deVere Investor Insight - Q1 2021

Investor Insight // Q1 - 2021 33 The price of silver is a bit more volatile. Although it is considered as a commodity for storing wealth and used in fashion jewellery, it is also used as an industrial metal in electronics, batteries, film, and medical products. Gold might have been the king of precious metals, but it was silver that dominated trade and everyday transactions. Most common folk would never have seen gold in their lifetime. It was exclusive to the wealthy. Silver, being more plentiful and thus more common, was the day to day currency for most alongside copper and bronze coins. During the mid 1800’s into the 1900’s, silver experienced a yoyo of politically motivated value spikes as governments manipulated silver sales. The industrial value of silver emerged with its use in early photography and then later into electronics and other industrial purposes. ** History has shown that gold and silver are the major wealth hoarding commodities throughout history. They are the one constant during economic uncertainty. Adding precious metals to your investment portfolio is a good way to diversify and add a certain amount of stability and security to your portfolio. And of course, who doesn’t want a virtual treasure chest of precious metals like the pirates of old. Silver was the major component of the Mediterranean region for thousands of years. The silver mines of Spain funded the Roman expansion of the known world until its discovery in South America. Its real boom started in the late 1400’s when the Spanish conquered South America and discovered huge veins of silver ore. In fact, 85% of the world’s silver came from Bolivia, Peru, and Mexico between 1500 and 1800.