What is the safest and most profitable way to profit from investing in precious metals?

It is to invest in scrap and have us extract the gold, platinum and silver it contains. Why is this the safest and most reliable way to make money in precious metals?

Let’s review some of the reasons . . .

. . . But Here’s Why You Should Carry One Anyway

Gold, platinum, and silver are the three precious metals that we write about most often on this blog. And as you know, a magnet will not be attracted to them. Why? Because they do not contain iron, which attracts a magnet. That’s another way of saying, gold, platinum, and silver are non-ferrous metals. (“Ferrous” means that they contain iron.)

There is a story behind every business that closes and liquidates its fixtures, equipment, supplies and assets. Sometimes the story is sad because a business failed. Sometimes it was in an industry that was no longer profitable. Sometimes the owner retired, and that is not a sad story.

Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCCs or MLCC chips), which are small electronic components made of alternating ceramic and metallic layers, can be found in many applications today.

Silver is currently trading for over $20 per Troy Ounce on the London Fix. That seems like a ridiculously low trading price when you consider the trading prices of Rhodium, palladium, gold, and platinum.

It is tempting to say, “What, 20 bucks an ounce? Why even consider investing in silver?”

But don’t cross silver off your list of potential precious metal investments. The fact is, there really is a simple strategy for making a good return trading in silver:

You have items lying around your house that contains valuable precious metals. Other people in your community have them too.

So, here’s a simple idea for a way to help your favorite cause – whether it’s a school, a religious institution, a hospital, or your favorite charity . . .

You have probably heard it said that now that there is war in the Ukraine, the flow of precious metals mined there will be shut off. Some people have even been saying that when that happens, the prices of platinum and other metals that are mined in Ukraine will rise exponentially.

At Specialty Metals and Refiners, we can recover silver from a number of different liquids, including these:

• Paints

• Printing inks

• Chemicals that were used to process photographic and x-ray films

• Chemicals that were used in a number of industrial processes

• Used electrolytic chemicals that were used in electroplating processes

From Blackberry to iPhone and Beyond . . .

Scientists and lay people (otherwise known as “the men and women in the street”) love to predict the death of precious metals. They like to believe that gold, silver and platinum will lose value because they will be replaced by other materials and other chemicals in a lot of devices and applications.

If you look at trends in precious metal prices over the last decade, you will notice that prices have risen steadily. There have been some ups and downs, but prices have generally trended up.

If you then look at the trading prices of stocks and mutual funds, you will see a much different pattern. Some stocks have risen steadily in value, sometimes dramatically so. But you will see that other stocks have fallen dramatically in value and, in some cases, the companies that issued them have simply ceased to exist.

“When I was looking at a small box full of metal pellets, I just knew they were made of platinum,” says a man who has spent years investing in precious metals. “There were only about 25 of them, but something about them convinced me they were platinum beads that had probably been used in plating operations. So I bought them up, had them tested and sure enough, I was right.”

Silver is used more in industrial and manufacturing processes than any other precious metal. That means that silver is, and will remain, a great metal to invest in.

In today’s post, we will explore how silver is used in a variety of manufacturing processes. But before we do, we should state that silver is used in two different ways in manufacturing:

If you’ve been following current events, you know that legislation could soon be passed by Congress that will result in improvements in our country’s infrastructure from coast to coast. Bridges will be built and rebuilt, roadways will be improved, internet access will be improved in underserved areas, and many more improvements are planned.

If you’ve been following current events, you know that legislation could soon be passed by Congress that will result in improvements in our country’s infrastructure from coast to coast. Bridges will be built and rebuilt, roadways will be improved, internet access will be improved in underserved areas, and many more improvements are planned.

Last month the U.S. Senate passed a $1.2 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. As you have probably heard, this bill (also called the Invest in America Act) has something to do with recycling. But what exactly? And exactly how could it affect precious metals?

The year 2020 was not a very good year in a lot of ways. But it was quite a good year for people who invest in precious metals and precious metal scrap, because trading prices for precious metals have remained strong or have risen. Also, a growing number of investors have discovered that precious metals offer a type of investment that is sound, even in difficult economic times.

We don’t know whether you are a big fan of the television series Downton Abbey. But whether you love the show or not, we have noticed that it teaches some valuable lessons for those of us who profit from recycling precious metals. The creators of the show seem to have invested extra effort in historical accuracy, showing wealthy people as they really lived a century ago. Most of the lessons Downton Abbey teaches apply to recycling silver, with fewer applying to recycling gold.

Last year we published a list of the most popular blog posts that we ran in 2014 – the ones that had been viewed by the most people and that had generated the greatest number of comments. We’ve created a different list of best posts this year. They are posts that contain the kind of useful information that can quickly put a lot of money in your pocket – maybe even in time for the holidays. 

Silver might not be worth a lot of money per ounce – it is trading for a little less than $15.00 right now. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t make a lot of money trading it. The key is to collect large quantities of the metal at below-market prices and then call Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners at 800-426-2344 to discuss your recycling options.

If you have been waiting to recycle or sell silver until trading prices rise, we invite you to consider a Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners Pool Account.  Our Pool Account offers significant benefits, including the ability to sell your silver when prices rise in the future.

Recycling precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium can be a complicated business. There could be treasure hiding in the most unusual places, and businesses and consumers alike are always on the lookout for tips, tricks and advice. Our top blog posts, as determined by our readers, represent a collection of knowledge you may find just as worthwhile to read as they have.