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Where to buy silver bars and coins
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With inflation persistent for much of the last two years and interest rates elevated in an attempt to tame it, investors and savers have explored alternative ways to grow and protect their money. While savers have benefited with high interest-earning accounts like high-yield savings and certificates of deposit (CD) accounts, investors have looked elsewhere.
Many have turned to precious metals, specifically gold and silver.
Against today’s inflationary climate, gold hit an 11-year high last September and the precious metal’s price rose to a record $2,160 per ounce earlier in March. While that price point may be too high for many, precious metal investors have an appealing alternative: silver. Silver can provide many of the same benefits gold can and, in certain circumstances, may even be the preferential investment option. But where can you buy silver, specifically bars and coins? Below, we’ll detail three great places to buy silver bars and coins now.
Start exploring your gold and silver investing options online today.
Where to buy silver bars and coins
Here are three places where investors can buy silver bars or coins now.
Precious metal companies
Multiple precious metal companies can help you invest in silver and gold today. These companies can provide you with expert-backed feedback and insight to ensure that your investment matches your profile and goals. Whether it’s a gold IRA, a silver IRA or a physical form of the precious metal, these companies are great resources no matter your experience level with alternative assets.
That noted, it’s critical to do your research before selecting a company. Consider their online reviews and Better Bureau Business profile in advance so that you pick the right company for your needs.
Start researching your options here now.
Local precious metal retailers
Local precious metal retailers have an edge over precious metal companies because they allow you to inspect the bars and coins you want to invest in before buying. This can be a major advantage for investors who enjoy the tangibility of a physical asset like silver bars and coins.
That said, while you should do your research as you would with precious metal companies, there may be less readily available information associated with a local retailer versus a national one. You may also get stuck paying a slightly higher price buying from a physical location versus an online provider. But if seeing your investment up close before buying it is important to you, that price difference may be negligible.
Big retailers
In a sign of the times — and the growing interest in precious metals — big retailers have gotten involved in precious metals in the past year. Walmart now sells gold bars and Costco does, too. Earlier in March Costco branched out to sell silver coins. These can be purchased from the retailers’ websites with ease, although early demand for Costco’s gold bars led them to initially quickly sell out. But if you’re comfortable with these retailers and already use them for some shopping needs, it can be a natural transition to use them for investments like gold and silver.
The bottom line
Gold investing surged last year and with work still left to do to tame inflation, it’s unlikely that that demand will fall anytime soon. Whether you’re investing in the yellow metal, silver, or both, however, there are multiple effective ways to do so. By researching precious metal companies, local retailers and big-name retailers like Costco and Walmart, you’ll be best positioned to invest in precious metals now, giving your investment portfolio protection immediately and long into the future.
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Sen. Thom Tillis says “the scope” of Helene damage in North Carolina “is more like Katrina”
As recovery missions and repairs continue in North Carolina more than a week after Hurricane Helene carved a path of devastation through the western part of the state, the state’s Republican Sen. Thom Tillis called for more resources to bolster the relief effort and likened the damage to Hurricane Katrina’s mark on Louisiana in 2005.
“This is unlike anything that we’ve seen in this state,” Tillis told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday morning. “We need increased attention. We need to continue to increase the surge of federal resources.”
Hurricane Helene ripped through the Southeast U.S. after making landfall in Florida on Sept. 26 as a powerful Category 4 storm. Helene brought heavy rain and catastrophic flooding to communities across multiple states, including Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, with North Carolina bearing the brunt of the destruction. Officials previously said hundreds of roads in western North Carolina were washed out and inaccessible after the storm, hampering rescue operations, and several highways were blocked by mudslides.
Tillis said Sunday that most roads in the region likely remained closed due to flooding and debris. Water, electricity and other essential services still have not been fully restored.
“The scope of this storm is more like Katrina,” he said. “It may look like a flood to the outside observer, but again, this is a landmass roughly the size of the state of Massachusetts, with damage distributed throughout. We have to get maximum resources on the ground immediately to finish rescue operations.”
Hurricane Katrina left more than 1,000 people dead after it slammed into Louisiana’s Gulf Coast in August 2005, flooding neighborhoods and destroying infrastructure in and around New Orleans as well as in parts of the surrounding region. It was the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. in the last 50 years, and the costliest storm on record.
The death toll from Hurricane Helene is at least 229, CBS News has confirmed, with at least 116 of those deaths reported in North Carolina alone. Officials have said they expect the death toll to continue to rise as recovery efforts were ongoing, and a spokesperson for the police department in Asheville told CBS News Friday their officers were “actively working 75 cases of missing persons.”
On Saturday, the U.S. Department of Transportation released $100 million in emergency funds for North Carolina to rebuild the roads and bridges damaged by the hurricane.
“We are providing this initial round of funding so there’s no delay getting roads repaired and reopened, and re-establishing critical routes,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “The Biden-Harris administration will be with North Carolina every step of the way, and today’s emergency funding to help get transportation networks back up and running safely will be followed by additional federal resources.”
President Biden previously announced that the federal government would cover “100%” of costs for debris removal and emergency protective measures in North Carolina for six months.
With North Carolina leaders working with a number of relief agencies to deal with the aftermath of the storm, Tillis urged federal officials to ramp up the resources being funneled into the state’s hardest-hit areas. The senator also addressed a surge in conspiracy theories and misinformation about the Biden Administration’s disaster response, which have been fueled by Republican political figures like former President Donald Trump.
Trump falsely claimed that Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent in the November presidential election, were diverting funds from Federal Emergency Management Agency that would support the relief effort in North Carolina toward initiatives for immigrants. He also said baselessly that the administration and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, were withholding funds because many communities that were hit hardest are predominantly Republican. Elon Musk has shared false claims about FEMA, too.
“Many of these observations are not even from people on the ground,” Tillis said of those claims. “I believe that we have to stay focused on rescue operations, recovery operations, clearing operations, and we don’t need any of these distractions on the ground. It’s at the expense of the hard-working first responders and people that are just trying to recover their lives.”
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