Jim Rickards: Make sure you have some silver coins at home

According to Jim Rickards , everyone would be wise to get some silver coins in case the financial system crashes and electronic payments stop functioning. In an article on Daily Reckoning The author of the books 'Currency Wars' and 'Death of Money' writes that silver coins might come in handy in a monetary crisis, especially if confidence in paper money disappears.

Gold coins are far too valuable for daily shopping, but a few small silver coins are suitable for this purpose, according to Rickards. Gold is about 68 times more precious than silver at the time of writing, making it impractical for smaller transactions. But if we are to believe Rickards, the silver price could rise sharply in a monetary crisis.

Silver price to $60

An increased demand for silver as a means of payment may Silver price to $60 per troy ounce, Rickards writes in his column. That is more than three times as much as the price of $19.37 that is paid for a troy ounce of silver at the time of writing. He expects that in the future, savers will lose faith in central banks and fiat money and will therefore seek refuge in precious metals such as gold and silver. 

The price of silver is highly volatile, as there are many different factors that can affect the price. The monetary policy of central banks and inflation expectations have an impact on investment demand, while the economic cycle largely determines the industrial demand for silver. About half of the annual demand for silver is accounted for by industrial applications.

Do silver coins come back as money?

Jim Rickards expects silver to return to its historic role as a means of payment in the future. He also expects silver to increase in popularity in the coming years due to several positive factors that are not yet reflected by the silver price. 

However, we still question the comeback of silver as a means of payment. Due to price fluctuations, the value of the coins is constantly fluctuating, which makes the use of silver as a means of payment inconvenient. Another  disadvantage is that there are many different silver coins in circulation, all of which have a different weight and a different silver content. It will be difficult for the layman to determine the value of each coin. It is also a challenge to use silver coins in a world where more and more goods and services are traded online.

Whether silver will make a comeback as a means of payment remains to be seen, but it is conceivable that in times of crisis people will fall back on barter for a short period of time. And in that scenario, Silver Coins a very common medium of exchange, just like cigarettes and foreign currency.

Jim Rickards: "Make sure you have some silver coins at home"