How Much is a Year of Global Silver Mining Production Worth?
The Size of Silver Market
The Dollar Value of the Annual Global Silver Mining Production
J.P. Morgan has paid far more in fines than the value of the annual global silver mining production.
How much would it cost to buy all of 2014’s record American Silver Eagle coin production?
The Tiny Silver Market
In “Silver Coin Demand – A Historical Perspective” we compared the amount of ounces of silver used to produce the “record” amount of one ounce American Silver Eagle coins to the global silver mining production.
Record sales of American Silver Eagle in 2014 were small compared to 2013 global silver mining production.
How much would it cost to buy all those one ounce American Silver Eagle coins minted last year?
The U.S. Mint charges dealers $2 per coin over the spot price of silver, so assume you’d have to pay $3 per coin to cover dealer costs. Add the $3 premium to the price of silver today which is $16.75 an ounce and you get $19.75 per coin. Round it up to $20 for ease of calculation and multiply it times the approximately 44 million one ounce American Silver Eagles sold in 2014, and you get about $880 million or less than the $920 million that J.P. Morgan was fined to settle its “London Whale” fraud case.
The value of the entire record American Silver Eagle coin production in 2014 is worth less than the amount that JP Morgan paid in fines to settle its London Whale fraud charges.
How much would it cost to buy the entire 2013 global silver mining production?
In “Twelve Differences Between Silver and Gold” we noted the small size of the silver market. According to the Silver Institute , global silver mining output in 2013 was a record 819.6 million ounces.
At approximately $17 an ounce, 820 million ounces of silver is worth about $13.9 billion. During the three and a half year period ended December 31, 2014, J.P. Morgan paid over $35 billion in fines ($35,241,500,000 according to dividend.com).
According to the Forbes list of the world’s wealthiest persons, there were seventy seven individuals, including Vladimir Putin (net worth $15 billion), whose net worth was at least $13.9 billion.
J.P. Morgan has paid fines in an amount worth more than 2.5 times the value of the entire 2013 global silver mining production.
Update September 15, 2015
The value of annual global silver mining production is less than $13 billion as of September 2015.
Get Free Updates From Smaulgld.com
Subscribe to Smaulgld.com to receive free email gold and silver news, updates and analysis.
Further Reading:
Silver Demand in Perspective
Gold and Silver Price Manipulation -Suspected
Gold and Silver Manipulation – Actual
12 Ways Silver Is Different Than Gold
Comex Gold Deliveries vs. the Shanghai Gold Exchange
Please visit the Smaulgld Store for a large selection of recommended Kindles, books, music, movies and other items.
You can support Smaulgld.com by making all your Amazon purchases through the search widget below and by ordering your gold and silver by clicking on the JM Bullion, BGASC, Golden Eagle Coin, Perth and Royal Canadian Mint ads on the site.
DISCLOSURE: Smaulgld provides the content on this site free of charge. If you purchase items though the links on this site, Smaulgld LLC. will be paid a commission. The prices charged are the same as they would be if you were to visit the sites directly. Please do your own research regarding the suitability of making purchases from the merchants featured on this site.
Chart Disclaimer: Information presented here has been obtained from a third party and is presented for information purposes only. Smaulgld can not and does not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the data displayed on this site and therefor the data provided should not be used to make actual investment decisions. You should always consult a professional investment adviser before investing in precious metals or any type of investment. You acknowledge that Smaulgld assumes no responsibility for the integrity of data on this site.
The content provided here is for informational purposes only. Making investment decisions based on information published by Smaulgld (SG), or any Internet site, is not a good idea. Accordingly, users agree to hold SG, its owner and affiliates, harmless for all information presented on the site. SG presents no warranties. SG is not responsible for any loss of data, financial loss, interruption in services, claims of libel, damages or loss from the use or inability to access SG, any linked content, or the reliance on any information on the site.
The information contained herein does not constitute investment advice and may be subject to correction, completion and amendment without notice. SG assumes no duty to make any such corrections or updates. As with all investments, there are associated risks and you could lose money investing. Prior to making any investment, a prospective investor should consult with its own investment, accounting, legal and tax advisers to evaluate independently the risks, consequences and suitability of that investment. SG disclaims any and all liability relating to any investor reliance on the accuracy of the information contained herein or relating to any omissions or errors and as such disclaims any and all losses that may result.
Send Litecoin to this address:
