap for common use. Gold's main use is jewellery and its value.  Dont see any gold pots, hammers or engine blocks. 

 

you're missing the point.

cost aside gold can replace many of these metals in

many of their uses.

gold has the quality to perform. it's practical use is

restricted by rarity and cost. think of gold as a

super computer versus a laptop. you can reprogramme

a supercomputer to surf the web. you don't because it's

a waste of its abilities not because it is incapable of

performing such a task(think gold toilet seat).

gold is the creme de la creme of metals. we use it

sparingly and only when its use cannot be replaced by

cheaper/more common metals.

 

we only use gold in a small fraction of it's capabilities.

gold has the most uses(most capable) amongst all of

the metals. we use it sparingly(it's valuable).

 

HH

[HawkHybrid]

3 hours ago, silvernewbie said:

You do realise we used to have the Gold standard until very recently (bloody Reagon!) so all paper money was backed up by Gold.  We wouldnt have all the economic problems if we kept this system Instead govts keep printing money

 

this is not true.

does an alcoholic have problems because he drinks?

or did he turn to drinking because of his problems?

money printing highlights the extent of the problem

but is not the root of the problem.

 

HH

[musketsmoke]

On 05/10/2019 at 20:51, SILVERFINGER said:

if the silver was in 5kg bars then I would take the silver

i found some 5kg bars for .71 per gram is that a good price ?

[SILVERFINGER]

27 minutes ago, musketsmoke said:

i found some 5kg bars for .71 per gram is that a good price ?

What copper ?

[musketsmoke]

15 minutes ago, SILVERFINGER said:

What copper ?

LOL to cheap or to expensive ?

 

[KDave]

7 minutes ago, musketsmoke said:

LOL to cheap or to expensive ?

 

I think silver spot price is 0.45 a gram, 0.71 a gram seems rather too expensive?

[Foe]

10 hours ago, musketsmoke said:

LOL to cheap or to expensive ?

 

Search this forum for good sites and then bullion sites for the average on all pm's. It's all there. Spot price and traders buyback prices will give you solid ideas as to what to pay. Sometimes ebay auctions can be good in bulk. But I think you want to melt them anyways so go for badly tarnished or unloved series and damaged coins on here as they go for very close to spot. Others go for well over cause of vat. And they sell within minutes.

[JohnA]

I think silver is a prettier metal.

[SILVERFINGER]

39 minutes ago, JohnA said:

I think silver is a prettier metal.

Yeah I always preferred silver to gold, made it easier when I was in the infants school in the 1970's as everyone wanted the gold glitter for their christmas pictures and I preferred the silver so didnt have to wait around for it nor use the silver one sparingly like the others 

[JohnA]

1 hour ago, SILVERFINGER said:

Yeah I always preferred silver to gold, made it easier when I was in the infants school in the 1970's as everyone wanted the gold glitter for their christmas pictures and I preferred the silver so didnt have to wait around for it nor use the silver one sparingly like the others 

The elves prefer silver.

[SILVERFINGER]

22 minutes ago, JohnA said:

The elves prefer silver.

Don't mention them bloomin things to me, I had a bad experience with those lasting several weeks, I think they were elves.

[RacerCool]

On 05/10/2019 at 16:27, HawkHybrid said:

 

gold has the most uses of any metal known to man.

 

think useful/flexible to create many things + durable

enough to maintain your efforts once you've created

your desired item.

(the flexible of plasticine crossed with the durability

of diamonds)

 

HH

Gold is one of the least useful, in a general usage sense. Silver and copper are far more useful, not to mention iron, aluminum, chrome, nickel, tin, lead, calcium, magnesium, etc.

Gold is good for money, jewelry, and electronics. Otherwise it's uses are very specific and niche. It's also very soft, so if it's going to see use outside of electronics, it needs to be alloyed with other useful metals.

[SILVERFINGER]

3 hours ago, RacerCool said:

Gold is one of the least useful, in a general usage sense. Silver and copper are far more useful, not to mention iron, aluminum, chrome, nickel, tin, lead, calcium, magnesium, etc.

Gold is good for money, jewelry, and electronics. Otherwise it's uses are very specific and niche. It's also very soft, so if it's going to see use outside of electronics, it needs to be alloyed with other useful metals.

This can all get very confusing for everyone I think, I found a chart that helps out with some of it.

 

[Chronix]

55 minutes ago, SILVERFINGER said:

This can all get very confusing for everyone I think, I found a chart that helps out with some of it.

 

🤣 🤣 🤣

[HawkHybrid]

8 hours ago, RacerCool said:

Gold is one of the least useful, in a general usage sense. Silver and copper are far more useful, not to mention iron, aluminum, chrome, nickel, tin, lead, calcium, magnesium, etc.

Gold is good for money, jewelry, and electronics. Otherwise it's uses are very specific and niche. It's also very soft, so if it's going to see use outside of electronics, it needs to be alloyed with other useful metals.

 

let me re-phrase it to make my point clearer.

gold is the most versatile of all metals.

given sufficient quantities(this is where the

hoarding comes in) you can make all manner

of things with it.

we restrict it's use because there isn't that

much of it, not because it's incapable.

it is inert so can be used, recovered and

re-used(no complicated chemical bonds to

break)

 

HH

[musketsmoke]

yes but every time its melted the universe takes a bit of it 

be it small none the less

[SILVERFINGER]

19 minutes ago, HawkHybrid said:

 

let me re-phrase it to make my point clearer.

gold is the most versatile of all metals.

given sufficient quantities(this is where the

hoarding comes in) you can make all manner

of things with it.

we restrict it's use because there isn't that

much of it, not because it's incapable.

it is inert so can be used, recovered and

re-used(no complicated chemical bonds to

break)

 

HH

But does silver turn green with jealousy when in contact with gold ?

[RacerCool]

1 hour ago, HawkHybrid said:

 

let me re-phrase it to make my point clearer.

gold is the most versatile of all metals.

given sufficient quantities(this is where the

hoarding comes in) you can make all manner

of things with it.

we restrict it's use because there isn't that

much of it, not because it's incapable.

it is inert so can be used, recovered and

re-used(no complicated chemical bonds to

break)

 

HH

Other than the uses already mentioned, what other uses does gold have?  I'm not being stubborn; I'm really asking to know.

True, it might be more easily recoverable than other metals, but even there I don't really know.  Maybe a good number of metals are as easily recoverable and reusable, assuming they're not too finely dispersed.

But with copper and silver, for example, one use is that they're anti-microbial.  Gold isn't. Silver gives the highest reflectance of any metal, and is used for mirrors for that reason. And as for heat conductivity, after diamond, silver then copper are the most efficient.  Gold comes after copper in that regard.  Silver is also the most electrically conductive, followed by copper, then gold.

Anyway, aside from tradition, I guess we can see that the metals we call precious really are remarkable in their own right, and are actually in a league above other common metals. And that silver, in regards to this thread, is truly a special metal.

[vand]

31 minutes ago, RacerCool said:

Other than the uses already mentioned, what other uses does gold have?  I'm not being stubborn; I'm really asking to know.

True, it might be more easily recoverable than other metals, but even there I don't really know.  Maybe a good number of metals are as easily recoverable and reusable, assuming they're not too finely dispersed.

But with copper and silver, for example, one use is that they're anti-microbial.  Gold isn't. Silver gives the highest reflectance of any metal, and is used for mirrors for that reason. And as for heat conductivity, after diamond, silver then copper are the most efficient.  Gold comes after copper in that regard.  Silver is also the most electrically conductive, followed by copper, then gold.

Anyway, aside from tradition, I guess we can see that the metals we call precious really are remarkable in their own right, and are actually in a league above other common metals. And that silver, in regards to this thread, is truly a special metal.

Gold has unique properties that make it well suited to industrial usage.. eg, it is being used to coat the mirror of the James Webb telescope. It's inert properties make it ideal for many medical usage procedures in the human body (including dentistry). Science is finding new uses for it all the time - it was recently found to be useful in a new cancer detection test, for example. When McLaren built the original McLaren F1 they used gold to line the engine because of its conductive qualities - we would see more of this sort of usage in a "cost is really no issue" scenarios.

Silver as acknowledged has many, many useful industrial usages many of which are well known. 

 

 

 

[vand]

WRT to the original question... silver is silver. Why the continual need to always consider it inferior to gold?

If it were a football team, 1oz of gold would be your £50 main striker, while 1oz silver is your £6m left back. The strongest teams tend to blend the superstars with the solid dependable jocks.

[HawkHybrid]

1 hour ago, RacerCool said:

And that silver, in regards to this thread, is truly a special metal.

 

by comparison silver is a rubbish metal.

they are constantly trying to find new uses for

it because supply constantly outstrips demand.

gold on the other hand people are constantly

trying to find ways of replacing using other

metals etc. there's not enough gold to go around

for the items that people want to make using

gold.

things like gold plating is not there just to look

pretty. electronics have gold plated surfaces to

provide better contact surfaces. gold plating on

items in general provide a layer of protection for

the underlying metal(against corrosion).

gold is extremely malleable. you can make gold

wire that are 5 microns thick.

https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/gold/incomparable-gold/gold-properties

 

gold has properties that allow it to solve problems

that are unimaginable using other metals.

 

where silver beats gold it's only a small win. eg

30-50% more conductive.  where gold beats

silver it's done decisively. eg doesn't tarnish at

all when exposed to water or air.

 

HH

[TonyS]

I am a retired electrical engineer.

I’ve used copper, silver and platinum in chemical analysis, never gold.

Copper for normal conductors.

Silver for high conductivity.

Platinum was for reaction crucibles.