American Silver Eagle Coin

But for all its speculative charm, in reality silver is an industrial metal. 52% of the world’s silver production is used in manufacturing electronic items – TV’s, fridges, cellphones, etc. There are more patents issued every year for products using silver, than for all the other metals combined.

The reason for this widespread use is conductivity. Silver has the best electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals. And that’s the reason that a really big use of silver these days is in solar panels – to conduct electricity produced by solar cells to where it needs to go.

According to The Silver Institute, worldwide use of silver in the production of solar panels will total 100 million ounces a year by 2015 – roughly equal to 13% of total current mine production. Solar panel manufacturers have actually cut down on the silver paste used in panels because of higher silver prices in recent years. The 100 million ounces a year is the silver being used at the reduced rate.

Silver is highly prized in coins and jewellery, valued for thousands of years around the world as a precious metal. It is also the king of useful industrial metals in our electronic age. And because of its necessity in making solar panels, silver is arguably the greenest of metals.

But despite its value and all of its uses, the stocks of companies that mine for silver have been demolished in recent months, culminating with a real pukefest on Friday. Silver speculators – more in the stocks than in the metal itself – have been feeling squeamish lately.

Now the stocks of silver producing companies are bargains. Here are three examples of bargain silver stocks.

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article39942.html