Unlike "silver rounds" or even gold bars and bullion, junk silver has an advantage to the investor in these trying times.

Most precious metal investments are comprised of bars or coins. Bars are found in weights such as one, five or ten ounces. The bar is merely an acceptable means of trade and transport of gold or silver bullion.

The coins are usually a special pressing or mold with artistic or historical value for instance, to commemorate a person or event. You see these frequently advertised in magazines or on late night television.

The problem with precious metals in bar or coins is that their value is determined by the market rate for the metal at the time and that the buyer and seller agree upon their value. An educated consumer and merchant are required to give the bullion value.

Junk silver has both bar and coin beaten with one simple fact; junk silver comes in a face value coin which can be used for daily transactions at nearly any retail outlet.

Even if silver drops to a dollar an ounce, a 1964 dime will still be worth ten cents. A 1943 Washington quarter will still be worth twenty five cents and so forth.

A junk silver bag of quarters with a face value of $1000.00 will contain 4000 quarters. While the price of the bag may vary between 9 and 12,000.00 over the past couple of months due to the price of silver, the face value of each of those 4000 quarters is still twenty five cents.

This is a hard to beat fact about junk silver that other forms of precious metals are hard to beat. Junk silver keeps a value no matter what the silver market is running at the time.

And that is another reason junk silver is such a great investment.