How much gold, silver, and platinum is there?

[scyther]

I've heard numerous times that silver is actually rarer than gold. This is difficult for me to believe, but if that's the case, it makes me wonder: How much gold is there? I've heard there are 1 billion ounces of silver, but is that the whole above ground supply, or just the "investable" supply? And what would that include? Same with platinum. Sometimes I hear it's rarer than gold, sometimes less rare... anyone know how much exists (above ground)?

[slvrbck]

I remember reading an article that a secret US lab in Venezuela has mastered the art of using particle accelerators to manufacture gold from mercury. Supposedly they have not figured out how to do this with silver and this is the reason why silver is actually less common than gold now.

[creshka46]

Not sure where to find the info on silver and platinum, but here is some good stuff on gold. Scroll down for a list of all central bank and ETF gold reserves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_reserve

[NHsorter]

I remember reading an article that a secret US lab in Venezuela has mastered the art of using particle accelerators to manufacture gold from mercury. Supposedly they have not figured out how to do this with silver and this is the reason why silver is actually less common than gold now.

[brian0918]

I remember reading an article that a secret US lab in Venezuela has mastered the art of using particle accelerators to manufacture gold from mercury. Supposedly they have not figured out how to do this with silver and this is the reason why silver is actually less common than gold now.

With my background in physics, I can easily say this is the dumbest thing I've read in quite a while. Congrats!

[justoneguy]

I THINK they mine 16 oz silver for every oz gold.
but most silver gets used up,where most gold that has ever been mined is still available.

[scyther]

I remember reading an article that a secret US lab in Venezuela has mastered the art of using particle accelerators to manufacture gold from mercury. Supposedly they have not figured out how to do this with silver and this is the reason why silver is actually less common than gold now.

With my background in physics, I can easily say this is the dumbest thing I've read in quite a while. Congrats!

llol (literary laughed out loud).

[penny pretty]

I THINK they mine 16 oz silver for every oz gold.
but most silver gets used up,where most gold that has ever been mined is still available.

A LOT of silver gets used up, but theres a lot to go around. Still, with the explosion of electronics, solar power, etc.. that uses silver, and that silver cant be recovered, who knows? I obtain silver when I can(god knows I cant afford gold) and just hold it.

[scyther]

The thing is, it can be recovered... just at a cost. As the price goes higher, more will be recovered. And better technology will make it easier to recover in time...

[ZenOps]

The offical numbers can be skewed quite a bit.

The only thing that I know for sure is that in 1963, each US citizen had 10 ounces of silver in coin form (not including any other wealth stored form like silverware, and not including industrial use) In 1967, each Canadian had about 8 ounces in coin form.

So all those quotes where "there is only two ounces per US citizen left" is pretty much a lie. The advent of digital photography actually created quite a glut for many years. I'm not totally convinced on the relative rarity of platinum either. If it was 30 to 100x rarer than gold, why do they use it to line car exhausts?

I still say nickel is the way to go. Don't look at what the middle class and slightly rich are doing, look at what the elites are doing. And in Canada that means "the Crown", and the crown has been culling nickel coinage at a rate of 1 billion Cdn coins per year for the last four years.

BTW: My pre-1981 nickel 5-cent rate is now under 10%. I have heard estimates that the pure nickel 25-cent quarters are also now under 10% (machine culled with proceeds going to the crown)