Technology Vs. Money – Which Is Better?   

No, technology and money are not mutually inclusive or exclusive, but for the sake of argument, allow yourself a meditation about where the two intersect. And for this exercise, think broadly within the terms of the silver investment industry. Sound a little abstract to you? Just bear with the discussion for a moment, and see if you can expand your horizons a touch when it comes time to think about things like value over time, return on investment, and whether bigger and better is actually better, or whether smaller and more detailed is going to win the race in the end.

Start With the Junk       

Have you ever researched junk silver? It’s a really interesting concept. Coins that have no value as collector”s’ items, but still hold material value, are known as ‘junk’ in this case. It might lead you to try to reason out where along the line of human consumption the idea of ‘rarity’ became valuable to a collector anyway. Wouldn’t all silver be ‘junk’ if it could be still used on a component level, even to make things as variable as candlesticks, jewelry, picture frames, or tiny wires to be used in today’s breakneck-speed tablet computers? It’s a little bit like allowing yourself into your own personal Matrix once you start wondering why you trade this little bit of yourself for that little bit of someone else.

Image Source: Pixabay

The Properties of Technology    

Silver has particular value in the silver technology industry, specifically because of its physical properties. Isn’t that odd to think about as well? Your favorite pair of earrings also double as a material that can get electrons from one place to another quickly down a thin, bent path, so that conductively, it’s only a human error that prevented you from getting to the next level of Angry Birds, not a mechanical failure on the part of processor design. Value added, perhaps? Or would any similar material do the same thing for you?

Show Me the Money! Where’s the Value?    

So, based on these ruminations, silver has value intrinsically for reasons of history, culture, and rarity, and it also has value based on technological advancements with the understanding of its chemical and electrical makeup. That might also lead you to wonder what other chemicals, materials, components, and just general stuff is out there that has value along the same lines. Gold, anyone? If you do some research about investment in gold, you will see many similar storylines. Because gold has slightly different electrochemical properties, the ebbs and flows and trends of investment and value goes on its own path, rather than that of silver (or any other material, really). Back to the Matrix!