jmbullion.com and apmex.com are both long time PM online retailers with a good reputation. Stock is spotty in the current "Silver rush" (there was literally none available yesterday). There appears to be some right now at a good price. Buy bars or "rounds" (look like coins but actually just pure silver like the bars). Do not buy coins unless there is a particularly good deal. Coins have an added "collectors value" cost which will not appreciate like the metal will and have less silver content than the bullion (bars and rounds).

Look for a local coin shop. Every city has them. Ask for the price for US silver coins or silver rounds (just private mints). The online places mark up so much. You shouldn't have to pay more than $5 above the strike price. The local guys will have lots of interesting coins. I bought 25 silver oz from the UK. Beautiful coins. If I never need them will give them to the kids. Also don't get fooled by pre-1933 gold. Supposedly pre-1933 gold can't be confiscated. You pay a huge premium. Let's face it. No one is going to turn in their gold to a government official. We would rather throw it in the ocean than do that.

I am hesitant to post this and get you second guessing yourself because it can be easy to feel a bit overwhelmed.

The dealers Slyver recommended are fine and well known in what we call the 'stacking' community. Sdbullion is another well respected US bullion dealer. I personally don't use these websites being that I'm in AUS and use dealers local to me though.

There are a few main forms of silver that are relevant to your query, in no particular order these are:

Government minted bullion, for example the 'American Silver Eagle' or the 'Canadian Silver Maple Leaf'

'Rounds' or 'generics' which are privately minted examples of rounds

Bars, for example the Perth Mint 1kg silver bar

'Constitutional' or 'Junk' Silver which are any half dollars, quarters, and dimes minted by the US government before 1965 and contain 90% silver. Other countries have similar coinage histories but the details obviously vary.

A few details to know about silver (these tidbits often apply to gold as well).

At any given moment the international price of silver and gold (the price before any premiums are added) is called 'spot price' and you can find it by searching 'spot price silver' for example. You'll want to try and get your head around how the price changes over time in relation to inflation etc. and build your perspective so you understand why you are investing in it, what your end goal is (if you want to sell, why and when?).

Coins/bars etc. are measured in purity which is how many parts per 1000 are pure silver, 0.999 fineness (shortened to .999 or 99.9%) means there are 999 parts silver and 1 part of something else--99.9% is the general standard of purity. The 'Junk silver' I mentioned before is only 90% silver and 10% copper which means if you want to buy junk silver you have to do a bit of math to work out if the silver content is being priced fairly or if they are charging premiums that you should avoid.

All silver products incur a premium, it's just an inevitable and normal part of the process, this is influenced by rarity, finish (production standards), historical value, cost of production/dealer's cut, scarcity due to market conditions and a range of other things.

A couple of main points relating to premiums are:

The smaller the item, the higher the premiums get (for silver you generally want to stick to 1oz coins or larger, going to 1/10oz for silver gets very pricy because of exorbitant premiums).

If your goal is to protect your purchasing power, you are best off staying away from fancy limited edition, numismatic/rare stuff or bizarre designs that may only appeal to few potential buyers, unless you know a lot about it because that enters collector territory and that is a whole different game and people can burn themselves playing it.

Of the four forms of silver I listed above, I prefer Government minted bullion the most followed by bars, junk silver and my least favourite is generics/rounds. This is a personal decision to make but my reasoning is that government minted bullion is minted by a trusted and recognised entity and there are very strict laws surrounding counterfeiting which minimises the risk of fakes and you are going to be able to convince someone it's worth something more easily than you could with a round/generic if the situation called for it. I also just think the gov minted coins generally look better which is a trivial factor but still one that might influence your choices.

You would probably benefit from searching on youtube about 'stacking', 'silver stacking' etc., some decent channels related to stacking and precious metals are: Yankee Stacking, Stansberry Research Stansberry Research does many interviews but I recommend looking at some of the interviews with Rick Rule as a starting point. Kitco News Also has some good interviews with Jim Rickards and others. belangp

All the best with it. Feel free to ask questions but most basics should be covered.