What Good Is Silver?

Silver is considered a precious metal, along with gold, platinum, palladium, rhodium, and indium. Precious metals are not very abundant in the Earth’s crust. They are attractive and not chemically active. Silver is often added as an alloy with other metals, especially gold.

About 10% of the silver mined is used in jewelry, coins and art. Silver is also made into silverware and other table settings and decorations. Silver has industrial applications as well, such as batteries, flexible and solid plastics, bearings, soldering, electronics and catalysts.

Silver can be polished to have 95% reflectivity. Besides being useful in mirrors, it is also used in coatings to reduce sun exposure to the eyes with eyeglasses. It is similarly used on glass buildings to keep the buildings cool in summer and reduce energy costs.

Silver also has dental and medical applications, and is a great anti-bacterial. It is also used in paints and coatings to prevent surface germs and fungus growth. Silver ions are used in water purification.

Silver is also used in solar energy applications. Silver paste increases the efficiency of solar energy collection as electricity. It can also be used on solar farms that use solar heat to produce steam powered generators.

Even with all of these uses, silver’s most important use today is in photography. Three silver compounds are used in photography. About half the silver produced goes into making photographic film.

The second highest use for silver is in electrical and electronic devices. About 20% of the silver mined is used this way. Silver is the best known metal conductor of electricity.

With the many uses of silver, adding a Silver IRA to your portfolio makes sense. A Silver IRA can be a great investment as well as a safeguard against a sagging dollar. Silver has been used in monetary supplies for thousands of years, so open a Silver IRA today.

NAFEP (The National Association of Financial and Estate Planning) is a leading provider of self directed IRA and self directed 401k products, administrative and custodial services.