Two main questions to consider are:

• How Much Silver Does the Company Have in the Ground?
• How Much Does it Cost to Extract That Silver and Refine It?

The answers to these two questions will weigh very heavily on your final decision.

Once you find out the answers to these questions you can put in a simple formula that will allow you to see if your investment will be good in the long run, or if you should turn around and take a long run away from the silver mining company.

Equation

The equation is simple. You find out how much silver the mining company has title to, as well as how much silver the mining company has in the ground (as stated above). When you have the number, you divide the market capitalization of the company (whatever it may be at the time) by those ounces. The number you get will be the cost per ounce of production. You can see then how much you are paying for what you get. This will tell you if the particular mining company is a good investment or not.

Remember, company CEOs will try to convince you that their mining company is a good investment no matter what. This is often not the case. If you take your time to do some research and implement the simple equation given above, then you should be able to make an educated decision on whether or not a silver mining company is a good investment or not.

Silver Maple Leaf Coin History

The Canadian Royal Mint was responsible for producing the first Canadian Silver Maple Leaf in 1988. They determined that after the success of the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin in 1979, that the next logical step was to produce a silver version of the coin.

All Silver Maple Leaf coins – sold in the1 oz. size, are made of 99.99% pure silver. The total weight of these coins is 31.104 grams, and 31.10 grams of that is fine silver.

Each five-dollar coin contains one full troy ounce of silver and features the queen’s portrait on one side and the famous Maple Leaf design on the other. It also contains the special Titanic privy mark! When you purchase one of these coins it should be “Brilliant Uncirculated” (BU) and it should be sealed in the original mint soft clear plastic. The face value will show as $5.

Idea Behind the Maple Leaf Silver Coin

The main idea behind the coin was to allow collectors and investors to buy a smaller amount of silver, while at the same time having something beautiful to look at. This worked out well, as the coin has very strong appeal to collectors around the world. They rank right up there with Silver American Eagles.

How to Locate and Buy a Maple Leaf Silver Coin

There is good and bad news here. The good news is that you can indeed track one down if you rally try, the bad news is that it may be somewhat time consuming.

It is believed that around 26,000 Silver Maple Leaf coins were minted, although that number may be different depending on whom you speak with. When they were originally minted they were all sold to one dealer and have been in short supply ever since.

The best way to track one of these coins down is to go to local (and non-local) coin and collector shops. You also may be able to track one down online at an auction somewhere.

The appeal of the Silver Maple Leaf Coin is universal. Every collector wants one. If you are lucky enough to track one down, then do what you can do purchase it at a fair price. Good luck with you search!

Silver has recently traded as high as $44 per ounce, and while it is still hovering over the $40 per ounce price range, it hasn’t been back up past $45 per ounce in quite some time.

A price spike in silver earlier this year came up just shy of $50 per ounce, while higher margin requirements for futures contracts took some of the speculative momentum from the rally.

Here are a couple of things to look at when deciding whether or not silver is about to spike to the $50 per ounce mark.

1. Silver has more industrial use than gold and is more sensitive to global and economical growth.
2. Silver seems to have regained it’s footing some. It will always be a volatile metal, but it looks as though the white metal has settled in some after it corrected sharply in May and plowed its way through June at a more even level.
3. Silver ETFs continue to gain percentage points, with the latest ETFs trading 2.6% higher than before.

While we can’t say with 100% accuracy that silver will spike to $50 per ounce in the coming weeks (anyone that says they can guess silver prices with 100% accuracy is lying), we can definitely point out that silver does in fact look like it is gaining a strong foothold and getting itself ready for a nice price spike to the $50 per ounce range. Since I have already stated that 2011 is the year of silver, this price spike is probably destined to happen.

During the height of the European banking fears – most notably the situation in Greece, Great Southern Coins registered sales statistics that were five to six times that of their normal selling trends. This leads us to believe a couple of things are definitely true

1. Silver is here to stay
2. Investors are continuing to buy silver to keep their money safe
3. Silver – and gold for that matter, and now more mainstream than ever

If you look at the way silver and other precious metals are being sold, you can spot a trend that says not many private investors (like yourself) are selling their gold and silver. Instead, they are either buying more, or hanging on to what they already have.

Most of the selling of silver is coming from bigger silver companies like APMEX Gold and Silver> and others because investors want to buy, buy, buy.

A strong silver market looks like it may be around to stay for quite a while. Sure, their will be price spikes and dips, but that is all a part of silver, as we all understand that the white metal can be pretty volatile at times.

The price of silver has changed drastically over the last few months, as the white metal has really shown how volatile it can really be. 2011 still has several more months left, and many are speculating what exactly the price of silver is going to do.

Following Gold?

There are a few different ways to look at this. If you come at it from the point of view that silver prices are going to follow what gold does, then you really haven’t been paying attention to the markets lately, as we can see that silver is breaking away from gold a bit because of the industrial and health demand that comes with it.

Industrial Demand?

That leads me to my next point. You can estimate what the price of silver will be in the next few months from this angle as well (though if you enjoy going out and making random estimates, then silver futures are exactly what you want to get into). The sheer demand that industries and health care have for it is staggering. So much so, that silver is being used faster than it can be mined. If you do look at it this way, then it would seem the price of silver is going to skyrocket in the next few months. While this may be true, it is still only one way to look at it.

Mining Estimates?

As you can see form my last few posts and excerpts, mining companies are starting to buy and mine silver populated areas all over the world. As a matter of fact, several mining companies have put out numbers that are staggering, as far as the amount of silver that they intend to mine is. If you come at it at this angle, then you may get the feeling that there is about to be plenty of silver, and that the price may drop.

Economy?

Truth be told, this is probably the best place to base your thoughts on. The economy is in the toilet, no matter how you look at it. Not only is America’s economy in the toilet, but much of the rest of the world’s economy is in the toilet as well. This leads us to believe that silver prices are only going to go up. Why? Because investors are looking for a safe haven for their money because nothing else is worth investing in right now. Silver is a great place to put money if you want it safe, as is gold! Since there is no end in sight for our economic woes, I tend to lean on the fact that silver isn’t going to go down in price too much.

What Are Analysts Saying?

The consensus by most of the “expert analysts” is that silver is going to be a huge asset for the foreseeable future, both for investors and definitely for industries. As a matter of fact, several analysts are saying that silver could hit $70 per ounce by March of 2012. This is just speculation, but based on what silver prices have done in 2011 up to this point, that prediction is not too far-fetched.

The point is this. To really understand where silver is going from here, you need to look at a number of factors, as silver has become more of an independent metal than it ever has been. I will say this, no matter what angles you choose to use when deciding if you want to invest in silver, all of them definitely lead to one place: silver is here to stay, and silver prices are going to continue to perform well!

Right now is a great time to get yourself invested in some silver. There are several options for investing in silver available, with the most popular being Silver Bars and Coins.

Again, I do believe that 2011 is the year of silver. Not only that, but I believe that silver will continue to perform well and act as a valuable asset to millions of investors for the next few years as we move forward and try to get America back to a AAA credit rating.

Finding the true value of a commodity is difficult. On the demand side, numerous entities may purchase a commodity to produce final goods. All of these entities have a different break-even price at which a commodity is too expensive, and each requires a quantity that varies from firm to firm. Silver has another complexity: its recyclability.

On the supply side, silver is almost solely produced by miners. Silver can also be “produced” by recycling firms, which turn unwanted silver jewelry, medallions, and trinkets from the general population into a pure commodity product. Recycling silver is essentially “borrowing” from past silver production.

But one element isn’t discussed all that much. Silver has a hedge of sorts that exists between the producer and the user. Silver mining is expensive, primarily due to the rising cost of oil, which fuels most mining machinery and refining equipment. Silver miners essentially turn energy—human and petroleum—into a finished product: silver.

When the cost of oil drops, mining becomes more lucrative and more silver is mined. This helps to keep oil at a reasonable equilibrium price. Additionally, the OPEC cartel enjoys ever rising oil prices, and it is keen on keeping price for oil as high as possible. Most inexpensive oil was brought to the surface 50 years ago anyway, so now we’re using the most expensive oil to find and refine.

Silver production is at an all-time high. Despite this fact, the price of silver shouldn’t be affected, and if anything it should continue to go up due to the fact that silver is being used at a faster rate than it can be mined.

If you are interested in getting a silver bag that is filled with coins, then places like Northwest Territorial Mint, Goldfinger Coin, and other reputable dealers will have them available. They could still be around for a while, as right now nothing is hotter in the world of silver than Silver Eagle Bullion, which is selling at a record pace.

If silver bags are scarce, or you want to invest in some other type of silver, then Silver American Eagles are also wildly popular and are a great investment.

Remember though, silver bags are a nice little investment, as they hold value no matter what. Who knows, you may even find that one coin inside a bag that is worth thousands of dollars.

Also Read

What are Silver Bags?

The Contents of a Silver Bag

A stated before, this is why silver bags are so valuable. Each bag contains $1,000 worth of coins, so even if silver dips, you still have the face value of the coin. These coins are not proof no or they mint, so don’t expect a bag full of shiny new coins. Most of the coins will have been used and are probably in okay to poor condition. However this doesn’t matter, as you are simply buying for silver content, not for coin proof.

The average amount of silver per silver bag is around 710 ounces.

Also Read

What Are Silver Bags

The Future of Silver Bags