Silver is The Goldilocks of Metals
Via Soren K and MarketSlant. As more and more applications are found for Silver, its industrial use will bolster and complement its status as a precious metal. We're Silver Bulls relative to Gold for this reason.
Once upon a time, technology was the silver-killer through film elimination. Now technology is finding increasing applications for Silver. At this rate, we may yet see the 16 to 1 ratio for reasons not yet championed.
Self-heating windows have existed for decades. However, they’ve have always relied on near-invisible wires that can be a distraction when revealed by oncoming headlights. So instead of wires, the laminated glass used in Volkswagen’s new windshields includes an ultra-thin invisible layer of silver connected to the vehicle’s electrical system so that it heats up and melts away ice.- Gizmodo
When film died, we saw many other potential applications in technology and medicine. But the cost was just too high. Batteries for electrical cars were one. Chlorine replacement in pools another. Colloidal Silver suspensions for various ailments a third. Microwave blocking was another. None happened on a large scale for various reasons. But now it is starting to happen in heating elements. This is no aberration. It's the beginning of an application trend.
Despite being better than copper in many conductive applications, the price of silver was too high for heating elements. And so copper was used. Technology finally devised more efficient use of Silver in windshield heating to replace copper filament and decrease glare. And that means more silver will be used. And that, in turn means more similar applications will be researched.
From Volkswagen's Site
Perfect visibility with no heating wires –the climate windscreen from Volkswagen
Neither ice scraper nor de-icing spray provides the perfect solution. Volkswagen is offering a genuine alternative with the climate windscreen. It heats up without the use of any filament wires, thus providing perfect visibility. Any renewed misting or icing up is also prevented.In this wire-free system a wafer-thin electrically conductive layer of silver within the laminated glass provides the required heat by converting electric current. Volkswagen is offering the wire-free heated for the Golf, Golf Sportsvan, Tiguan, Sharan, Passat and Passat Variant models. In the summer, the thin layer of silver acts as a passive heat shield... it is able to reduce the inside temperature by up to 15 degrees more than conventional glass with green tinting. Source
Silver is King:
- Silver is not owned by Central Banks like Gold is- that is why Silver can and is manipulated higher on occasion when Gold can not be.
- It is a necessary industrial metal and the nation has a store of it - like Oil
- If Gold wealth should ever be confiscated, Silver will remain and become a proxy for Gold prices- like paper dollars were for Gold pre 1971
- JPM is long physical Silver and short paper as a hedge- A brief history of Silver manipulation from the 1990s to now here
- Exchange listed spread contracts like the Silver/gold ratio serve to increase investor awareness and narrow the spread long term.
- Its industrial applications are growing
Good Luck