While most bars sell in troy ounces in increments of1-ounce, 5-ounce, 10-ounce, 1-kg, 100 ounce, and 1,000-ounce bars, some mints sell them in fractional or gram sizes. There is no right weight to purchase when it comes to silver bars; this is a personal choice

The price went up almost to its 1981 high in 2011. Then it came back down and now sits around $14 per ounce. In other words, silver has been a bad buy and hold investment. It is incredibly volatile.

Silver bars individually weigh only 6.86 pounds on bathroom scales, they are easy to handle. Most 100-oz silver bars are .999 fine (essentially pure), which means investors can store a great amount of wealth in a relative small space.