How Silver Has Been Suppressed – And Why Change Is Coming

For decades, silver’s role as honest money has been systematically suppressed. While gold is widely recognized as the ultimate monetary metal, silver has been relegated to the role of an “industrial commodity.” Yet history tells a different story — and the evidence shows that silver has been deliberately managed to mask its true value.

Silver: From Money to “Just Industry”

Less than a century ago, China operated on a silver standard. Silver was money for ordinary people, banks held it in reserves, and it carried the same monetary weight as gold did in the West. That legacy has not disappeared. Since 1983, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has quietly managed not just gold, but also silver reserves.

The regulations made it clear:

The People’s Bank of China shall be responsible for the control of the State’s gold and silver reserves… [and] for the purchase and sale of gold and silver… including the administration of purchase and sales prices.

In other words, silver was treated as money, not merely as an industrial material.

How the Price Has Been Managed

During the past four decades, China not only became one of the largest silver miners (3,500–4,000 tonnes annually), but also imported vast amounts of silver doré (unrefined silver) for refining.

The mechanism worked like this:

• Silver producers sold their doré, often through commodity giants like Glencore.

• Payments were handled by major banks, including JPMorgan.

• Hedging contracts (short positions) were placed in Western futures markets (COMEX, London) — not to speculate, but to manage prices downward.

This system allowed China to quietly accumulate silver at suppressed prices, while Western markets saw only “hedging activity” and missed the bigger picture.

Why Suppression Made Sense

For China, keeping silver prices low meant:

1. Acquiring large strategic reserves at cheap levels.

2. Separating monetary reserves from industrial supply.

3. Supporting its long-term monetary strategy alongside gold.

It’s no coincidence that, while gold reserves were secretly built up during the 1980s and 1990s, silver was being stockpiled through global refining and paper-market management.

Are the Days of Suppression Over?

Fast forward to today:

• China is openly exchanging U.S. dollars for gold.

• Silver demand is exploding from the industrial side — solar panels, batteries, electronics.

• Investors worldwide are rediscovering silver as real money.

It is increasingly unlikely that silver can continue to be suppressed. The PBOC has probably secured enough reserves, and industrial demand is now too large to control.

What This Means for Investors

The silver market has been held back for decades, but suppression can’t last forever. When the lid comes off:

• Silver’s true monetary role could re-emerge.

• The gold-to-silver ratio (currently highly distorted) could move sharply in silver’s favor.

• Investors holding physical silver outside the banking system stand to benefit the most.

Just as gold has regained recognition as the foundation of wealth preservation, silver is poised to follow.

✅ Takeaway: Silver has been systematically suppressed — but the tide is turning. The same forces that elevated gold to the forefront of global wealth protection are now aligning for silver. The opportunity lies in owning physical silver before the rest of the world catches on.