Let us first take a look at gold which for thousands of years has been a source of desire for mankind for it’s practical uses, its beauty and it’s scarcity. As pointed out in a previous article gold is, and has always been, the most logical and practical currency ever used in the world and looks certain to resume that position at some point in the not to distant future.

Both gold and silver are commonly sold at a premium above spot price (set twice a day in London). The premium is normally a percentage but can also be quoted in monetary terms. Bars normally carry a lower premium than coins, while coins normally carry a lower premium than jewellery. Also the bigger the bullion bar the lower the premium.
In the UK gold bullion bars are normally sold without VAT and some coins such as the krugerrand (but not the dinar) are also VAT free. Unfortunately, silver coins AND bullion bars both carry VAT.

Many of the arguments put forward for buying silver centre around the documented link between the prices of gold and silver.

Historically over many centuries the ratio has been 16:1 (16 oz silver cost the same as 1 oz gold). We also know from the traditional position on Zakat that around 1400 years ago in the time of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the gold dinar to silver dirham value ratio was 10:1 meaning a gold/silver ratio of about 14:1
In more recent times the yearly average moved from an approximately 20:1 ratio in 1970, to as wide as 89:1 in 1991. Today, at the time of writing, the ratio is a little over 36:1. This means that an immediate doubling of the silver price would still not quite bring it back to historical par.
The thought by many is that the wide disparity that exists today is artificially manipulated and will at some time regain it’s natural balance through a series of rapid rises in the silver price.
Financial analyst and political commentator, Max Keiser is at the forefront of blaming the likes of JP Morgan for this manipulation (see links) and calling individuals to fight back by buying physical silver. With the current and widespread unpopularity of banks and bankers at this time his campaign has attracted a lot of support.
So if this re-balancing of the silver price is indeed inevitable and in the near future, then from an investment point of view this definitely is the time to buy silver.

So what you should buy depends on your budget, your intention in buying (gift, investment, political etc), when you foresee a possible future need to dispose of them quickly (there are always more potential buyers for smaller items), where you intend to keep the items and perhaps most importantly, your own personal preference.