Within the last year the price of silver bullion has begun to rise dramatically, it has more than doubled in the last five years and this trend is expected to continue. The last time the spot price of silver skyrocketed was during the 1970s when the Hunt brothers began an attempt to corner the market. The result of this was a final peak price of $49.95 per Troy ounce in 1980. The Federal Reserve and rules were changed on the NYMEX that put a stop to their efforts and within 10 years the price bottomed out at just over $4 per ounce.

There seems to be a twofold reason as to why the current price of silver bullion is once again on the rise. A large part of this increase in price is based on the massive increase in use of silver in the industrial world starting in 2001. The use of silver in photovoltaic cells has increased dramatically as the world began to invest in solar energy. Many of today's electrical appliances and electronics now use silver in their electronic control panels and many other areas. These are just a few of many interesting facts about silver.

One use that has come full circle and increased the demand for silver is the medical field. As far back as records were kept, we have been using silver as an anti-biotic. For a time the knowledge died out, during the civil war liquids and pastes made with silver were one of the chief antibiotics in use throughout the war. The invention of sulfa drugs and many more modern pharmaceuticals took the place of silver for many years. Only recently have doctors begun to realize the true potential of silver as an antibiotic and in the highly successful treatment of burns.

With demand on the rise for silver bullion as a safe haven investment during the global financial crisis, the price has been steadily rising. To make matters even more complicated, the current demand seems to be far higher than the output capacity of the various silver mines. There have very credible reports that silver is being sold multiple times over and that there could be an actual shortage of several hundred million Troy ounces compared to what the world's biggest investors such as JP Morgan Chase believe they have ownership of.

As the real time price of gold continues to skyrocket, many middle class investors looking to find a safe investment are turning to silver as a far more affordable alternative. As demand continues to outpace supply the price of silver bullion is expected to maintain an upward trend for the foreseeable future.