Silver: Owning, Trading and Managing Risk
Learn how the silver market works, from mine supply and industrial demand to quotes, VAT, ETCs, futures and mining shares, and practise the calculations you need to own or trade silver with a defined risk.
Self-study course Self-study course: written lessons, videos and downloadable materials for independent learning. There is no supervision, assessment, individual feedback or tutoring. Self-check quizzes are evaluated automatically in your browser — we do not see your results.
All 12 lessons free
Before you start
- The Gold course (quotes, costs and the basic gold/silver comparison)
- Futures and margin basics from the Derivatives course
- Comfort with percentages and a calculator or spreadsheet
What you will be able to do
- Explain silver's supply and demand structure and why by-product mine supply reacts slowly to price
- Convert XAG/USD quotes into euros per gram and per kilogram and calculate a dealer's premium and the break-even price of a physical purchase
- Compare physical silver, ETCs, futures, mini futures, CFDs, metal accounts and mining shares by cost, counterparty risk and tracking
- Calculate futures notional value, margin, roll cost and a position size from a fixed euro risk
- Use the gold-to-silver ratio, volatility measures and chart behaviour around sessions and gaps as context for silver decisions
- Build a personal silver plan with a satellite allocation, rebalancing rules and a general understanding of German tax treatment
Lessons in this course
Silver's double identity: monetary metal and industrial input
Understand where silver comes from, who uses it, why mine supply reacts slowly to price, and what a market deficit or surplus really tells you.
What moves the silver price
Learn how gold, the industrial cycle, the US dollar, real interest rates and investment flows tend to influence silver, and why silver usually moves more sharply than gold.
Units, quotes and conversions: from XAG/USD to euros per kilogram
Convert silver quotes into euros per gram and per kilogram, read bid and ask prices, and judge a dealer's premium over spot for coins and bars.
Buying physical silver in Germany: VAT, storage and break-even
Compare coins and bars, understand how VAT and differential taxation work for silver in Germany as of 2026, choose a storage option, and calculate the break-even price of a purchase.
Paper silver: ETCs, futures, mini futures, CFDs, metal accounts and miners compared
Compare the main non-physical ways to gain silver exposure by cost, counterparty risk and how closely they track the spot price.
Silver futures mechanics: contracts, margin, curve, rolling and the LBMA price
Read the COMEX silver contract specifications, calculate notional value, margin and margin calls, understand silver's futures curve and lease rates, and see why leveraged positions can be closed at the worst moment.
The Gold-to-Silver Ratio: History, Ratio Trades and Their Limits
Calculate the gold-to-silver ratio and its changes, read its long historical range correctly, and understand how ratio trades work and why both legs can lose.
Volatility and Position Sizing for Silver
Measure silver's volatility as ATR in percent, size positions from a fixed euro risk, and cap the size with leverage and gap stress checks.
Reading Silver Charts: Sessions, Gaps, False Breakouts and Historic Spikes
Understand when silver is liquid, measure weekend gaps, filter false breakouts and learn tail-risk lessons from the 1980, 2011, 2021 and 2025–2026 spikes.
Silver Mining Equities and Streaming Companies
Calculate net AISC with by-product credits, compare miners with streaming companies, and see how jurisdiction and dilution can make silver shares fall while silver rises.
Risks, Scams and Common Traps in Silver
Recognise panic premiums, selling costs, counterparty risk, manipulation stories and too-good-to-be-true storage schemes in the silver market.
Silver in a Long-Term Plan and German Tax Basics
Size silver as a small satellite, set rebalancing bands that fit physical costs, and understand the general German tax treatment of physical silver, ETCs, futures and shares.
Technical Analysis in Depth
After this course, continue with "Technical Analysis in Depth" to deepen the chart-reading and trade-planning skills you applied to silver.
View course outline