Silver is both a precious metal and an industrial commodity, giving it a dual demand profile that distinguishes it from gold. Like gold, silver is priced per troy ounce (approximately 31.1 grams) and is commonly bought in coins, rounds, and bars. The investment return is calculated as the difference between the current market value and your purchase cost, based on weight and price per ounce.

The formula is: Profit = (Current Price - Purchase Price) x Weight in Ounces. For example, if you purchased 100 troy ounces at $23/oz ($2,300 total) and the current price is $29.50/oz ($2,950 total), your profit is $650 with an ROI of 28.26%. Silver tends to be more volatile than gold, which creates both greater risk and greater opportunity for investors.

Silver's industrial uses in electronics, solar panels, and medical devices mean its price is influenced by both investment demand and manufacturing demand. The gold-to-silver ratio, which measures how many ounces of silver it takes to buy one ounce of gold, is a popular metric investors use to determine whether silver is relatively cheap or expensive compared to gold. Physical silver requires storage considerations, and premiums over spot price vary depending on the form (coins, bars, or rounds) you purchase.