I started buying in the $5 range. Wish I had more gold! Mostly eBay purchases, some coin shops and thrift stores. Easy to sell & trade silver, and it usually will keep up with inflation no matter what. If I was younger and had to do it over, I would dredge for gold on the upper Arkansas River. If you really want some good advice go to kitco.com and join the forum. I made money buying precious metals and keeping them. It made my net worth go up, when my brand new house value went down. I'm not much on managing rentals as they require too much work! People trash the houses here in Pueblo. I have considered trading my PM's for property, but it would have to be perfect bugout property, preferably close to gold/silver producing areas. As for now it is my savings and has returned a few hundred percent increase in value. Price of precious metals will rise soon if the Federal Reserve puts more paper money in circulation. Only way silver will crash is if a huge mineral deposit is discovered. Just buy a few ounces a month and keep it in your safe...all other investments require way too much work and considerable risk. Don't put your nestegg in an Enron...

Just my .02 cents