Yeah, I understand all that. I too wonder what will happen to the value of my silver if the US currency is ever put back on some precious metal standard -- gold, silver, platinum...

About buying silver with fiat currency, I once had this very conversation with my local silver dealer. I told him that I considered silver only as a means to survive a currency collapse, NOT as an investment. He said, "You mean if the price of silver jumped to $100 per ounce you wouldn't sell this back to me?" He was incredulous, but I said "No way. Not as long as the currency is not backed by anything."

He's a shrewd businessman, but it seems he cannot conceive of our currency collapsing. Apparently he knows nothing of history.