If I'd invested in silver since 2004
$1,000 put into silver at the end of 2004 would be worth about $4,294 today — a 4.29× return, or roughly 7.6% a year. Change the amount below to run your own number.
You'd have
$4,294
from $1,000 invested — up 329%.
The story behind the number
Silver since 2004 has been a bumpy road. $1,000 put in at the end of 2004 grew to $4,294 — a 4.29× return, or about 7.6% a year. The S&P 500 actually did better over the same years, turning that $1,000 into $6,137 — about 1.43× what this returned.
The ride mattered as much as the destination. The strongest single year was 2010, up 84%; the worst was 2013, down 35%.
Holding on took nerve: the position fell as much as 55% from its 2010 peak to its 2015 low and had not fully reclaimed that peak by the end of the window. Inflation takes a bite, too — consumer prices rose about 74% over the period, so in today's money the result is closer to 2.59× what you put in.
Common questions
- How much would I have if I'd invested $1,000 in silver in 2004?
- $1,000 invested in silver at the end of 2004 would be worth about $4,294 today — a 4.29× return, or roughly 7.6% per year.
- What were the best and worst years for silver since 2004?
- The best year was 2010, up about 84%. The toughest was 2013, when it fell about 35%. Across the window, 8 of 20 years finished lower than they started.
- What was the biggest drop along the way?
- The steepest decline was about 55%, from a peak in 2010 to a low in 2015, a level it had not fully recovered by the latest data.
- Would I have done better in S&P 500?
- Yes — the S&P 500 turned $1,000 into about $6,137, versus $4,294 for silver over the same window.
The chart above shows the whole journey, not just the destination. Try switching to a bit each year to see how spreading your buying would have changed the outcome — or skip the latte to find out what a small daily habit could have grown into instead.
More silver scenarios
All silver years →If I'd invested in silver since 2005
since 2005
If I'd invested in silver since 2010
since 2010
If I'd invested in silver since 2017
since 2017
If I'd invested in silver since 2023
since 2023