Like gold, silver has been a valuable commodity for hundreds of years and is now seen as a safe haven during volatile markets.
In uncertain economic environments like we have today, investors often turn to precious metals like silver as a hedge against inflation.
Silver has remained valuable in part due to its inherent malleability.
There are 4 main ways you can invest in silver from Australia:
If you're looking to actually own silver, buying physical bullion is the most popular way to do so.
However, if you're just looking to get exposure to the price of silver, a silver ETF might be the most convenient and cost-effective option.
Silver took a tumble in September and fell 20.1% to hit its 52-week low. The commodity was largely seen as a safe haven and a key industrial material, and these downward movements showed less confidence in its usual protective appeal.
The broader picture was just as rough for the precious metal. It fell 15.24% over the past three months and dropped 34.3% for the year so far, finishing a long way from its 52-week high.
The most traditional way to invest in silver is by buying physical silver in the form of bullion, bars, coins or other forms.
Buying physical silver is the only way to invest in the tangible asset itself.
You can buy physical silver online or through silver dealers, or by buying silver jewellery.
When buying silver bullion, it's important to remember that you are purchasing by weight regardless of whether it's in the form of a bar, a coin or anything else.
"Bullion" refers to high-purity silver that is officially recognised as being at least 99.9% pure silver.
More collectible forms such as commemorative silver coins will often be much more expensive per gram than silver bars, so check how much you're paying by weight before buying silver.
One common way to invest in silver is via the stock market, such as the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
When you buy shares in a silver mining or silver-related company, you're indirectly betting on the value of silver increasing over time.
However, while silver stocks may typically rise in value as the price of silver increases, this isn't guaranteed.
The main difference between investing in physical silver and stocks in the silver industry is you're exposed to the same risks that come with buying into any company, such as bankruptcy, poor performance and general stock market volatility.
By that same token, there can be additional benefits such as dividends or potential higher returns.
You can invest in silver stocks by signing up with a share trading platform.
In Australia, there are more than a dozen listed companies engaged in silver mining. Here are some of the top silver stocks based on performance over the last 5 years1:
This data was last updated on 12 October 2026 and is based on the price performance of dedicated silver companies.
Investing in a silver-themed ETF is arguably the easiest way to get exposure to the price of silver without having to buy physical silver.
ETFs are investment funds that track the price of an underlying market, sector or asset. They are traded on stock markets in the same way as regular shares.
In order to buy silver ETFs, you'll need to sign up for an account with a share trading platform.
Some silver ETFs simply track the silver spot market price, while others track an index of companies in the silver mining industry, or a combination of the 2.
This makes ETFs an easy and flexible way of adding silver to your portfolio.
There is currently only one ETF that tracks the price of silver on the ASX, the Global X Physical Silver (ASX: ETPMAG) ETF. It has returned 71.80% over the last 5 years1.
There are a few ETFs that track the performance of mining and resources companies (including silver mining companies) on the ASX, including the Betashares Australia Resources Sector (QRE) ETF and SPDR S&P/ASX 200 Resources Fund (OZR) ETF.
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Silver futures are a way to speculate on the future price of silver. When you buy silver futures, you are agreeing to buy an asset at a future set price.
In other words, you are agreeing to pay today's prices for an asset that gets delivered sometime in the future.
This means the difference between the price you paid for an asset and its price at the time of delivery will determine whether you make or lose money.
This system also lets traders speculate on falling prices. If a trader thinks prices will drop, they can also buy a "short contract". This means they put in an order to sell the asset at today's prices for delivery in the future.
Now, if prices drop between the time the short contract was purchased and the contract expiry date, the trader would potentially make money. If prices rise, they would lose money.
With traditional futures trading, you're dealing with physical commodities. Typically only professional traders buy and sell contracts over the futures market.
Retail traders in Australia typically trade silver futures through contracts for difference (CFDs). CFDs are derivative investment products that allow you to trade on the future prices of underlying assets such as commodities, stocks and indices.
Because they allow you to trade using borrowed funds (leverage), they can be highly risky and are only for more experienced traders.
Trading CFDs and forex on leverage is high-risk and you could lose more than your initial investment. It may not be suitable for every investor. Refer to the provider’s PDS and consider the risks before trading.
Silver has been a relatively volatile asset since the early 1970s.2
Between 1978 and 1980, it rose dramatically from around US$4 an ounce to over US$45, before quickly crashing back in the early 1980s.
After years of little price movement, it then wasn't until 2011 that it finally set a new all-time high of around US$49.
It has had a similarly volatile time since then, especially in the years following the Covid crash, but crossed the US$30 mark for the first time since 2013 in 2024.
There are 2 main ways people think about silver's value as an investment.
One is as a practical and in-demand commodity whose properties give it many practical applications, similar to zinc or aluminium.
The other is as a precious metal with a finite supply and inherent "folk value" similar to gold.
Silver prices are based on a combination of these 2 factors, which gives it a unique investment profile.
Silver's chemical and physical properties, such as its conductivity and antibacterial properties, make it essential for electronics, healthcare and other applications.
It's also malleable, ductile, reflective, relatively corrosion-resistant and not overly common, which historically made it a practical choice of metal for jewellery, coins and similar applications.
These also formed a practical foundation for silver's status as a precious metal.
Silver's (and gold's) innate value as a precious metal is typically described in the context of its finite supply or scarcity.
It's not certain how much silver is left in the world, but some estimates suggest that Earth will run out of silver by 2050. However, these estimates depend on a range of assumptions around silver's continued use, how much we recycle and how likely miners are to uncover large previously unknown sources of silver.
One economic theory holds that a commodity such as silver, which is in constant demand while having a finite supply, should carry a constantly growing intrinsic value.
Proponents of this theory will often contrast the scarcity of silver with the theoretically infinite amount of government money, such as Australian dollars, that can enter circulation.
For this reason, silver is often regarded as a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation. Its prices have been known to run opposite to the changing values of currencies.
As mentioned above, silver is a staple material for many modern industries and there are a number of routes available for investing in it. However, regardless of which way you approach it, your investment will inevitably come with risks:
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Re – bullion silver 1 kg bars marked ‘CITY MINT VICTORIA’ was this a vintage mint and if so what is it called now?
Thank you
Hi David, I’m afraid I can’t help with this one. If you have such a coin I would contact a coin appraiser who may have the knowledge you seek.