So silver's pricier than last year—that part's obvious. But here's what most people miss: when you adjust for money supply expansion, today's silver is nowhere near its historical peaks.

Look at the numbers:

1974 marked $171 per ounce in today's money terms. Then 1980 hit—that was the real bull run, equivalent to $713 by current purchasing power standards. And 2011? Only $121 when inflation-adjusted.

The takeaway? Silver's bouncing around, sure. Yet measured against actual money supply growth instead of nominal prices, we're still well below those previous highs. It's a reminder that headline numbers can fool you. What matters is real purchasing power and how assets perform relative to monetary expansion—something that applies to your entire portfolio, not just precious metals.