Sterling Silver Vs Investment Silver
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There’s a fine line between silver that’s used to make commodities and silver that’s used for investing your savings in.
The lustrous quality of silver jewelry that catches your eye from a store window is attributed to the sterling silver that’s used in making it. Sure, they offer high aesthetic value and boost your vanity, but they can’t really be categorized as precious metal investments.
If you’re going to diversify your portfolio and invest in precious metal, it’s crucial that you learn to distinguish between both kinds.
Here’s how to differentiate between sterling silver and investment silver.
Sterling Silver
Sterling silver is made when metallurgists combine other alloys with pure silver. Like every pure metal, fine silver is too soft to hold its shape undress stress or impact. This is why, to make commodities for practical use out of silver; it has to be made impure.
The silver crockery or earrings that you adore are actually made from a mixture of copper, silver and other alloys.
The term sterling silver indicates that there’s 92.5% pure metal in it with a mix of 7.5% other metals. These specific formulations must be adhered to strictly in order to manufacture durable metal pieces.
That said, even though silver pieces are highly valuable, they’re not quite as much to offer investment value.
Investment Silver
This is the purest form of silver that is extracted and retained in that form. The silver bullion bars and coins that you invest in are made of fine silver.
A distinguishing feature that helps identify such silver is the .999 fine silver stamp which indicates that they’re 99.9% pure.
Since the weight of these assets comprises of almost completely pure metal, they’re ideal for being used for investments.
Differences
Apart from the purity specifications for each type of silver, there’s a vast difference in how they’re marketed. Sterling silver is marketed as ornaments for decorative purposes.
This is why the industries they target are interior décor, fashion accessories and medicine. It’s rarely ever touted as a financial investment asset!
On the other hand, fine silver is an invaluable resource to investors because it offers a hedge against inflation. Since inflation threatens to erode purchasing power, for investors, it means depreciation in the real value of their cash holdings.
Pure silver assets offer a safe shelter from financial insecurities. Investors are willing to buy silver bullions and coins and invest in precious metal custody companies.
This preserves the value of their savings and offers returns on their investment as well.
Whenever you’re ready to secure your savings, we’re ready to cater to your queries.
We’re a precious metal storage company that offers reliable and authentic metal assets to investors. Contact us for more details.
