Silver is a very useful metal. Silver is commonly known as the poor man's gold and is invested in things like the self directed IRA. Silver is still valuable, but it is not as expensive as gold.
Silver is not a recent discovery; it has been around for thousands of years. There is proof that ancient civilizations have used silver. Various civilizations used it in religious worship, jewelry, and as decorative dishware.
Eventually silver was used for currency. It was about 700 B.C. when silver was minted into coins and used as currency. It is believed that the first ones to make the coins were Mesopotamian merchants.
In 1792 the United States based their currency off of silver. The specific silver used was the silver dollar. The United States stopped minting the silver dollar in 1965.
Silver today is used more than just in currency. It is used in several industries. It is used in things like electronics, batteries, jewelry, and solar panels.
Above ground, silver is more rare than gold. This is because most of silver is used up in various products. Gold on the other hand is kept and stored away and is sometimes used for jewelry.
It is very popular to use a self directed IRA to invest in silver. Investing in silver is becoming more popular because the value of silver is estimated to increase within the next five years. It will go up because the supply of silver will diminish and the demand for silver will still be high.
There are specific things that qualify as an investment for a self directed IRA and the American Eagle bullion is one of them. Bullions are actually more secure than the American dollar. It is more secure because the value of bullion is the weight of the metal in it not the face value of it.