At the time, it would have been silly to make any specific predictions about what the price would go to on a specific timeline. But it was correct to acknowledge the long term, physical precious metals hold their value.

You hardly have to worry about losing value in silver, as long as you didn't mind waiting. But one indicator in 2009 said you probably wouldn't have to wait long.

Silver was trading at a ratio of 70:1 to gold, meaning people were paying 70 times as much for an ounce of gold, compared to one ounce of silver.

Over the last century or so, the ratio has historically hovered around 50:1.

And over the very long term, it's been more like 16:1.

By 2011, the price of silver reached almost $50 an ounce, and the silver to gold ratio hit 32:1.