Silver Investors Get a Gold Star

Sept. 28, 2010— -- With stocks in the dumps and government deficits spiraling, Americans are increasingly turning their attention to precious metals like silver, which has doubled in price since the recession hit in 2008.

Silver hit a 30-year high of $21.47 an ounce Monday, up from under $9 when the financial crisis began, rising 35 percent so far this year.

The high price of gold -- the metal has also more than doubled in price over the past two years -- has sent investors scrambling for cheaper silver as a way to protect their assets. Silver has gained 21 percent in price versus gold this year.

"Some people are worried about the currency debasement and have done some research about the fundamentals of silver and fundamentals of gold and silver looks like a better deal," says David Morgan of The Morgan Report.

Silver's rise can also be traced to its industrial uses in everything from jewelry, mobile phone components to batteries.

But silver also has a checkered history that likely has faded from the minds of today's investors. In 1979 and 1980, silver prices skyrocketed to a historic high of $50 an ounce after billionaire investors Nelson and William Hunt tried to corner the market -- buying up all the silver they could get their hands on. The scheme failed, silver prices collapsed, and the brothers lost their billion-dollar fortune. They were later fined $10 million each, and banned from trading in U.S. commodities market.

Silver's ascent this time around has been much more gradual. "It's something that has been evolving for quite a few years," says David H. Smith, contributor to the natural resources investment guide The Morgan Report. "In the 80s we had a bull market that sent silver to $50 an ounce and then it went into a bear market after collapse. We moved into an accumulation phase and since that time silver and gold has been rising sharply."

Low interest rates are another factor in the rush to precious metals, experts say. The average money market account nationwide pays just .69 percent interest, according to Bankrate.com. That's less than 1 percent annually. Rates have been kept low by the Federal Reserve for the past two years in an effort to stimulate the economy.

For consumers, "putting money in the bank is no different from burying it in the ground. The interest rate is basically the same: It's zero. I think people put money in the bank just so they can write checks, there's no financial benefit to doing it," says Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Precious Metals.