I think it all depends on the reason you are making the silver purchase.
If you think the world is going along just fine, and that silver will eventually rise back to previous highs, and even higher, and that you intend to sell your silver for profit, if, and when that happens, then you should buy silver at the lowest mark up cost, over spot price, that you can possibly find. Usually, that will be silver rounds or bars.
If, however, you are thinking that world currencies (including the US dollar) will eventually collapse, and that hard valuable metals will become the preferred method of barter, then I suggest that you consider "junk silver" coinage - specifically US 90% silver, in the smallest coins (dimes, if possible) that you can obtain. They will be easier to spend if you have to use them, than the higher denominations. For example: If a single dime (now worth about $1.65 each, for it's silver content alone) becomes valued at say 50:1, then it will be worth $5.00; a quarter will be worth $12.50; a half $25.00, and a silver dollar, at least $50.00! Liken the necessity of being able to find someone who can change your silver coins, to the same problems we sometimes have today making change for large bills! Also, using US silver coins for barter will be quite easy to do, as the coinage is well known to the population, and will be quickly accepted for payment.
Small US coinage is not something lucrative to counterfeit, either! Our larger coins are already being counterfeited in China; the US silver eagles, Canadian silver maple leafs, and the US Morgan dollars being examples of same - and they look very convincing and are hard to spot fakes. Even bar silver and gold is being counterfeited these days!
If you invest in privately minted silver rounds, and bars, although they are the cheapest way to go, they will be very difficult to spend in an emergency, and the more they weigh, the harder they will be to break down and spend. If, for example, a Troy ounce of silver goes to $50, then a 10 Troy Ounce bar of silver will be worth $500! A 10 Troy ounce bar isn't very big, but it's value will make it so hard to pass, it almost might as well be worthless! Remember - the larger size, and lesser known (compared to US coinage) companies that cast them, will make them no less valuable, but much harder to pass to a cautious public.
Should you buy now? My thought is that one should buy when prices are low and sell when prices are high! A real profound statement, huh?
I've been buying all month, and have so far taken a real bath, but I intend to buy all I can at these prices today, because when it does go back up (and that is only a matter of time), the lower prices I'm paying today will offset the higher prices I have paid in the past. That means silver won't have to climb back to it's previous highs, for me to recover my loses, but I am in it for the long haul anyway, and do not intend to sell unless in an emergency.
Unlike gold, which is a reclaimable metal, silver is mostly consumed, and when used, most of it is gone forever. 90% of all the silver reserves has been used up, and given that the cost of mining new silver deposits is now higher than the spot price of silver, it doesn't pay for the mine owners to continue mining the metal. Even in backward countries like those of South America (where much of the world's largest silver deposits is known to exist), environmentalists, and corrupt government officials, have stymied production efforts, and some mines remain closed!
It's a crazy world we live in now! Nothing is certain, and logical thought is sometimes denied for unknown reason? Where does one invest his money these days? No one can really say, but i'm going along with logic, as eventually, logical thought should prevail! maybe that's why I'm not a rich man!
Good luck in your decision!
deerflyguy
"Never Underestimate The Power Of Stupid People In Large Numbers!"
