While silver has experienced some volatility in 2024, overall, the precious metal’s price has risen — and could continue to increase in the coming months, says Gainesville Coins Precious Metals Specialist Everett Millman.
As of September 23, according to USA Today, silver’s price was up more than 28% from the start of the year. Gainesville Coins’ silver spot price chart shows on January 1, silver was trading for $24.03 per ounce.
“It’s still one of the strongest performing assets,” Millman says. “There’s more room for the silver price to increase.”
Elements That May Affect Silver Prices According to Gainesville Coins
A number of factors could play into silver’s future performance. The considerable industrial uses that involve the precious metal, for instance — particularly in the solar power sector — will likely help fuel the demand for it.
“It takes a lot of silver to make each one of those solar panels,” he says. “Both China and India have increased their imports of silver this year; they’re the two countries that are growing their solar capacity at the fastest rate. As production of solar panels continues to accelerate, that industrial side of the equation creates a really strong new source of demand for silver.”
Every year, more than half of the silver supply, Millman says, is consumed in various industrial processes. The silver that is used can’t necessarily be recycled and put back into circulation; it’s essentially destroyed.
Because silver is such a common component in numerous tech items, future growth within the technology space could potentially heighten the interest in the metal, according to Millman.
In 2023, the demand for silver outpaced the available supply of the precious metal for the third year in a row, according to nonprofit Silver Institute association — which expects another sizable silver shortage will occur this year.
“Clean energy, electric vehicles — those [industries] are all starting to become a little more mature,” Millman says. “Whatever [new products] the tech sector has down the road over the next five to 10 years, almost without a doubt, gold and silver are going to be used in those technologies.”
Past Precious Metal Performance
Silver’s price, according to Gainesville Coins, has tended to have at least one dramatic 50% or higher increase a decade. The metal has also risen by up to 100% at times — such as in 2010 after the financial crisis.
Although some signs of economic weakness may indicate silver prices are primed to increase — high valuations in other areas, for example — much like other markets, future pricing activity for silver can be difficult to anticipate.
As a result, Millman suggests buying physical assets before silver experiences an epic rise.
“More so than trying to read the tea leaves, it’s important for investors to consider whether their portfolio is sufficiently hedged against a potential black swan event,” he says. “Are their investments diversified enough to weather that potential storm? Because, by their nature, economic surprises are impossible to predict — holding some gold and silver in case of an emergency is a prudent way of protecting yourself.”
