Gold has been getting all the press, but silver is on a streak, too. Silver has soared to $18.45 an ounce from $10.79 at the start of 2009, a 71% gain. In contrast, gold has gained 32%, closing at a record high of $1,141 Thursday.
But silver is nowhere near a record. When gold hit its 2008 high of $1,011.25 an ounce in April of that year, for example, silver continued to rally to $19.30. And it is nowhere near the record high of $49.50 an ounce it hit in 1980, when Nelson and William Hunt unsuccessfully tried to corner the market.
Pushing silver higher now:
•Gold. Gold and silver often move roughly in tandem, prompted by fears of inflation and the lower value of the U.S. dollar on the currency markets.
•Heavy demand. At $18.45 an ounce, silver is far more affordable than gold. Sales of Silver Eagles from the U.S. Mint have soared to 25 million 1-ounce coins so far in 2009 from 19.6 million for all of 2008. Demand has been so high that the U.S. Mint is making only 1-ounce silver coins and no proof sets – high-quality collector issues.
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