Silver is More Rare Than Gold

When it comes to jewelry, it seems safe to say that in general, people value gold jewelry more than they value silver jewelry. Of course there are exceptions, as there are some people who will say they prefer silver jewelry for any number of reasons: it looks better with their complexion or they just like the color of silver more than they like the color or gold. When asked, even people who prefer silver jewelry to gold jewelry are likely to say that despite their preference, gold is rarer than silver.

This preference for gold to silver does not exactly match up when it comes to supply and demand for each of these metals. In reality, some experts would say that silver should be more highly valued because it is much more rare than gold. Is silver really more rare than gold? How can this be?

Perception does not always equal reality. Based on the fact that silver jewelry costs less than gold jewelry and the fact that many commonplace objects, like silver flatware are made from silver, it would seem that silver was not rare at all. But really silver is rarer than gold because so much of it gets used up.

There is much less already-mined silver available, this is what makes it technically more rare than gold. Silver is still used in industry, while gold is not used nearly so much as silver is. Industry only makes use of about 5% of gold that is mined from the Earth. On the other hand, silver is used so much more, so there is more demand for it. A much higher percentage of the silver that is mined is taken from the Earth with a use in mind.

Still, with the shaky economy, people are looking buy both gold and silver.  (Visit http://www.kitco.com/ to read about the market value of silver) So if you have either, you have a desirable commodity. You can sell silver or sell gold or both and do quite well.