Saving silver rather than having a savings account at the bank

I've written about silver before and have said that I do own some.  I don't own gold since it costs too much.  I've heard of a couple of stores who will let you pay with silver coins.  If something costs $10 paper money they'll let you pay .50 in pre-1964 coin.  That comes out to about $11 if you sold the silver.  But, if they charge .50 they could technically only have to charge you tax on .50 if we were still having to deal with governmental tax. 

Silver has gone up and down in price over the last few years.  Today it's right above $30 an ounce. 

There was a conference on Electric Metals last week in Toronto and one of the topics was battery materials.  Where lead was a major component, it has lost favor because of the environmental issues.  It is assumed that a large portion of electronic waste won't be recovered, which means material within the components will just end up dissipating into the earth.  For example, when lead is used as a solder to connect parts in circuit boards that lead doesn't get recycled when IPads or Kindles or phones are thrown out.  We all know that lead is a pollutant so companies are trying to figure out what to use instead. 

Europe has now banned lead solder as well as other hazardous materials in their electronic products.  One of the major solutions is a combination of silver and tin.  These two metals are expected to be in more demand and may also end up in a shortage.  Since 2004 silver has risen from $6 an ounce up to $40 not too long ago and back down to $30 today. 

Demand for silver is expect to rise by over 20% over the next 8 years.  Now there is a lot more silver being mined now than there has been in the not too distant past but it's still expected to reach critical demand in about 6 years.  It's predicted the price of silver may rise as high as $65 an ounce.  Am I advocating rushing out to buy silver now as a great investment?  No.  I am advocating buying silver and keeping that as your emergency savings account rather than keeping the money in the bank.  If you are one who believes the monetary system is deeply flawed and may collapse then silver may be right for you.  Just a thought.