Precious Metals News & Analysis - Gold News, Silver News from Money Metals Exchange

French Central Bank Sells New York Gold; Replaces It With Gold Stored in Paris

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 EST

In a move that netted a nice capital gain, the Banque de France (BdF) sold the remainder of its gold held in the U.S. and replaced it with higher-quality bars purchased in Europe.

The move significantly upgraded the quality of the French central bank's gold reserves. And while officials won’t talk about it out loud, it also gave the U.S. a little less control over French finances.

France has the fourth-largest gold reserves in the world.

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The French central bank upgraded 129 tonnes of gold that was stored in New York. The move impacted about 5 percent of the country’s 2,437-tonne gold reserves. In the process, the central bank realized a gain totaling nearly $13 billion thanks to the https://www.moneymetals.com/gold-price";>higher gold price.

“In 2025 and at the start of 2026, while the volume of gold reserves remained unchanged, the Banque de France had to align a residual portion (5%) with technical guidelines, resulting in a significant realized currency gain. This exceptional foreign exchange income totaled EUR 11 billion for 2025.”

The BdF unloaded “non-standard” gold bars of varying purity and size. The central bank used the proceeds to purchase new gold bars that meet international reserve standards for weight, purity, and certification.

Think of it as exchanging “https://www.moneymetals.com/bullion/what-is-junk-silver";>junk silver” for pure .999 coins.

Notably, a large percentage of U.S. gold reserves is made up of these non-standard bars.

According to the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), gold bars must contain 350 to 430 fine troy ounces and have a minimum fineness of 995.0 parts per thousand to be acceptable for international settlements.

Having sold the last of its gold in New York, the entirety of France’s gold is now safely inside French borders. According to a French news agency, the central bank still holds 134 tonnes of non-standard bars and coins. It plans to upgrade the remainder of its holdings by 2028.

Not a Political Move?

French central bank officials insist pulling the remainder of its gold out of the U.S. was not a political move. BdF governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said he made the decision to sell the non-standard gold held in New York to “upgrade reserve quality” and that it was more convenient to simply sell the metal stored in New York and buy higher quality gold in Europe rather than transporting and refining the existing bars in the U.S.

However, I would bet dollars to donuts that the move was at least partially motivated by politics.

In fact, France moved most of its gold out of the U.S. in the 1960s, and it was 100 percent motivated by politics.

Skeptical of U.S. monetary expansion and worried it would ultimately ruin the value of the currency, President Charles de Gaulle secretly repatriated 3,000 tonnes of the country’s gold from the U.S. between 1963 and 1966. The operation even had a code name – Vide-Gousset, French for “emptying the pocket.”

Many economists believe the French move was the death knell for the Bretton Woods system. Under the scheme established in 1944, the dollar became the primary global currency. Other currencies were linked to the dollar, and the dollar was convertible to gold. Just a few years after France brought the bulk of its gold home, President Richard Nixon ended the convertibility of the dollar to gold, ushering in the era of fiat money.

Today, many countries are again wary of the dollar’s outsized role in global finance due to the U.S. https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2024/02/29/could-weaponization-of-the-dollar-as-a-foreign-policy-billy-club-accelerate-de-dollarization-003013";>weaponization of the currency and https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2026/03/26/the-us-government-is-insolvent-yes-that-matters-004791";>America’s fiscal malfeasance.

Over the last several months, https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2026/01/25/german-officials-renew-calls-to-bring-gold-home-004637";>a movement to repatriate Germany’s gold held in New York has sprung up.

The German central bank opted to store significant amounts of gold in New York to keep it far away from the Soviet Union during the Cold War. As an article in Fortune pointed out, "The country’s close ties with the U.S., which has historically held up the Western World order, made the Fed an obvious resting place for the commodity."

With the U.S. aggressively using economic pressure as a foreign policy tool, the wisdom of storing German gold in New York no longer seems quite so obvious to many Germans.

For instance, a leading German economist and former head of research at the Bundesbank says the central bank should move all of the gold stored in the U.S. back to Germany. Emanuel Mönch said it’s “too risky” to keep Germany's gold reserves in the United States.

European Taxpayers Association (TAE) head Michael Jäger was even more blunt, saying U.S. demands to control Greenland should “concentrate minds.”

“Trump is unpredictable and he does everything to generate revenue. That’s why our gold is no longer safe in the Fed’s vaults. What happens if the Greenland provocation continues? … The risk is increasing that the German Bundesbank will no longer be able to access its gold. Therefore, it should repatriate its reserves.”

French officials probably don’t want to say it out loud, but they almost certainly have the same concerns as German leaders (and many others around the world). It’s easy to frame the sale as a technical move to improve reserve quality but it undeniably solves a political problem.

Germany and France aren't alone in thinking its gold might be safer at home.

According to https://www.gold.org/goldhub/data/2023-central-bank-gold-reserves-survey";>a World Gold Council survey in 2023, a “substantial share” of central banks expressed concern about potential sanctions after the U.S. and other Western countries froze almost half of Russia’s $650 billion gold and forex reserves in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. According to the WGC, 68 percent of the banks surveyed said they plan to keep their gold reserve within their country’s borders. This was up from 50 percent in 2020.

One anonymously quoted central bank official told Reuters, “We did have it [gold] held in London… but now we’ve transferred it back to our country to hold as a safe haven asset and to keep it safe.”

Several countries have repatriated gold in recent years, including https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2024/05/31/india-brings-100-tons-of-gold-home-for-safe-keeping-003225";>India, the Netherlands, Australia, Poland, Hungary, and Romania.

This gold repatriation trend underscores the importance of holding physical gold free from https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2024/02/29/buy-gold-and-silver-to-hedge-against-counterparty-risk-003015";>counterparty risk.

If you store your gold and silver with a third party, you could lose your metal through theft, fraud, or an act of God. Of course, you could lose silver and gold stored in your home the same way (except for fraud), so you have to weigh the risk of using third-party storage and keeping large amounts of silver and gold at home.

Precious Metals vs Stocks: Which Is the Better Investment - Money Metals

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:00 EST

Stocks have helped many investors build their wealth. They have also brought about massive drawdowns, inflation shocks, and periods where “paper wealth” evaporated overnight.

And yet, many investors continue to treat gold and silver as relics. Despite such treatment, precious metals have preserved purchasing power through wars, currency resets, and financial crises.

The debate between precious metals vs stocks is not solely academic. It gets to the heart of a real question for many investors: should you trust the financial system for growth, or hedge against it with hard assets?

The answer to that question takes some unpacking. Each asset class behaves differently depending on economic conditions, monetary policy, and market sentiment.

In this guide, we'll break down the real differences in risk, return, and long-term strategy so you can decide which approach fits your goals.

What Are Precious Metals as an Investment?

When investors talk about precious metals, they often refer colloquially to gold and silver. However, precious metals is a broader category that includes these four metals:

Gold
Silver
Platinum
Palladium

Precious metal bullion comes in three main forms:

Coins
Bars
Rounds

In most cases, the foremost way to invest in physical precious metals is with bullion. However, some investors choose to invest in “paper” precious metals through ETFs and mining stocks. These paper assets are stock-traded items, tying them to the stock market. We'll explore how they work later.

For investors ready to take that next step, https://www.moneymetals.com/buy";>buying precious metals gives you direct access to physical bullion in the forms that best fit your budget and goals.

The biggest reason for investing in precious metals is that it has intrinsic value. This feature sets it in stark contrast with fiat currency.

Why? Fiat currency derives its value from a nation's trust in its government. It has no intrinsic value, but a value that essentially comes from the government's will, or fiat.

In contrast, gold and silver have a millennia-long history as both money and a store of value. Ever since the https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/nixon-shock";>end of the Bretton Woods system in 1971, gold and silver have generally risen in value in inverse correlation to the dollar.

That intrinsic value is the source of precious metals' enduring appeal. Owning physical gold and silver gives a certain security against devaluation of the dollar. Physical gold also has a useful feature that paper gold and silver cannot match; it has no counterparty risk. Once you purchase it, you can hold and store it as you see fit.

What Are Stocks and How Do They Generate Returns?

Stocks represent ownership in a company. When you buy shares, you are purchasing a claim on the future earnings, assets, and growth of the company. Unlike precious metals, stocks are considered productive assets because they can generate income and expand in value over time.

There are two primary ways stocks deliver returns. First is capital appreciation, where share prices rise as companies grow profits, increase revenues, or benefit from favorable market conditions. Second is dividends, which are periodic cash payments distributed to shareholders from corporate earnings.

However, stock performance depends heavily on broader economic forces. Strong economic growth, low interest rates, and easy monetary policy tend to support higher stock valuations. Central banks play a major role here. When liquidity is abundant, asset prices often rise. When policy tightens, markets can contract quickly.

Stocks are also tied to corporate execution. Poor management decisions, rising costs, declining demand can hurt returns regardless of the broader market.

The key takeaway is simple: stocks can build wealth over time, but they rely on a stable financial system and continued economic expansion to perform well.

Precious Metals vs Stocks: Key Differences at a Glance

For convenience's sake, we have a table here that shows the main differences between precious metals and stocks.

Factor	Precious Metals	Stocks
Intrinsic Value	Yes (physical asset)	No (financial claim)
Income Generation	None	Dividends possible
Volatility	Moderate	High
Inflation Protection	Strong historically	Mixed
Counterparty Risk	None (physical)	Yes

What the table confirms is that stocks work as a way to grow your wealth. In contrast, gold and precious metals generally act as a way to preserve the assets you already have.

Historical Performance: Gold vs the Stock Market

Over long periods, both gold and stocks have delivered returns, but under very different conditions. The stock market, often depicted by the S&P 500, has historically outperformed gold during extended economic expansions. Corporate earnings growth, innovation, and reinvested dividends have driven substantial wealth creation for equity investors.

However, that outperformance is not consistent across all timeframes. During inflationary periods and economic stress, precious metals have often taken the lead. In the 1970s, for example, gold surged as inflation eroded the value of paper assets while stocks struggled in real terms. Similarly, during the 2000-2011 period, gold significantly outperformed equities amid market crashes and monetary easing.

Looking at real (inflation-adjusted) returns tells a more complete story. Stocks can appear strong in nominal terms, but high inflation can quietly reduce actual purchasing power. Gold, by contrast, tends to hold its value, acting as a monetary anchor when currencies weaken.

For investors who want to understand that role in greater depth, https://www.moneymetals.com/investment/investing-in-gold";>investing in gold offers a time-tested way to preserve purchasing power when fiat currencies weaken.

The key reason for this divergence lies in what drives each asset. Stocks depend on earnings growth, investor confidence, and financial conditions. Gold responds more directly to currency debasement, interest rates, and systemic risk.

In short, stocks excel in stable, growth-oriented environments, while precious metals tend to shine when that stability is called into question.

Inflation, Currency Risk, and Purchasing Power

While it is true that the S&P 500 often outperforms precious metals, it is also true that stock gains erode because of inflation.

Inflation reduces the purchasing power of future profits and increasing company costs. Because of this, nominal gains may not keep pace with rising costs of living. As such, high inflation lowers real returns, shrinks future cash flow value, and creates volatility.

Gold and silver behave differently. Their intrinsic value helps them preserve the worth of your portfolio over time.

You can see this by looking at the relationship between dollar strength and metal prices. https://www.moneymetals.com/precious-metals-charts";>Precious metals charts show how gold and silver prices respond to inflation, dollar weakness, and changing market conditions over time. Generally speaking, you will see an inverse relationship between the two. When dollar strength goes up, precious metals prices go down; conversely, when the dollar weakens, gold and silver prices rise.

In many ways, this is very straightforward. When the dollar is stronger and has more purchasing power, it only makes sense that gold and silver prices would decrease.

Other factors can affect precious metals prices too. Central bank policies and money printing play a large role in deciding the value of gold.

Central banks can affect gold pricing in a few ways. On one hand, the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, sets the course for much of the country's monetary policy, including inflation, interest rates, and how much money to print. These policies can strengthen or weaken the dollar, which affects precious metals.

However, other central banks can also play a role. Many central banks, such as those in China, India, Turkey, and others, have pursued a policy of buying huge quantities of gold.

When that happens, it increases the demand for gold and cuts down on the supply available to the market. This also affects precious metals prices.

Investing in Precious Metals vs Equities: Risk Profiles

One way to compare the performance of gold vs stocks is to look at periods of economic downturns. Their performance can give a clear depiction of their respective risks.

Stock Market Risks

Most investors today have lived through one of the major stock market crashes. There have been three major instances of this:

2000
2008
2020

Period	Event	Gold Performance	S&P 500 Performance	Key Insight
2000–2002	Dot-Com Bust	+12% (approx.)	-45% (approx.)	Gold gained as tech stocks collapsed and confidence fell.
2008	Global Financial Crisis	+5% (approx.)	-37% (approx.)	Gold held value while equities experienced severe losses.
2020	COVID-19 Crash & Stimulus Era	+25% (approx.)	+16% (approx.)	Both rose, but gold surged early amid uncertainty and stimulus.

Looking at the chart, what you see is that initially, precious metals can go down during a stock market crash. However, the market often recovers well before the stock market does.

This does not indicate that precious metals have no risk. Instead, it reveals that their risks are slightly different.

Precious Metals Risks

Precious metals have two main risks. First, there are periods of price stagnation.

Gold and silver often trade sideways for lengthy periods. This can mean that investors who purchase gold and silver at higher prices may not see any profit for a lengthy period of time.

The other risk of precious metals is that there is no yield. Precious metals do not offer dividends on their investments, which makes them worse for turning profits in the short term.

Instead, what precious metals offer is a way to hedge against systemic risks. Stocks, on the other hand, amplify that risk. That leads us to investment goals and strategies, which we'll discuss further below.

Income vs Preservation: What Are You Investing For?

The key to choosing between investing in precious metals vs stocks is understanding your investment goals. Stocks and precious metals target different functions in your portfolio, which is why diversification is so important.

Stocks are the way to go for investors seeking to grow their wealth and receive additional income. Dividends make that possible, allowing investors to significantly grow their wealth. This statement, however, does come with a caveat: stocks can generate wealth, so long as the financial system remains stable.

https://vocal.media/trader/how-much-gold-and-silver-should-i-own";>Precious metals best demonstrate their benefits in times of instability. When those occasions arrive, precious metals help by shoring up your assets and preserving your wealth. They provide some insurance against currency debasement, allowing your portfolio to retain purchasing power.

In short, stocks are often best suited for an offensive in your financial strategy. https://www.moneymetals.com/programs/iras";>Precious metals play a defensive role in your portfolio. If you need help figuring out how to split up your portfolio, these allocation models might help.

Growth-Focused Portfolio (80/20)

Allocation	Description
80% Stocks / 20% Precious Metals	Designed for long-term wealth building with higher risk tolerance.
Stocks Role	Drive returns through earnings growth and dividends.
Metals Role	Provide a hedge against inflation and market shocks.
Best For	Younger investors or those focused on aggressive growth.

Balanced Portfolio (60/40)

Allocation	Description
60% Stocks / 40% Precious Metals	Balances growth potential with downside protection.
Stocks Role	Generate appreciation and income through dividends.
Metals Role	Stabilize the portfolio during inflation and market downturns.
Best For	Investors seeking steady growth with reduced volatility.

Preservation-Focused Portfolio (40/60)

Allocation	Description
40% Stocks / 60% Precious Metals	Prioritizes wealth protection over aggressive growth.
Stocks Role	Provide limited upside and some income potential.
Metals Role	Guard against inflation, currency debasement, and systemic risk.
Best For	Retirees or investors concerned about economic instability.

Which Strategy Works Best in Different Economic Conditions?

One of the biggest mistakes investors make is assuming one strategy will outperform in all environments. In reality, the balance between precious metals and stocks should shift based on economic conditions.

Economic Environment	Stocks Performance	Precious Metals Performance	Suggested Strategy
Strong Economic Growth	Strong gains driven by earnings	Often flat or underperforming	Favor stocks (higher equity allocation)
High Inflation	Real returns decline	Typically rise as currency weakens	Increase precious metals exposure
Recession	Decline due to falling earnings	Often stable or rising	Shift toward metals for stability
Monetary Expansion (Money Printing)	Can rise short-term	Strong upside over time	Hold both, overweight metals
Financial Crisis	Sharp losses	Safe-haven demand increases	Prioritize wealth preservation (metals)

In other words, stocks depend on stability. Precious metals thrive when that stability breaks.

What If These Strategies Fail?

No allocation model works in every circumstance. Periods like stagflation or synchronized market selloffs can cause both stocks and precious metals to struggle. In these times, flexibility matters more than rigid allocation strategies.

Investors may need to increase their cash reserves, reduce risk exposure, or rebalance more frequently. It can also help to focus on liquidity and avoid overleveraging.

The key is to treat any strategy as a framework, not a guarantee. Investors should always be prepared to adjust as conditions change.

Portfolio Strategy: Why Investors Own Both

Because precious metals and stocks play different roles, it is best to have an adequate balance of both in your portfolio. Relying too much on stocks or precious metals leads to a great deal of imbalance.

Stocks tend to perform best during periods of economic growth, strong earnings, and stable monetary policy. Precious metals, on the other hand, often shine during inflation, currency weakness, and financial stress. Because these assets respond to different forces, they often have low or even negative correlation at key moments.

That diversification benefit is the real advantage. When stocks decline sharply, metals can help offset losses and stabilize overall portfolio value.

A common approach is to adjust allocation based on goals. Growth-focused investors may hold a higher percentage in equities, with a smaller allocation to metals as insurance. More conservative investors, or those concerned about inflation and systemic risk, may increase their exposure to gold and silver.

The key insight is simple: stocks build wealth, but precious metals help protect it. Owning both can improve long-term outcomes by reducing volatility and guarding against the unexpected.

Frequently Asked Questions About Precious Metals vs Stocks

Q: Are precious metals safer than stocks?

Precious metals are generally considered safer in terms of counterparty risk because physical gold and silver are not dependent on any institution or issuer. However, they can still experience price volatility and do not generate income like stocks.

Q: Do metals outperform during recessions?

Precious metals, particularly gold, have historically performed well during recessions and financial crises as investors seek safe-haven assets. Stocks, on the other hand, often decline during these periods due to reduced earnings and economic uncertainty.

Q: What percentage of a portfolio should be in gold or silver?

Many financial professionals suggest allocating between 5% and 20% of a portfolio to precious metals, depending on risk tolerance and economic outlook. Investors concerned about inflation or systemic risk may choose higher allocations as a form of financial insurance.

Precious Metals vs Stocks: Which Is Better?

The choice between precious metals vs stocks ultimately depends on your goals and the prevailing economic conditions. Generally, the two follow a set pattern:

Stocks = growth engine
Precious metals = financial insurance

The real question is not “either/or”. Rather, it's about finding the balance that best benefits your investment portfolio.

Generally speaking, financial advisors recommend investing 5%-20% of your financial portfolio in precious metals. If you are eager to grow your wealth, choose more stocks.

If, however, you want to preserve your wealth, increase your precious metals stack. When you strike the right balance, you give your portfolio resilience against economic downturns.

For investors focused on long-term wealth protection, https://www.moneymetals.com/buy/gold";>buying gold provides direct ownership of a proven monetary asset with no counterparty risk.

If you're unsure how to begin investing in precious metals, there are a few options available. For many first-time buyers, https://www.moneymetals.com/buy/silver";>buying silver offers a lower-cost entry point into physical precious metals without giving up the benefits of hard-asset ownership. Silver has a much lower barrier to entry than gold, making it an easy place to start.

However, if you already have some wealth accumulated, you may find that gold bullion is a better starting place for you. You can find many examples of gold bullion on our website, ranging https://www.moneymetals.com/buy/gold/coins";>from famous gold coins to trusted gold bars.

NYC Mayor Mamdani Has Declared War on Gold

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:00 EST

On the heels of a credit outlook downgrade for New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the state legislature have just declared war on the financial center’s vibrant gold bullion market.

Global credit ratings agency Moody’s dropped the Big Apple’s outlook from “stable” to “negative,” releasing a https://ratings.moodys.com/ratings-news/461132"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement:

The outlook change to negative reflects New York City’s updated spending projections, which give rise to larger multi-year budget gaps than previously forecast. That the city projects large and persistent imbalances under still-favorable economic and revenue conditions highlights the extent of its underlying structural budget challenges.

Mayor Mamdani https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bBXppbfrh7k"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">called the outlook adjustment “premature” and cited $5 billion in additional funding through legislation under consideration in the chambers of the New York State legislature as a “real commitment to ensuring that we can bridge this inherited fiscal deficit...”

Among revenue-collection ideas proposed by Mamdani’s office is a new tax on investment-grade gold and silver bars—and coins and rounds as well. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/memos/sales/m89_20s.pdf"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">Since 1989, all purchases of precious metals above $1,000 have been exempt from state sales tax. This exemption does not apply to numismatic items whose value is dependent on rarity or collectability or used for artistic purposes.

The erstwhile financial capital of the world is home to Wall Street and the CME Group which operates the precious metals futures market known as the Comex. It’s also home to dozens, if not hundreds, of precious metals dealers, depositories, and institutional gold clearinghouses. But the good mayor plans to slap big taxes on the world’s greatest financial asset to stem the bleeding of his enormous budgetary shortfall.

Complicating the situation is the reality that the CME Group has resisted calls to expand the network of precious metals depositories involved in deliveries on futures contracts beyond the New York region—a long-standing practice that dates to a bygone era when New York was the center of the financial universe. In fact, two congressmen https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2026/03/19/lawmakers-introduce-silver-act-to-de-risk-us-precious-metals-market-infrastructure-004776"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently filed a federal bill on this.

According to documents from the New York City Mayor’s Office and the New York State Legislature, officials https://nysfocus.com/2026/03/06/mamdani-corporate-tax-albany"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">project an increase of $300 million in tax revenue for New York City and $601 million statewide from the elimination of the longstanding precious metals exemption in current law.

Mamdani may be greedily eyeing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues from taxes on gold and silver, but these estimates fail to account for the financial devastation that the entire industry would face. With this new tax, dealers would close their doors, institutions would leave New York, and the tax base shrinks rather than grows.

Conversely, when states remove sales taxes on gold and silver, there are new jobs and revenues created.

The https://www.soundmoneydefense.org/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sound Money Defense League—the nation’s leading public policy group on gold and silver issues at the state and federal level—has been tracking this issue since 2014. The overwhelming trend is to remove taxes on the only form of money mentioned in the US Constitution, not impose them.

New York has considered measures like this in previous years, failing to enact the new tax despite several attempts. The reasons are obvious: investors will simply shift to purchasing metals in one of the many states that do not impose this tax or online dealers.

This reality is exacerbated by the fact that Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island (virtually all of New York’s bordering states) have already partially or fully eliminated sales taxes on purchases of gold and silver.

Notably, https://finance.yahoo.com/news/signed-law-jersey-eliminates-sales-182000211.html"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Jersey passed its exemption on precious metals in 2024 without a single dissenting vote across both chambers of the state legislature. And Connecticut expanded its exemption in 2025.

Currently, 44 states in the country do not charge a state sales tax on purchases of gold and silver. Of the six states that still charge this tax, five are currently considering legislation to end it.

The new attention on taxing gold and silver is financial desperation disguised as financial prudence. Mayor Mamdani and other advocates of this proposal intend to use precious metals investors as a bailout for an increasingly fiscally-tenuous government bureaucracy.

New York will not tax you for purchasing stocks, bonds, real estate, ETFs, cryptos, and myriad other investments. However, if a New York resident buys precious metals as a means of saving their wealth against inflation, Mayor Mamdani and lawmakers in Albany want their pound of flesh.

New York should preserve the existing tax exemption on purchases of precious metals rather than throw the New York gold market into crisis.

img credit: WikiCommons/YouTube

Africa's Richest King Pushing to Boost African Gold Production

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 EST

Africa’s wealthiest king wants to get wealthier.

Naturally, he’s looking for more gold.

Managem Group, a Moroccan mining company owned by the royal family, recently announced a $750 million investment to increase gold production by 134 percent.

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Moroccan King Mohammed VI is the richest African leader, with a net worth estimated at $5 billion. As Business Insider Africa put it, Mohammed “continues to shape Morocco’s economic future through strategic investments like those in Managem.”

With the expansion, Managem hopes to increase gold production from 213,000 ounces in 2025 to 500,000 ounces annually by 2030.

Managem is evolving into a major player in African gold mining. It operates in eight African countries, including flagship operations in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Senegal. It also oversees mines in Morocco, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire.

Rising gold prices are making mining more lucrative. According to Business Insider Africa, the company’s gold production rose 26 percent in 2025. Thanks to a 44 percent jump in gold prices, the yellow metal accounted for more than half of the Managem’s earnings, which were up a healthy 55 percent to $1.3 billion last year.

Managem also reported an 18 percent increase in silver production last year.

According to Business Insider Africa, the company’s expansion includes two new mines. The Etéké project in Gabon is expected to start producing gold in 2028, with an estimated output of 60,000 ounces per year. Additionally, the Karita project in Guinea is currently in the feasibility stage. The mine is projected to produce 200,000 ounces annually starting in 2029.

Despite a recent dip in gold prices in the midst of the U.S./Israel-Iran war, company officials expect the https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2026/03/31/hsbc-gold-is-behaving-like-a-risk-asset-but-bullish-case-remains-004801";>bull market in gold to continue into the foreseeable future. They say these new investments are “aligned with these favorable conditions, positioning the company for further growth in a strong gold market.”

Africa Turning to Gold

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African mines produce an average of 650 tonnes annually, according to World Gold Council data. That accounts for about 18 percent of global gold mining production. However, WGC analysts caution that we should treat continent-wide figures cautiously because of the significant amount of undeclared artisanal and small-scale mining.

Many African countries are tapping into local gold production to boost their gold reserves and lower their dependence on the U.S. dollar.

African central banks buying gold from local production include Tanzania and Zambia. Ghana recently inked deals with several in-country mining companies to buy 20 percent of their output.

In 2024, Tanzania announced a plan to spend $400 million on six tons of gold. Tanzania Finance Minister Dr. Mwigulu Nchemba also issued a directive to curb the widespread use of the U.S. dollar in the country.

The Bank of Namibia announced plans to begin accumulating gold last May, with the goal of increasing it to 3 percent of total reserves. A bank statement said, “This aligns with global central banking trends, given gold’s strategic value in hedging against inflation and enhancing resilience during economic shocks.”

Last summer, the National Bank of Rwanda announced plans to expand its gold reserves.

“Similar to our peers, the central bank of Rwanda is conducting a study to see whether gold can be embraced as an additional asset that we can invest in, given its ability to counter shocks on financial markets and as a hedging option in terms of external shocks,” NBR Governor Soraya Hakuziyaremye said.

Nigeria has launched a domestic gold-buying plan to bolster its reserves. In addition to buying locally sourced gold, the Nigerian central bank has announced https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2024/07/01/nigeria-plans-to-bring-gold-reserves-home-to-minimize-risk-003290";>plans to bring its existing gold reserves back into the country “to mitigate risks associated with the weakening U.S. economy.”

“Economic indicators such as rising inflation, escalating debt levels, and geopolitical tensions have raised apprehensions among Nigerian policymakers about the stability of the U.S. financial system.”

Meanwhile, the Ghanaian government recently announced https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2026/02/26/ghana-announces-plan-to-buy-artisanal-gold-to-stem-smuggling-004721";>a scheme to buy 127 tonnes of gold from “artisanal” and small-scale mining (ASM) every year in an effort to stem smuggling.

In the recent https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2025/06/17/survey-indicates-central-banks-plan-to-keep-buying-gold-004131";>World Gold Council Central Bank Survey, 19 central banks reported buying gold from local artisanal and small-scale miners using domestic currency. That was up from 14 in the previous survey.

Buying domestically mined gold saves money, as local miners typically sell to their central banks at a slight discount. In some cases, these deals are voluntary, as small mine operators are happy to have a reliable, steady customer. However, miners are often obligated to sell gold to their country’s central bank on the cheap.

Another Great Jobs Report! Or Was It?

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 EST

There is no government report more meaningless and yet more relied upon by policymakers than the monthly non-farm payroll report released every month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Every month, the BLS releases data. Every month, we get breathless headlines about the “strength” or “weakness” of the economy based on this data. Every month, policymakers pore over the job report as they make decisions about the trajectory of monetary policy.

And every month, the https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2025/11/25/bls-erases-more-jobs-from-the-economy-with-revisions-004500";>BLS revises the previous month's data.

It happened again in March.

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The mainstream financial media trumpeted the “surprisingly strong” job gains, as the economy posted the largest jump in new jobs in 15 months. This drove headlines like this:

Fed rate cut hopes collapse.

Because, you see, a strong economy with lots of jobs means the Fed can keep interest rates higher for longer.

Markets were closed due to Good Friday. However, gold would almost certainly have sold off based on this jobs report. (I’m writing this over the weekend, and I will be shocked if gold doesn’t sell off on the news on Monday – barring a significant war headline.)

The forecast was for 59,000 news jobs in March. According to the BLS data, the economy added 178,000 jobs.

That’s great, right?

The unemployment rate also ticked downward to 4.3 percent. This was primarily due to a sharp reduction in the overall labor force. According to the data, the number of working-age Americans in the labor force fell to 61.9 percent, the lowest since November 2021.

Taken at face value, this is a tremendous jobs report. It indicates a resilient economy.

However, you can’t take BLS data at face value. It’s almost certain that these “blockbuster” numbers will be revised.

In fact, there were revisions in the March report, erasing a total of 7,000 jobs from the last two months.

Shockingly, January data was revised up (a rare occurrence, as I will soon show), with the BLS adding 34,000 jobs. That pushed the January number to 160,000 jobs.

However, the BLS erased 41,000 jobs from the February data. That means the economy lost -133,000 jobs that month. It was the worst drop in jobs since December 2020 in the midst of the pandemic.

Averaging the data from the last three months, the economy is adding around 68,000 jobs per month – at least until they revise the numbers some more.

Revisions Are the Norm

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Regardless, the numbers are never really the numbers. They change month after month as the analysts at the BLS fidget with their slide rules and abacuses

Keep in mind, in January, the bureau made its end-of-the-year adjustment to the “birth-death model” it uses to determine job growth. That erased nearly half a million jobs from the economy. To be precise, the BLS wiped out 403,000 jobs with its model revision. (At the same time, it revised December’s report down from 50,000 to 48,000 jobs.)

With that revision, the U.S. economy only generated an average of 15,000 jobs per month in 2025. You probably don’t have that impression if you just saw the headlines as the BLS announced its employment data each month.

If it sounds like the agency is just making stuff up, well…

And even if you give the folks over at the BLS the benefit of the doubt and assume they’re doing the best they can, their best is pretty abysmal.

In fact, downward revisions are standard operating procedure for the BLS. The agency erased nearly 1 million (911,000) jobs that it initially claimed were created between March 2024 and June 2025.

So, what are we to make of the March report claiming the economy added a surprising 1780,000 jobs?

Absolutely nothing.

Because some of these jobs will almost certainly be erased next month.

The BLS has a long history of reporting rosy job numbers only to quietly come back and revise them downward down the road. In 2023, job numbers were revised down in 10 of the 12 months.

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To be fair, compiling employment data is no simple task. Revisions should be expected. But why do the updates almost always remove jobs from the economy? One would think you’d see upward revisions nearly as often as downward, right?

Nope.

Since 2003, the final annual BLS numbers were lower than the initial report 14 times compared to seven upward revisions.

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That being the case, who really cares what this report says?

Well, pretty much everybody, because despite the sketchy nature of the data, the jobs report is probably the most anticipated, analyzed, and quoted data release by the federal government, with the possible exception of CPI and GDP data.

This is a problem given the nature of the data.

It's notable that markets only react to the initial numbers. You never see markets tank because the BLS erased a bunch of jobs from the economy with a few clicks of its calculator. The revisions happen quietly in the back alleys. Nobody pays any attention to them. That creates the illusion that the labor market is much stronger than it is.

It goes something like this:

This month, the government reports good news. Everybody celebrates. Markets move. The following month, the government quietly revises everything downward and reports that the good news was really bad news.

And nobody pays attention.

This wouldn’t matter nearly so much if central bankers and government officials didn’t lean so much on this data to make decisions. But they do. And if the data is this unreliable, what does that tell you about the decisions based on this data?

Let’s be honest - when you look at the history, one’s got to wonder why anybody takes these numbers at face value.

The lesson here is that we need to be somewhat skeptical of government data. And we need to pay attention – not just to the headline release, but the revisions as well.

War Headlines Shook Prices, but the Bigger Silver Story Is Still Intact

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 EST

In this Money Metals podcast episode, host Mike Maharrey welcomed silver market specialist https://share.google/HgIzzTv5SwtHrdrnZ"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peter Krauth, author of The Great Silver Bull and publisher of Silver Stock Investor, for a wide-ranging discussion on war, inflation, interest rates, debt, industrial demand, physical silver supply, and the long-term outlook for silver.

Krauth’s core argument was straightforward. In the near term, war-related turmoil can create volatility and even knock gold and silver lower. But over the medium to long term, he said war is deeply inflationary and therefore supportive of both metals.

He pointed to rising oil prices, higher transportation costs, the destruction of infrastructure, and the need to replace weapons and damaged assets. Governments, he argued, do not have the cash to absorb those costs cleanly. In his view, they will print money, and that process will feed inflation over the next several quarters and years.

(Interview Starts Around 5:45 Mark)

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Why Gold and Silver Can Sell Off During a Crisis

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Maharrey noted that many investors were surprised to see an initial safe-haven bump followed by a selloff in both gold and silver after the outbreak of war. Krauth said that the pattern is not unusual. He described precious metals as liquid assets with no counterparty risk, which makes them useful sources of liquidity when institutions or governments need cash fast.

Both men pointed to earlier examples. In 2008, gold and silver sold off sharply during the financial crisis. The same thing happened during the early days of the pandemic. Krauth argued that these moves do not mean the metals have failed. Rather, they are often used exactly as they are meant to be used during periods of stress.

Krauth also highlighted sovereign selling pressure. He cited Turkey as one example, saying it had reduced its gold holdings by roughly 53 tons over the prior month or two in order to help fund its budget. Countries facing higher oil import bills, a stronger U.S. dollar, and rising funding pressure may liquidate precious metals to raise dollars.

Inflation, Interest Rates, and the Fed’s Trap

A major part of the conversation focused on the mainstream view that inflation could force the Federal Reserve to raise rates, making gold and silver less attractive because they do not yield income. Krauth said he believes that fear is overstated and likely temporary.

He contrasted today’s fiscal position with the one Paul Volcker faced in the 1970s. Back then, Volcker pushed rates to 18% to 20% to break inflation. But Krauth noted that U.S. debt-to-GDP was only about 35% then. Today, he said, it is over 120%. That difference matters. With debt levels this high, he argued, meaningful rate hikes would make the debt burden much harder to service.

Krauth said the Fed and Treasury are stuck between a rock and a hard place. In his view, they are more likely to tolerate higher inflation than to impose the kind of rate increases that would seriously crush it. He said perhaps rates could remain higher for longer than previously expected, but he does not see a durable return to aggressive hiking.

The Debt Problem Is Getting Harder to Ignore

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The debt discussion became one of the most important parts of the episode. Krauth cited nearly $40 trillion in U.S. debt and stressed how much of it is turning over in a short period. He said that from March 2020 to March 2022, the U.S. issued $6 trillion in new debt. About half of that, he noted, was issued in 2-year to 10-year Treasurys instead of locking in ultra-low 30-year borrowing costs below 2%.

He then pointed to the maturity wall. About $9 trillion came due and rolled over last year, and another $9 trillion to $10 trillion is rolling over this year. That means roughly half of the entire U.S. debt stock is being refinanced across just two years. Krauth argued that this is one more reason the Fed cannot sustain meaningfully higher rates.

Maharrey added a historical perspective. He said https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2026/04/02/uncle-sams-balance-sheet-looks-like-bankruptcy-004805";>the national debt in 1995 was under $5 trillion, around $4.9 trillion, during the era of Newt Gingrich and the “Contract with America.” He also observed that no president since Grover Cleveland has left office with less debt than when he came in, including Bill Clinton, despite Clinton posting a few years of budget surpluses.

Maharrey described the problem using Greg Weldon’s phrase, the “debt black hole,” arguing that its pull now affects everything in the economy. He also noted that even during the post-pandemic tightening cycle, financial conditions never became truly tight by historical standards, citing the Chicago Fed’s National Financial Conditions Index.

Silver’s Industrial Role Keeps Getting Bigger

Krauth emphasized that silver is no longer just a monetary metal story. It is increasingly an industrial metal as well. He said that about five years ago, silver demand was roughly 50% industrial, but last year, industrial demand accounted for about 67% of total silver demand. That shift, he argued, makes silver even more tightly connected to the real economy.

That can cut both ways. If economic growth slows, investors may worry that industrial silver consumption will soften. But Krauth argued that some war-related inflation effects could actually support silver demand in key sectors. He gave the example of energy. Higher oil and gasoline prices can push households and businesses to look more seriously at alternatives such as hybrids, EVs, and solar power.

He cited a BBC report on Octopus Energy, the largest utility energy provider in the U.K., which said demand for solar panels had jumped 50% in recent months. Since solar is the single largest industrial use of silver and accounts for about 20% of all silver demand, Krauth said this kind of shift can offset some cyclical weakness elsewhere.

Military Demand Could Be a Bigger Silver Driver Than Many Realize

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Maharrey also raised the issue of rearmament. Beyond the current war itself, he noted that countries such as Germany, England, and France are ramping up defense spending as Europe adjusts to the possibility of less U.S. support. That matters because military hardware uses a lot of silver.

Krauth said one estimate suggests a Tomahawk missile contains about 150 grams of silver. Once that logic is extended across tanks, surveillance systems, radar, computers, laptops, and replacement electronics, the silver requirement begins to add up quickly.

He said some of the more reasonable estimates suggest military demand could account for around 5% of annual silver demand. That is not the dominant demand category, but it is far from trivial. In an era of expanding military budgets, Krauth sees that as another tailwind for silver.

Structural Deficits Still Matter, Even If the Headlines Have Moved On

The conversation then turned to one of the most important long-term silver themes, structural deficits. Maharrey noted that silver mine output plus recycling has failed to keep pace with total demand for multiple years, forcing users to rely on above-ground stocks. Krauth said that the issue has not gone away, even if media attention has shifted elsewhere.

He compared the movement of silver between London, New York, and Shanghai to a shell game. The metal may move from one exchange system to another, but that does not create more silver. It only changes where the available silver is sitting.

Krauth cited the Silver Institute’s view that the market has already gone through five straight years of structural deficits and is expected to remain in deficit for another five years. He said the Institute has also indicated that a new record high deficit could occur at some point during that period.

He also raised an analytical issue with the way silver ETF demand is treated. Krauth noted that the Silver Institute breaks ETF silver out separately because it is not considered “consumed,” even though physical bars and coins are included in the main demand calculation, despite also being resellable. He argued that if ETF demand is included in the broader total, then 2025 could show the largest silver deficit on record.

The next World Silver Survey, he said, is usually released in mid-April, and he suggested that investors watch it closely for updated numbers.

Peter Krauth’s Favorite Silver Coins and Why Recognition Matters

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To close the interview, Maharrey asked Krauth a lighter question about his favorite silver coin. Krauth picked the https://www.moneymetals.com/buy/silver/coins/canadian-silver-maple-leaf";>Canadian Maple Leaf, noting both national pride and practical appeal. He said the Maple Leaf is widely recognized around the world and said Canada was the first to produce a four-nines fine silver coin, which he described as 0.9999 purity.

He also praised the https://www.moneymetals.com/buy/silver/coins/american-silver-eagle";>American Silver Eagle as another globally recognized standard, and mentioned the Austrian Philharmonic as a regional favorite in Europe. His broader point was that recognizability matters. A well-known bullion coin tends to be more liquid and easier to sell anywhere in the world.

Krauth acknowledged that government-minted coins often carry higher premiums than generic rounds or bars, but said buyers are paying for recognition and should expect to recover much of that premium when selling. He added that bars are usually the cheapest way to get maximum silver for the dollar, though he still thinks it is smart to keep at least a handful of recognizable coins on hand for transaction flexibility.

Final Takeaway

The episode’s central message was that the short-term volatility in silver should not distract investors from the bigger forces at work. Krauth sees war, debt, refinancing pressure, fiscal weakness, industrial demand growth, military consumption, and ongoing structural deficits all reinforcing the long-term case for silver.

Near-term headlines may keep markets jumpy. But in Krauth’s view, the fundamental setup remains increasingly supportive for silver, especially in a world where https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2026/03/30/whats-the-real-inflation-rate-004797";>inflation is politically easier than discipline and where demand keeps expanding faster than supply.

Stay in contact with Peter Krauth at https://silverstockinvestor.com/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Silver Stock Investor HERE.

Stay connected with Money Metals Exchange HERE.

Silver Quarter Years (1796-1964): Key Dates, Silver Content & Value Guide - Money Metals

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 EST

Silver quarter years run from 1796 through 1964. All US quarters minted during this period contain 90% silver. The most common silver quarters include Barber quarters (1892-1916), Standing Liberty quarters (1916-1930), and Washington quarters (1932-1964). Each silver quarter contains approximately 0.1808 troy ounces of silver.

The table below shows the most common silver quarter years and their silver content.

Coin Type	Years Minted	Silver Content
Barber Quarter	1892–1916	90% Silver
Standing Liberty	1916–1930	90% Silver
Washington Quarter	1932–1964	90% Silver

These coins remain widely traded today, offering investors a low-cost way to accumulate physical silver and enter the market. This guide will explore what these coins are and how you can make them work for your portfolio.

Complete List of Silver Quarter Years (1796-1964)

The era of silver coinage began shortly after the ratification of the Constitution. To resolve the issue of currency, Congress passed the Coinage Act of 1792. This act established the US Mint, and it established the composition for all coins. All coins were to have a composition of 90% silver and 10% copper.

After that time, six iterations of silver quarters entered circulation:

Draped Bust (1796-1807)
Capped Bust (1815-1838)
Seated Liberty (1838-1891)
Barber (1892-1916)
Standing Liberty (1916-1932)
Washington (1932-1964)

The US Mint created its first quarter in 1796, which had the Draped Bust design. The coin earned its name from the bust of Lady Liberty, who was draped in a mantle in the obverse. This coin design lasted from 1796-1807.

The quarter's circulation was suspended for a period of years, but in 1815, it returned with the Capped Bust design, so-called for the cap worn by Lady Liberty. This coin ran from 1815-1838.

Next was the Seated Liberty design, which ran from 1838 to 1891. This coin gave way to the Barber Liberty coin in 1892, which marks the first “junk silver” coin in the quarter line.

The first three models of quarters are generally held as numismatic coins. Their increased rarity and historical significance make them highly desirable to investors.

When Did The Silver Quarter Years End?

Circulated dimes, quarters, and half dollars minted before 1965, when most of the silver was eliminated in US coinage, is generally referred to as “90% silver” or “https://www.moneymetals.com/buy/silver/junk-silver";>junk silver.” The designation as “junk” simply https://www.moneymetals.com/bullion/what-is-junk-silver";>differentiates circulated silver coinage in varied conditions from more collectible grade coins which may be graded or have minimal wear. The U.S. government stopped producing 90% silver, precious metal, quarters beginning in 1965.

The three most common designs from the 1892-1964 silver quarter years offer an affordable and accessible way for inexperienced investors to start trading in silver. They are in abundant supply (with some notable exceptions) and generally have very low premiums above the spot value of the silver they contain. Keep reading for a more detailed overview of the merits of junk silver quarters.

Junk Silver 101

“Junk silver” is an informal term, mainly used in The United States (U.S.), the UK, Australia, and Canada to denote all silver coins in cull or fair circulation which have no numismatic value, are not in collectible condition, and are not worth some rare investment.

Though it might seem somewhat pejorative, the term only refers to the silver coin's collectibility, not the value of the silver they contain. Junk silver coinage is still worth the precious metal melt value.

Junk silver coins are often priced near the melt value - the “spot” or market price of silver multiplied by the amount of pure silver content. The lack of any high premium is mainly due to the fact these coins were made in huge quantities and collectors have very little interest.

Demand from https://www.moneymetals.com/bullion";>bullion investors is another matter. These silver coins are very popular with silver investors because they offer a combination that is hard to get elsewhere. They are official government issues and low cost.

Another good thing about junk silver coins is their suitability for barter. Many investors understand the US dollar could completely fail.

Fiat currency collapses have occurred throughout history when governments abuse the trust in them, and the dollar is certainly not immune. The small, or fractional size, of 90% silver quarters makes them ideal if needed to trade for low-value items such as groceries.

Types of United States Quarter Dollars

Liberty Head “Barber”

The Liberty Head “Barber” quarter, equalling twenty-five cents (USD $0.25), was introduced in 1892, along with the rest of the Barber series of coins which included a half dollar, dime, and nickel. The designs for all four coins were created by Charles Barber, the chief engraver with the US Mint at that time.

Barber was chosen to design the coins after a failed competition. Few artists applied since only the winner of the contest would be awarded a cash prize and no suitable design was chosen.

The minting commenced in 1892 and new coins were met with mixed reception from the public. The coins were replaced in 1916 after their minimum term expired.

On the obverse, the coins feature the head of liberty (Barber's design) and the inscription “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.” The year of mintage is featured beneath the portrait of Liberty. The denomination is stamped on the reverse of the coin within a wreath. The quarter coin weighs 6.25 grams and is 24.3 mm in diameter. The silver content in each uncirculated coin is 0.1808 troy ounces, but will produce less silver after heavy circulation considering daily wear.

Standing Liberty

The Standing Liberty quarter was minted from 1916 to 1930. It was introduced to replace the Barber-designed quarter. The initial design was by Hermon Atkins MacNeil, a prominent sculptor at that time.

Standing Liberty quarters remained in production until 1930 when it was discontinued. However, there was a production pause in 1922. The Philadelphia Mint was the primary facility producing quarters, though some quantities were made in San Francisco and Denver.

In its final version, the obverse of the coin features a portrait of the Standing Lady Liberty facing the viewer's right. A shield is in her left hand (viewer's right) and an olive branch is in her right. The inscription “LIBERTY” is above the portrait.

On the reverse, the coin features an eagle in flight as the central motif. The “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” inscription is at the top and “QUARTER DOLLAR” is inscribed at the bottom. The “E PLURIBUS UNUM” inscription and 13 stars can be found on the reverse.

The coin has the same weight and size specifications as the “Barber” silver quarter. It is made of the same 90% silver, 10% copper alloy, and contains 0.1808 troy ounces of silver.

Washington Quarter

The Washington silver quarter was introduced in 1932. The Washington quarter has a face value of twenty-five cents (USD $0.25) as being a quarter of a dollar. Production continued until the US Mint switched over to the copper-nickel alloy in 1965. The original Washington quarter silver coinage design by sculptor John Flanagan was chosen by Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon.

The coin was introduced on August 1, 1932, to commemorate 200 years since the birth of George Washington. Several minor redesigns were introduced before the coin's retirement in 1965. In 1976, a special edition marking 200 years of the United States was issued. Since then, the coin's design has been featured in several other special collections, most notably in the America the Beautiful series of coins.

The original coin features a bust of George Washington on the obverse, accompanied by the inscriptions “LIBERTY” above the bust, the issue date below the bust, and “IN GOD WE TRUST” to the right. The mint mark is also on the right side.

The Reverse has a bald eagle with the inscriptions “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM” above and “QUARTER DOLLAR”.

Most coins up to 1964 were made with 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper and have the same silver content as the previous two coins.

How To Identify Silver Quarter Years

If you're not sure whether your quarter is a silver quarter, there are a few ways to gain some certainty. First, check the year on the obverse of the coin. If the year is from before 1965, there is a high likelihood it is silver.

However, counterfeit silver coins do exist. Alternatively, your coin may not be in the best condition, making the year hard to see.

So, here's another quick check. Look at the edge of your coin.

Silver coins famously have a bright white edge. Quarters from 1965 and on often have a reddish-brown edge, a consequence of the alloy used to craft these quarters.

If you want another layer of certainty, another home test you can do is weigh the coin. Silver quarters have a weight of 6.25 grams.

The best way to tell for sure whether your quarters are silver is to send them to a coin evaluation service, as NGC. These services specialize in determining a coin's condition and grade, which will give you a clear evaluation of your coin's composition.

Investing in Silver Quarters

Junk silver is a great option for silver investors. The coins command a small premium above the spot price of silver and are abundantly available. Official US coins often carry higher prices, but Junk silver quarters are an exception. For those who simply want highly liquid and easy-to-trade silver at low cost, these quarters will be hard to beat.

Junk Silver quarters were made until 1964 when the US Mint switched over to copper-nickel alloy. Along with junk silver dimes, they are one of the most affordable ways to buy silver bullion. There are three designs of silver quarter coins still widely available.

Despite the “junk” nickname, these quarters are quite popular with investors and will always be easy to trade.

Top 5 Reasons to Store Your Gold and Silver at Money Metals Depository

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 EST

“If you don’t hold it, you don’t own it” is one of the most common phrases in the precious metals investing sphere.

It is an axiom that reflects the desire to eliminate counterparty risk, and consciously deciding to hold all of one’s own precious metals in direct proximity.

The origins of the phrase are unknown, but its philosophical origins could be traced to the Austrian School of Economics and such key economists as Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek.

These thought leaders espoused that individuals should have control over their own property, that there should be healthy skepticism of centralized financial systems, and that there are very real dangers of credit expansion and custodial risks.

This certainly applies to investments, including gold or silver.

As a general rule of thumb, people should have direct ownership of their precious metals items. This ensures that they have what they have, it can be sold at any time without outside delays, and it is not being jeopardized by anyone or anything.

Citizens are rightly cautious of outside institutions, whether private or public, when holding their metals. There have been cases over the years of bad actors in the precious metals industry stealing gold and silver, or government agencies confiscating it out of safe deposit boxes relating to investigations of others.

Paper investing, such as stocks or ETFs, is quite similar to an outside institution holding a person’s gold or silver when they invest. Even where the gold or https://www.moneymetals.com/investment/silver-etf-vs-physical-silver";>silver ETFs are claimed to be backed by sufficient metal, there could be a daisy chain of custodians and subcustodians involved. And proper performance by all involved is a must.

ETF shareholders have title to a security instrument, not the underlying physical metals. As more and more counterparties get involved, the risks multiply.

Meanwhile, keeping all of your precious metal investments at home is not always a viable option for everyone. Some people move a lot, easily lose things, or are forgetful. A depository account holder can designate a beneficiary to ensure a smooth transition to heirs.

Burglaries, home invasions, fires, storms, and death can lead to a loss. Insurance on precious metals held at home is expensive, assuming you can get it at all. That's why some folks look for a safe alternative to holding metals at home.

So, when should someone consider putting their precious metals in a depository? The following are five examples of situations where it makes sense…

Proper Insurance Available Via Depositories

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Insurance is usually not enough to protect your precious metals at home. Storing your precious metals in a trusted depository helps properly insure your metals at a lower relative cost.

Most Americans have homeowners or renters insurance, and most insurance companies offer some coverage for precious metals like gold and silver. However, the amount that is covered might surprise you.

Most insurance companies are only going to offer less than a thousand dollars in coverage for gold and silver, unless you tell them how much gold and silver you have. Even after telling them how much value you store at home, more coverage would likely require paying annually at least one percent of the metals’ average market value.

If your insurance company will actually allow you to insure as much as $50,000 worth of gold and silver, you’d be looking at $500 per year in additional premiums.

By contrast, by https://www.moneymetals.com/silver-gold-storage";>storing your precious metals in a depository, such as the Money Metals Depository, your precious metals are fully insured and protected 24/7 at no more than half that cost.

Vault Storage Can Be a Superior, Convenient Savings Method

Having a savings account is a great way to plan for the future, and a precious metals depository account is a prime example of such a savings account.

Sometimes the best way to save money is by removing it from your immediate grasp. For this reason, people tend to store their extra cash in savings accounts to create a safe and structured way of storing wealth for long-term planning.

By storing your metals in a depository, such as the Money Metals Depository, you safely and securely store your metals while keeping them out of sight and out of mind. Then, when you wish to sell your metals or to get a loan against your metals, you can normally receive payment within a couple of days. You can also have your gold and silver mailed directly to your residence.

In essence, a person exchanges their fiat currency for sound money, gold, and silver, and then that sound money is stored in the depository as a savings account that hedges against inflation. This is a sound and disciplined investment strategy.

Historically speaking, gold and silver have outperformed dollar holdings since USD, or Federal Reserve Notes, are being deliberately debased. So, https://www.moneymetals.com/programs/monthly-program";>savings in precious metals is likely a superior way of saving when compared to cash holding in a traditional bank savings account.

Security at Home Can Be Iffy

Most people do not have the security necessary for storing at home. In contrast, storing precious metals in a commercial depository does provide the necessary security for protecting them.

A person’s job or activities mean one’s home could be vacant for hours or days at a time. Absence from your home leaves you at a higher risk of being robbed or even lost in a fire.

Some people are also risk-prone because they like to show off their precious metals stack to their neighbors, social media, etc, leaving them as a prime target for theft or burglary.

Money Metals Depository has 24/7 security, fully armed and trained staff, temperature controls, fire protection, and enough galvanized steel and reinforced concrete to make it the largest privately owned depository in the United States.

So, in order to protect your metals from theft, burglary, or fire, storing them in a depository may be a better option than holding your gold and silver at home.

Safe Deposit Boxes Have Drawbacks

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There are very real limits to safe deposit boxes (aka, safety deposit boxes) when compared to storing precious metals in a depository account.

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Iran War’s Financial Impact Creates Short-Term Headwinds for Gold

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 EST

Welcome to this week’s Market Wrap Podcast, I’m Mike Gleason.

Later in today’s program we’ll hear a tremendous interview with one of our favorite guests to talk to about silver Peter Krauth, author of the book The Silver Bull and publisher of the Silver Stock Investor. Peter shares his thoughts on how the war is going to affect the silver market, both in the short run – where he admittedly sees it being a potential drag on the metal – but also over the longer term and what his outlook is for the silver there as well.

Mike Maharrey and Peter also discuss the debt black hole, the inflationary trap we’ve found ourselves in and how that situation is made even worse due to the Iran war. In addition to those topics Peter also weighs in on other matters, besides than war, that will be driving silver prices over the near to medium term in his view.

So be sure to stick around for another wonderful interview with Peter Krauth, coming up after this week’s market update. And as a reminder please download, like, rate and subscribe to this podcast wherever you consume this content.

After an initial safe-haven boost at the onset of the Iran war, gold corrected and has behaved more like a risk asset. However, HSBC analysts say the https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2025/03/11/de-dollarization-gold-and-a-shift-to-a-multipolar-world-003898";>de-dollarization trend still makes the yellow metal a good long-term investment.

As we've noted here before at Money Metals, https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2026/03/03/how-has-war-impacted-the-gold-price-in-the-modern-era-004733";>wars in the modern era often do not have a major impact on the gold price beyond an early safe-haven bid. After a brief initial spike, other factors in the economy have tended to drive the gold price, particularly the trajectory of monetary policy.

This has proved true during the current conflict. Gold initially surged to $5,400 an ounce at the onset of hostilities but quickly corrected and then sold off.

As oil prices spiked, inflation worries threw a wet blanket on hopes for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. Some analysts have even predicted a new hiking cycle. This has created significant headwinds for gold as a non-yielding asset. While https://www.moneymetals.com/podcasts/2026/03/25/the-case-against-gold-004787";>we don’t think this case against gold stands up to scrutiny, the narrative does seem to be currently controlling the market.

HSBC analysts noted that interest rate worries and a strong dollar have created significant headwinds for gold since the war kicked off.

But they pointed out that gold’s performance during the tightening cycle in 2022 and 2023 undercut the narrative that gold can’t chart gains in a higher-rate environment.

Meanwhile, the relationship between real rates and gold appears to have broken down. Gold is effectively serving as a risk asset in the current market, with speculators and traders in control.

“Ownership has shifted towards retail and other leveraged buyers, many of whom are forced to liquidate holdings in periods of market stress,” HSBC said.

Meanwhile, the war may well accelerate this trend as more countries become wary of the https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2024/02/29/could-weaponization-of-the-dollar-as-a-foreign-policy-billy-club-accelerate-de-dollarization-003013";>weaponization of the dollar. The war will also drive more borrowing and spending, further eroding https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2026/03/19/national-debt-quietly-eclipses-39-trillion-004774";>Uncle Sam’s abysmal fiscal situation. Many countries are already becoming wary of loaning https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2026/03/26/the-us-government-is-insolvent-yes-that-matters-004791";>a bankrupt U.S. government more money.

We're already seeing evidence in this with https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2026/03/26/india-increasingly-using-dollar-alternatives-for-oil-purchases-004789";>India bypassing the dollar in some oil transactions.

The U.S. dollar isn't in danger of losing its reserve status anytime soon. However, that doesn’t preclude a diversification of reserves and a modest decline in dollar demand.

Even a modest decline in dollar reserves spells trouble for an economy that depends on foreign dollar demand to support its money-printing habit. If the world needs fewer dollars, they will begin to return to the U.S., causing a dollar glut. This will increase inflationary pressure domestically as the value of the U.S. currency further depreciates. In the worst-case scenario, the dollar could collapse completely, leading to hyperinflation.

We've had a lot of new money come into the gold market, and that led to a parabolic rally in January. When a market goes up like this, it really invites volatility. Just because gold is a safe haven and a quality asset doesn't mean it's not going to be volatile.

Well, before we get to this week’s interview, which will dive more into silver, let’s take a look at where the market closed the week. With today being Good Friday global markets are closed and thus the prices are fixed. With that said, Money Metals is open for business as usual both today and Saturday.

Gold rose nearly $200 on the week and closed Thursday at $4,687, good for a 4.3% weekly advance during this holiday shortened week.

Silver meanwhile rose an even $4 and trades at $73.75, advancing 5.7%. Platinum climbed 7.0% to close at $1,997 an ounce.

And finally, palladium was the biggest winner among all the precious metals this week, rising 9.7% to come in at $1,521 an ounce.

Well now, without further delay and for much more on silver, let’s get right to our exclusive interview with author and resource sector industry insider Peter Krauth.

Mike Maharrey: Greetings. I'm Mike Maharrey and I'm joined today by one of my favorite silver gurus, Peter Kraut. Peter is the author of a book, The Great Silver Bull. He's the publisher of the Silver Stock Investor and very knowledgeable on the silver market. How you doing today, Peter?

Peter Krauth: I'm doing well and great to be here with you, Mike. Always fun time chatting.

Mike Maharrey: Absolutely. It's always delightful to have you on and never a lack of things to talk about. So, I guess we have to talk about the war because that seems to be the dominant thing that's going on right now in the markets. And of course, we had kind of an initial safe haven bump at the very initiation of the conflict, but both silver and gold quickly sold off after that. And we've seen silver in the low 60s to mid 70s kind of fluctuating back and forth with quite a bit of volatility. And I'm curious if the war has changed your calculus on the silver market at all.

Peter Krauth: That's a good question. What I would say is in the near term, yes. In the medium to long term, no. In fact, it has bolstered it because war is inflationary. And we see that, of course, with the oil prices right now, but we're going to see that, I think, trickle through and be more widely pronounced over the next several quarters and years. We've got high oil prices that are affecting transportation. They're affecting things made of oil, which there are so many these days, plastics and well beyond packaging, you name it. And then the transportation that needs to get everything we consume daily to market and into stores. So there's that. Then you've got all the arms that you're blowing up and all of the infrastructure that you're blowing up. So all of this is going to need to be replaced. Governments don't have the money for that.

They're going to print it. So it'll be inflationary. And that's about as simply as I can put it. So, that's why I believe medium to long-term, very much inflationary, very supportive of silver and gold prices. And I think that's what we have to focus on and look forward to. In the near term, you're right. We saw an initial bump and then a correction. And to be honest, that is, and I'm not here making excuses, but that is typical of how precious metals behave. And in fact, they're doing their job because they provide liquidity. They have no counterparty risk. They had been very strong, and so they had moved up significantly. When people or institutions or governments needed to find liquidity, that was an obvious place. And so we've seen some liquidation. We've also seen central banks, for example, certain ones have started to sell. Think about it.

Many countries are oil importers. They now have to pay more for that oil. They need liquidity for it. They have to pay for it in US dollars, which have moved up. And they have to use more dollars because the price has moved up. So you've seen Turkey, for example, has reduced its holdings by something like 53 tons in the last sort of month or two, and that's to help fund its budget. So other countries are doing the same thing. And that's what happens in times of economic stress. You get precious metals, they do their job. They are a liquid asset, as I say, with no counterparty risk. And so they've done what they're there and meant to do.

Mike Maharrey: Yeah. You make a really good point too, because I think we tend to think of gold and silver both as safe haven assets, and they are. And yet we do see historically at the beginning, particularly of deep crises, we've seen this selloff 2008. After the financial crisis, we had a pretty steep selloff. In the early days of the pandemic, both gold and silver crashed. So again, not anything that's unusual. So I'm curious what you make of this, because I agree with you on the inflation aspect. And that's really, to me, one of the primary things that I'm looking at, monetary policy and the fact that the dollar is constantly being devalued. But the mainstream mentality seems to be, "Oh no, we're going to have a lot of inflation, so therefore the Fed is going to raise interest rates. So therefore we have to sell our gold and silver because they're non-yielding assets." And I've always kind of thought, "I don't know if I want to be selling my inflation hedge when I know there's going to be inflation, but that seems to be the mindset." What do you make of this?

Peter Krauth: Well, you're right. I believe that is how people are thinking about it, and that is possible, and I believe only very near term, a very near term risk. What are the odds of them raising rates? I think they're pretty low. I think the odds are more that they will hold rates perhaps longer than we had expected before this war became an issue, but I don't see them stopping with rate cutting. A great example I like to use is that in the 1970s, you had Volker who stepped in and really, frankly, saved the economy from hyperinflation. He raised rates to 18, 20%. And this was really to break the back of inflation. There was a very big difference in terms of the overall, I guess you would call it fiscal health at the time. Debt, US debt to GDP was just 35%. Today, it's over 120%.

So, how can you possibly raise rates anywhere near anything like that to kill inflation when there is so much debt out there? So much, much higher debt, just to be clear, at much higher interest rates means a much more difficult time servicing that debt. So, they're stuck between ... Treasury and the Fed are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Pick your poison. I think they will err on the side of more inflation because it's harder to kind of pinpoint and blame someone for it. And certainly, I think that's what we should expect. I can't honestly see any kind of meaningful odds for a scenario where they're going to start raising rates. I'm not saying it can't happen. Maybe in an extreme case, a quarter point, once, twice, even that I think is unlikely, most likely, and that's what people are worried about right now, and that's what has sort of worked its way against gold and silver.

There's been this expectation of a pause, which wasn't the case before, so that has changed the outlook temporarily. I don't think expect that to last. So like you, I think that we need to look beyond that. And all of what's happening now is very inflationary. Don't expect rates to rise. Expect them to stay put perhaps near term, then fall, and to resume their fall. And I've been saying this for a while, and I believe that's why we've seen gold in particular, initially at least, rise so much and so steadily, was we saw the Fed start to cut rates in the face of maintained high and rising inflation. To me, that was sort of a game of chicken that investors said, "All right, so all credibility is gone. You say you're going to fight inflation, but really you're not, and you can't." And so we see inflation high in rising, your cutting rates, that's because you don't have a choice.

That's going to continue, and they don't have a choice. At 40 trillion ... There's a few interesting stats, if I may. Nearly 40 trillion dollars of debt in the US. In the March 2020 to March 2022 period, $6 trillion of new debt was issued. Half of that was two to 10 year treasuries, and yet 30 years were ultra-low, below 2%, I think at the time. It would have been a gift to issue debt for 30 years at such low rates. That is not what happened. Last year, $9 trillion came due, rolled over. This year, another nine to $10 trillion of debt is being rolled over. That's half of the entire US debt between last year and this year. That's a huge maturity wall. And I think that, again, is a huge defense, I guess, if you could put it that way, for the thought that it's impossible for the Fed to raise rates.

They have to cut rates. The deficit is so big and growing. It's a vicious circle. It's bad enough as it is. It just gets worse. So if at least at lower rates, it makes it that much easier to service. So that's a way to kind of inflate away the debt to some extent.

Mike Maharrey: Yeah, that's a really, really good point. I was looking today, go back to 1995, which was when we were having, what did they call it? the contract for America. And New Gingrich and the Republicans were really pushing this. We've got to get the debt under control. We've got to get the spending under control. You know what the national debt was in 1995? It was under $5 trillion. It was 4.9 something trillion dollars. So, it just shows you the trajectory of it. And I was talking to a friend of mine the other day. We've never had a president since Grover Cleveland that has left office with less debt than when he came into office. That's a long time ago. That includes Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton did have a few years of surpluses. He still left office with more debt than when he came in.

Peter Krauth: There you go.

Mike Maharrey: Yeah. I talk about this a lot. I think that that's the elephant in the room that so many people are ignoring. Our friend Greg Weldon calls it a debt black hole. And I think that's a perfect example because a black hole, its gravity impacts everything around it. And that's exactly what this is doing to the economy. And you're right, that the bit can't raise rates significantly in this environment. And it's interesting. You go back to the tightening cycle that we had when inflation jumped to nine, 10% of the CPI. I hate conflating the CPI and inflation. When CPI does that, during that whole time, if you go look at the Chicago Fed's National Financial Conditions Index, during that entire time, it never became tight from a historical perspective. We have not had tight monetary policy since before the pandemic.

Peter Krauth: Yeah. I think the unfortunate part is that too many people are either not interested or find it too difficult to grasp. And if you boil it down simply enough, which I actually did try to do in my book purposely, to keep the explanation of some of these concepts as simple as possible, then I think that's kind of what leads to the apathy, I guess, is the best way to put it. People don't grasp it, feel it's beyond them. And even Keens themselves said, not one in, I think it's a million is going to notice the tax that you have from inflation. So it's an easy one to get away with, frankly.

Mike Maharrey: Yeah. That's why they love it, right? It's the beautiful hidden tax and it sustains the borrowing and spending. So, we may have answered the question when we talk about the debt, but I'm curious, the thing that seems to be driving the markets right now, and this is all of them, our war headlines, right? Trump can come out today and say, "We're negotiating and we're about to have a ceasefire and then stocks will rise and everything." And then we'll get another tweet or a post on X or whatever and then the markets will tank. But obviously there's a lot going on besides the war. Is there anything in particular that you're kind of watching that's not war related and it might be the debt, that might be the answer, but I was curious if there was anything else that you're kind of watching.

Peter Krauth: I mean, when I talk about silver, I've got to say, if I may, and this sort of doesn't really quite answer your question, but I think it's worth pointing out that silver is an industrial metal more and more. It's moved from five years ago being 50% industrially consumed into like 67% last year industrial demand being all silver, 67% of demand being industrial demand for silver. So that's really, it's just become so much more part of our economy and of industry. So there is concern that if the economy slows down that you may have less consumption of silver because it's in electronics, it's in all sorts of industrial applications and we won't go into all of that. But it's interesting that higher oil price actually, despite initially denting silver because the US dollar went up, it hasn't taken long for at least anecdotally, certain things to shift very quickly.

I mean, people are looking at ... So, high oil means high gasoline prices. People are looking more seriously at hybrids and EVs. People are looking at ... Actually, there was an interesting article in the BBC talking about how the largest utility energy provider in the UK called Octopus Energy. They have said that in the last couple of months, they've seen demand for solar panels jump by 50% in the UK. So people are saying, "Well, if heating oil's going up so quickly because of oil prices, what else can I do? " And so they would shift to this alternate form of renewable energy, which as you know, Mike consumes a fair bit of silver. In fact, solar is the single largest industrial use for silver. It's 20% of all silver demand. So these kinds of things will balance perhaps what we are concerned about in terms of silver consumption when we see the war at dent silver prices initially and the safe haven, perhaps the safe haven attraction initially of silver.

It quickly balances out and this could certainly cause things to flip on the demand side and the price side pretty quickly.

Mike Maharrey: Yeah, absolutely. And I would say too that the rapid militarization that we're seeing, I mean, not only from the war, which is obviously a big part of it, but then just this kind of shift we're seeing with the US maybe being less involved in European defense. So we're seeing countries like Germany and England and France ramping up military spending. Military stuff uses a lot of silver.

Peter Krauth: It sure does.

Mike Maharrey: And nobody can really pinpoint exactly how much, but everybody I've ever asked is like, it's a lot.

Peter Krauth: That's right. That's right. In fact, I saw an article this morning, there's an interesting new Substack called the Sound Money Report and shout out to them. They do a great job. It's at least partly by the guys who produce the In Gold We Trust report every year.

They have some great macro stuff. And I think it was today's issue written by a guy by the name Ryan Blanchette, who knows the defense sector quite well. And he was saying how important silver is to defense and to military. And he was trying to come up with some estimates. And he said, you're looking at, for example, Tomahawk missiles and best number he can come up with, again, there's not a lot of clarity around this, but is 150 grams of silver per missile. Well, you start blowing up a few of these and you start having to replace all kinds of electronics in tanks, in surveillance equipment, radar, computers, laptops. Oh, I'm just talking militarily at this point. And before you know it, you're at several billion dollars of silver consumption. So it really doesn't take very much. And I think there's always going to be a lack of clarity around that.

But the sort of most reasonable estimates I've come across where that military could account for about 5% of silver demand every year. So certainly not insignificant. And like you say, as military spending and build out ramps up, that's going to cause very likely more and more demand for silver that is so crucial to it.

Mike Maharrey: Yeah. So one of the things that we've talked about a lot in the silver market is the structural deficits. We've seen multiple years where mine output and recycling has not kept up with demand. That means that users are having to tap into above ground sources to get their silver. That requires higher prices because you have to entice people to get rid of the silver they have. And one of the things that seemed to really drive the two squeezes that we saw that pushed silver so much higher was this displacement of metal where you had all of the metal, not all of it, but a lot of silver went to New York because of tariff worries. And then when Indian demand spiked, there wasn't enough metal in London. And then we kind of got the metal back to London and then there's been reports of shortages in the Asian markets.

So I'm curious, we're not really hearing a lot about it because of the war, but are you still seeing this displacement of metal? Is there still some volatility there in terms of people actually sourcing physical metal?

Peter Krauth: Yeah. So that's an interesting point you've brought up. I like to liken that to a shell game. So you've got these shells, you've got the same amount of silver and you're just kind of moving the shells around. And at one point it's under one shell, which may be the LVMA. At another point it might be under another shell, Comex, and then maybe under the shell that's the Shanghai Futures Exchange, but you don't have more silver around. And there's been, as you say, there's been less talk about that lately. I don't think that has changed. The Silver Institute last year said they think that ... Well, they said that not only have we been through the past five years of structural deficit, but they expected the next five years to also maintain structural deficits and that we would likely reach a new record high deficit at some point in the next five years.

So, another interesting point is if you look at the numbers that the Silver Institute puts out, in fact, we should expect, I think in the next couple of weeks, usually it's mid-April that the next World Silver Survey comes out. Last year's, or I should say they do a bit of an update in November every year after a good part of the year has gone by and they have some numbers, they can bring us some more sort of clarity. And their forecast was that for 2025, we would have a deficit that had shrank. So looking sort of not as crucial as perhaps the last year or in the year before. However, they also show silver that moves into silver ETFs as a separate line item, which I have some issues with because their argument is that, well, this silver isn't consumed. So if it goes into an ETF, people who hold the ETF could always sell their units and that sort of pushes more silver back into the market, making it available.

Well, interestingly enough, you tell me, Mike, wouldn't that be the same case for physical bars and coins? In other words, if you're buying physical coins and bars, you're not consuming them, you could turn around and sell them back to the market. And so, and yet the physical coins and bars are included in the main calculation of demand, whereas the ETF silver is shown separately. And then it's shown separately, but then they give you a final total if you do include it. Well, if you do include it, then 2025 is going to have the largest silver deficit we've ever seen. So take that for what it's worth. It's true that that silver ETF or physically bought and held can shift around and come back to market on a whim. But that's pretty interesting to me to see how strong the investment demand from ETFs could be that we're going to be at a record high deficit.

So, it's definitely something to watch. I think that this is something that could surprise a lot of people once again and keep an eye on that.

Mike Maharrey: Yeah. Okay. Let me get you out on this one. I don't want to keep you too long. We're running out of time, but this one's kind of a little fun question for you. I'm curious as to what's your favorite silver coin? Do you have a coin that you really like? I mean, just it could be for whatever reason, it could be sentimental or whatever.

Peter Krauth: I mean, look, I'm a Canuck. So the Canadian maple is my favorite. It's common, relatively common. It's recognized worldwide. And they were the first to actually, if I have this right, they were the first to produce a four nines silver, pure silver coin. So that's 0.999 purity. And that's basically become the standard. So it looks nice too. I mean, not so sure about the queen on one side, but I like that maple leaf at least. And then I would say that, and it makes sense. So I have nothing against numismatics, but it's a whole world onto itself. You really have to be very, very informed, I think, and be very careful about what you're buying and what you're paying for. That's different for bullion type coins. So the Maple Leaf is, I think, sort of a standard for pretty much anyone. And I like the, to be fair, I like the eagle as well.

It's also a set of standard. It's very, very well recognized all around the world. And so I think these are the kinds of things that make sense. In Europe, they've got the Philharmonic, I think, which is produced by the Austrian mint. So every region kind of has its favorite and its standard go- to mines the maple leaf with the eagle as a close second.

Mike Maharrey: Yeah. Those are good ones. And I think you make a really good point in the fact that you need to have that recognizability if you want to be able to have your silver be liquid, right? Exactly. I know that if I have a maple leaf, if I have an American eagle, I know that pretty much anybody in the world is going to recognize that as a good coin that they're going to want to have. And as you say, with the numismatics, what's the date? I don't want to get into all that. That's too much for my little brain to handle.

Peter Krauth: There's an important point to make too. I mean, think people look at, and to be fair, they're right. You have to be careful, but they look at mint issued coins and they say, "Well, premiums are pretty high over the milk value, over the actual physical silver in that coin." And that's true, but you're paying for that recognition, and you're also going to get a lot of that back the day that you sell it, and especially if you're selling it one day at much, much higher prices. So these are things that people have to kind of use and balance when they think about what the premiums are. I certainly favor those over the non-mint type coins, but anyone will buy whatever works best for them. And the bars obviously is the sort of the cheapest way to get the most value for dollar when it comes to silver.

But transaction-wise, I think it's smart to have at least a handful of coins at hand and available.

Mike Maharrey: Yep, I agree completely. So before we go, I do want you to let folks know where they can follow your work, pitch your book and all of the things that you're doing so folks can avail themselves to your wealth of silver knowledge.

Peter Krauth: Well, thanks for that. So my book, which was published four years ago, is The Great Silver Bull, and it gives you an overview of the silver market and how to invest in silver and silver mining equities. Other than that, my newsletter is Silver Stock Investor. You can find it at silverstockinvestor.com. And I'm pretty active on X. I'm active on LinkedIn. You can find me there and those are some of the best ways to follow my work.

Mike Maharrey: Yeah. Every time I have you on, I brag about your book because I really do think it's one of the best books out there on silver, just because of the way it's organized. And as you alluded to earlier, you do really endeavor to make very complicated things simple so that you don't have to be a finance major to pick up your book and, "Oh, I get this. " So I highly encourage folks, if you want to take a deep dive into the silver market, check out that book. Well, I'm going to let you go because I know you've got many, many things to do, but I appreciate the fact that you've taken a little bit of time to hang out with me and we will definitely have you back on. Hopefully next time we talk, there won't be a war on and we can focus on ... I'm sure there'll be more chaos of some other type.

Peter Krauth: Highly likely.

Mike Maharrey: But, it'll be different at least, right?

Peter Krauth: Exactly. It's always fun talking with you. Love the interaction and the questions, and I certainly look forward to the next time as well.

Mike Maharrey: Yeah, absolutely. We have a fantastic rest of your day.

Peter Krauth: You bet. You too.

Some more great analysis there from our friend Peter Krauth and I hope you enjoyed that interview

Well, that will do it for this week. Be sure to check back next Friday for our next Weekly Market Wrap Podcast. Check out the Money Metals Midweek Memo podcast as well. And to listen to any of our audio programs just go to https://www.moneymetals.com/podcasts";>MoneyMetals.com/podcasts or find them on places like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or other popular podcast platforms. And as a big help to us we would ask you to please like, subscribe, download and rate our podcasts. Doing so helps us extend the reach of this material.

Until next time, this has been Mike Gleason with https://www.moneymetals.com/";>Money Metals Exchange, thanks for listening and have a wonderful Easter weekend everybody. He is risen!

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Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 EST

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Investors are well served by being patient and keeping the big picture in mind.

Gold's gains have already been astounding in recent years, but nothing goes up in a straight line!

Sticking with that theme in https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2026/03/12/why-dead-investors-beat-the-market-as-gold-surges-past-5000-004754";>another article, Mike Maharrey rhetorically argues why those who are not living are often better investors than those among us. Next we update you on a major government power grab we've been seeing at the state level.

Money Metals has helped lead a major pushback against these https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2026/03/27/georgia-rejects-big-government-transactional-gold-bill-joining-more-than-a-dozen-other-states-004793";>bad bills to protect the public and also the industry.

The https://www.moneymetals.com/uploads/content/MoneyMetalsInsider_Spring2026.pdf";>free newsletter covers all that and more, including our highly popular Q&A feature!

Thank you for the opportunity to serve you. Your patronage and your trust are things we will never take for granted.