Many people in the prepping and preparedness community recognize the important role  that precious metals play in guarding against financial turmoil. Gold and silver are one of  the few financial ‘instruments’ if you want to call them that, which carry no counter-party risk¹. In this environment of nations racing to devalue their currencies faster than the  others², and tens of trillions of dollars outstanding in a giant global derivatives bubble³,  metals may end up even more important than we realize.

Silver in particular is of interest because it has an industrial component as well as a  monetary/investment aspect. Silver is used in hundreds of manufacturing capacities⁴, and  in most cases is not realistically recoverable, meaning that it is effectively ‘used up’ ,  diminishing the above ground supply of available silver⁵. This almost completely eliminates any long term downside risk to silver. Even if  we are lucky enough to have no major economic issues,  silver will still be used up in producing all these various consumer goods. Probably even MORE so if times are prosperous. Add to that the fact that current silver prices are below what some claim are the cost of production⁶ and trading your debt-based fiat dollars for the shiny stuff seems like a no-brainer.

Even without considering all of that, some of us just really like collecting silver, and like to acquire many different and unique items as part of our collections. So we are always on the lookout for interesting silver products that don’t come with a prohibitive numismatic premium.

Here are 5 of the coolest silver products on the market. Enjoy!

1. THE SBSS “DEBT AND DEATH” SILVER ROUND

Several years ago an individual named Chris Duane started making youtube videos⁷ and much of his content was devoted to precious metals, especially silver. He founded the Silver Bullet Silver Shield (SBSS) website⁸ and actually commissioned the design and production of a series of unique silver rounds. The business came into some controversy when there was a disagreement between Chris and others involved⁹ and there is some dispute over who was at fault. What is not disputable is that the SBSS series produced some of the coolest liberty and sound money oriented silver rounds ever created.  My favorite of these, which was actually their first, is the Debt and Death silver round.

They did a limited run which has since discontinued, so if you want to purchase you will pay a stiff premium¹⁰. I am severely disappointed that I missed out on these, but it is some consolation that I did end up getting a copper version of the coin later as a promotional bonus for their Freedom Girl¹¹ and Slave Queen¹² coins.

2. SILVER BULLET BULLION

Not all silver products come in coin shape, and one great example of this is the fascinating collection of silver products at Silver Bullet Bullion¹³. They have a series of silver items all in the shape of various bullets. They are life-size and range from 1/4 ounce 22LR all the way to a 25 ounce replica of a 20mm shell.

3. TOMBSTONE SILVER NUGGET BAR

This silver bar is an awesome looking textured bar that was made to commemorate the prospector who founded the town of Tombstone, Arizona.

From APMEX:

The Town of Tombstone in Arizona was founded in 1877 by a prospector named Ed Schieffelin. Ed was staying at Camp Huachuca as part of a scouting expedition against the Apache Indians. During his time there he would venture out into the wilderness “looking for rocks”, all the while ignoring the warnings he received from the soldiers at the camp. They would tell him, “Ed, the only stone you will find out there will be your tombstone”. Well, Ed did find his stone. And it was Silver. So, remembering the words of warning from the soldiers, he named his first mine The Tombstone.

The first four years of activity the mines produced about $25,000,000 (approximately $633 million today). During these years famed killings took place in the Tombstone District such as the Gunfight at the OK Corral with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid and others. Other mystery killings include miners being found dead with rock drill holes in their chest.

The history and folklore continues today with these Silver Nugget Bars, crafted to be unique and each one varies from the other. Slightly different shapes, features, and personality.

These awesome bars come in 5, 10, and Kilo size, and they even sell a wood monster box for storage (although I prefer a pirate treasure chest)¹⁴.

4. THE TOMB SILVER SET

This macabre silver set from Gainesville Coins¹⁵ features a 2 oz silver skull and a 1 oz silver tombstone, both of which come in a coffin-shaped box. They are poured silver products which gives them that great ancient treasure look that you just don’t get from struck bars.

5. SKULL AND BONES SILVER BAR

These great “Skull and Bones” silver bars from APMEX¹⁶ epitomize the pirate treasure look that I find so fascinating. Poured bars featuring a  deaths head or ‘Jolly Roger”¹⁷ symbol stamped on them, they come in a multitude of sizes (1/2, 1, 2, 5 and 10 oz.)

While its perfectly fine to get generic bars and rounds, these are a lot of fun if you are a silver bug and enjoy the collecting aspect as well as the ‘stacking’ side of it.

Post any unique precious metal products that you like in the comments.

CITATIONS:

1. http://goldsilverworlds.com/money-currency/golds-protection-against-counterparty-risk-is-coming-alive/
2. http://www.visualcapitalist.com/currency-wars-race-bottom/
3. http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-size-of-the-derivatives-bubble-hanging-over-the-global-economy-hits-a-record-high
4. https://www.silverinstitute.org/site/silver-in-industry/
http://geology.com/articles/uses-of-silver/
5. http://www.resourceinvestor.com/2009/11/03/silver-declining-supply-increasing-demand
https://www.silverinstitute.org/site/supply-demand/silver-supply/
6. http://blog.milesfranklin.com/q-a-day-why-does-everyone-say-silver-is-below-the-cost-of-production
7. https://www.youtube.com/user/TruthNeverTold/videos
8. http://sbss.opencurrency.com/
9. http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/a-brief-update-on-aocs-and-silver-shield
 http://dont-tread-on.me/?p=29291
10.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A56OFSM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00A56OFSM&linkCode=as2&tag=rtw06-20&linkId=2ME42NSGBCA4ZZ4M
11. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BMSY8XE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BMSY8XE&linkCode=as2&tag=rtw06-20&linkId=IVBX345TKRUZ2JLK
12. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H9GQ2PU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00H9GQ2PU&linkCode=as2&tag=rtw06-20&linkId=NYVGCPOHY4H2ERUY
13. http://silverbulletbullion.com/index.php
14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ror8VYD0_4o
15. http://www.gainesvillecoins.com/products/167633/the-tomb-silver-set-2-oz-skull-1-oz-tombstone-999-pure.aspx
16. http://www.apmex.com/product/77315/1-oz-silver-bar-skull-bones-pgg
17. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolly_Roger