The silver price has surged again, continuing a run that has already astonished seasoned investors this year. We now find silver trading at almost twice the level of twelve months ago, outrunning even gold’s remarkable rise. It is an ascent seen only a handful of times in the modern era, usually during moments when the financial system was signalling deep stress beneath the surface.
Silver has always been a metal that speaks more directly to ordinary people than gold. It was the Roman soldier’s pay packet. It was the coinage of trade and the quiet store of value for families who could not afford the grand estates or heirlooms backed by kings. For centuries it functioned as the people’s money, circulating widely and anchoring daily economic life long before the invention of the modern central bank.
When silver begins to behave as it has in recent months, it is worth asking what is being whispered to us. Industrial demand has been strong, yet that only tells part of the story. Stockpiling has increased in the United States after policymakers labelled silver a strategic commodity. Supply is struggling to keep pace. Market dislocations between trading centres suggest that physical metal is tight. Retail interest has risen too, fuelled by a fear of missing out in a world where artificial intelligence, crypto tokens and other speculative wonders have captured public fascination.
More revealing still is the backdrop. Central banks are cutting interest rates despite inflation remaining above target. Long term government bond yields have risen in spite of those cuts, an unusual pattern that speaks to a deeper unease about public finances. Investors have begun to talk, again, about the risk that monetary authorities are being pressed into prioritising government solvency over price stability. In quiet corners of the market there is growing interest in assets that cannot be diluted or printed to help a treasury sleep better at night.
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This is the environment in which silver has become a lightning rod for both fear and greed. It has practical uses, which distinguishes it from some modern speculative pursuits. Yet it is also a hedge, a way of stepping outside the official system when that system feels increasingly unsteady. Gold has performed strongly too, yet silver’s rise has been more dramatic and its message arguably more pointed. It reminds us that the public still gravitates to tangible forms of money when confidence in the architecture of finance begins to waver.
Which brings me to a question that is quietly being asked in many households. If you look at the last thirty years of monetary management, at the slow bleed of purchasing power, at the crises that recur with unnerving regularity, do you feel entirely reassured by how governments and central banks have overseen the system. If not, then consider whether these are the same institutions we should ask to educate our children about money.
Much is made today of the need for financial literacy. Committees, strategies and campaigns are launched across Europe to teach children how to budget, avoid debt and select financial products. These efforts are not without merit. Yet they raise an awkward point. If the system has been managed in ways that leave savers poorer, pension promises strained and households anxious, should the stewards of that system be the ones trusted to explain how money truly works.
Recently the Financial Times reported on a museum in Turin where children learn about saving and talk openly about their financial plans. It is an encouraging development in a country where many adults avoid such conversations altogether. Across Europe, policymakers have finally realised that large portions of the public struggle to understand inflation or compounding, and that this has real social and economic costs. Countries that teach these concepts in schools tend to produce citizens who save and invest more effectively.
Yet notice what is often left out. The curriculum focuses on budgeting and prudence, not on the structure of the financial system itself. It teaches citizens how to function within the system, not how the system shapes their fortunes or how incentives within central banks and treasuries influence the value of their money over time.
Our own recent research suggests that people understand more than the official curriculum assumes. In our November survey, fifty seven per cent of respondents said the money in their bank is losing value. A majority believe their savings have already fallen this year in real terms. Four in five say the Christmas shop feels more expensive than last year. These are not abstract ideas. They are lived realities.
Nearly two in five are considering investing in gold next year. More than half believe gold is a better gift than cash in this economic climate. When asked which Christmas present would hold its value best over the next decade, gold led the list. Cash ranked near the bottom. People may not use the language of economists, but they recognise something fundamental about purchasing power.
This is where incentives become important. A heavily indebted state, aided by a central bank that has spent many years suppressing borrowing costs, has a strong interest in keeping savers inside the financial system. It needs citizens to accept a slow erosion of purchasing power. It needs deposits in banks and money flowing into financial products. It does not benefit from a population that asks searching questions about inflation, financial repression or the fragility of a banking system built on maturity transformation.
It certainly does not benefit from widespread ownership of assets that sit outside its reach, such as physical gold and silver. The enthusiasm for silver this year illustrates this tension. A metal long regarded as humble and unfashionable has become a warning signal precisely because it cannot be inflated away and because its physical supply is limited.
This tension can be seen in Italy, where policymakers are considering a one off levy encouraging households to declare privately held gold. In return for a tax on current market value, families would be given certification that would simplify future sales. Supporters talk of transparency and better market functioning. Yet beneath the language lies a simple reality. The state has taken note of a substantial pool of private wealth held outside its direct supervision and is exploring how to draw it more firmly into the net.
Official curricula are unlikely to explore why families held this gold in the first place. They will not spend time recounting memories of inflation, currency troubles or banking failures. Those lessons have been passed down through generations, usually at the dinner table rather than in a classroom.
This is not to say governments and central banks should be excluded from financial education. Teaching basic skills around budgeting and avoiding exploitative products is valuable. A population that understands interest, risk and compounding is better equipped to navigate modern life.
But financial literacy is not the same thing as institutional loyalty. When the content is designed by the same institutions that benefit from unquestioned trust in fiat money, certain topics will be softened or avoided. The long term erosion of purchasing power will not receive the attention it deserves. The case for holding tangible assets will not be emphasised. The structural fragilities of the banking system will be described as rare exceptions rather than recurring features.
Some of the solution lies with independent educators and charities. Some lies with firms like ours, provided we are transparent about our own role and avoid turning education into marketing. Many of the most important lessons, however, still lie with families.
You do not need to debate monetary theory with your children or grandchildren. You can show them how prices have changed within your lifetime. You can explain what happens when a bank fails. You can talk about why previous generations placed such importance on owning something real, something that did not depend on screens or signatures.
Our research shows that people are already moving in this direction. Sixty four per cent told us they fear another financial crisis within two years. Three in five are already seeking safer ways to protect their savings. For them, financial literacy is not a civic virtue. It is protection.
Perhaps that is the true test of financial literacy in our time. Not whether a citizen can distinguish between two savings products on a government website, but whether they understand that the financial system reflects the priorities of those who run it, and whether they have taken steps to protect themselves if those priorities shift.
So welcome the museums of saving and the resurgence of financial education in schools. Encourage the discussion. Just remember that not every lesson will be taught in the classroom. Some must still be shared at home, where the questions can be asked freely.
And when you consider the gifts you give the next generation, remember the message that gold and silver have carried for thousands of years. These metals remind us that real value persists, even when financial systems wobble. They also remind us that financial literacy begins not with a workbook, but with the quiet understanding that money is a tool, not a master, and that security often lies in the things the system cannot dilute.
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