I'm a stacker. I'm constantly looking at silver and gold prices, the spread, inventories, premiums, derivatives in SLV, etc, etc.
The obvious trend since SVB went down was a move to towards safer assets, let it be a "too big to fail bank (lol)", government securities (lol), and precious metals. Premiums on 1 oz silver rounds (generic) are nearly $5 anywhere you look. My local coin shop (LCS) was charging $4.75 per ounce over spot on generics, which is actually lower than the vast majority on JM bullion and SD bullion.
With silver spot being 24.25 as we speak, a $5+ premium is nearly a 20% premium on the price. Higher premiums almost always mean high demand and low supply. Inventory on the comex is dropping at a pretty staggering rate (277 million oz left) and the entire comex could be drained with a mere $6.6 billion dollars.
My LCS said it's been insane since the banks began to fail. Way more buyers than sellers.
The price of silver specifically has been artificially suppressed by the big banks through derivatives and artificial contracts traded amongst the big banks. As inventory continues to drain, the dollar falls, BRICS grows it's membership, and uncertainty remains, precious metals SHOULD skyrocket.
Ultimately, I don't invest in PMs are a get rich quick scheme, but they really are a great store of value. Not investment advice, but holding silver and gold, while you can still get it, could be an answer to rapidly rising inflation.
Gold is useful, but with our current technology, silver is in general more useful because of it's electric and thermal properties which are unmatched by any other element. The value of silver would be, in a truly free market, at worst 8/1 with gold. Possibly more like 5/1, though if it is too expensive, alternative (inferior) products would be forced to take its place in technology (like copper).
Regardless, as for bang for your buck, I can't find any physical asset that is more valuable in potential volume/value/current cost than silver.