Silver Certificates

The quality or purity of investment silver is guaranteed by the manufacturer. In case of silver coins, it is the issuer; in the case of silver ingots, it is the the manufacturer (refiner). A reputable precious metal dealer does not expose its clients to the risk and makes the purchases of precious metals solely by reputable suppliers. This is the only way to guarantee the origin of the goods and their quality.

On the domestic market, we see how silver coins, silver bars and silver ingots with a tax document from a reputable trader hold excellent liquidity among investors.

Certificates therefore have absolutely no validity for investment silver. The sole guarantor of the authenticity of the metal is a tax document issued by the dealer. Only the tax document is a valid proof of the origin and manner of acquisition of goods, in our case investment silver.

Gold Certificates

Gold Certificates were created for two reasons. The first reason is a very small size of the low weight gold bars. Therefore, for ease of handling, small gold ingots are packed in credit card-sized print cards. 

The second reason is the goldsmith's practice in countries where the approach to stamping gold jewelry is very lax. An example is the Mecca of goldsmith design, Italy. Gold jewelry from Italian production may not have been stamped for a very long time. Of course, goldsmiths fought buyers' concerns by exhibiting their own jewelry certificates. Many customers who bought gold jewelry then demanded similar confirmation of fineness even with the gold investment form.

Obviously, it was a nonsensical request - investment gold is a sui generis category and the same conclusion can be made also for gold - the investor should buy from a reputable precious metal dealer/trader, or on the secondary market, buy only precious metals, whose origin is evidenced by a tax document from a reputable precious metal dealer/trader.

As we can see, certificates for investment silver and certificates for investment gold do not have the slightest validity. Of course, anyone can produce a certificate at any time. If the precious metal comes from an unknown source, the risk of buying a counterfeit is a big and enclosed certificate does not change anything about it.