Silver vs Copper
The two best electrical conductors used at scale: silver first, copper immediately behind and eighty times cheaper. That is the whole subject — industry takes the second wherever it can, and uses the first only where nothing else will do.
Over the period both series share, Silver comes out ahead at +9.6% a year.
| Asset | Total return | Annualised | Volatility | Largest drawdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | ×10.9 | +9.6% a year | 32.4% | −70.0% (January 2016) |
| Copper | +631.8% | +7.9% a year | 25.8% | −63.8% (February 2009) |
Figures calculated on 26/10/2026 from monthly closing prices. Past performance is no guide to future performance.
The best conductor, and the affordable one
Silver conducts electricity better than any other metal, with copper immediately behind. The performance gap is small, the price gap enormous: all mass electrical engineering is therefore in copper, with silver reserved for contacts, solders and the conductive pastes of photovoltaic cells, where a few grams suffice.
That constant substitution caps silver’s price in its industrial uses: if it rises too far, manufacturers cut the quantity per unit, and those savings are rarely given back afterwards. Copper has no credible replacement at scale, other than aluminium in a handful of applications.
Investment demand exists on one side only
Nobody buys a copper bar. Silver has been hoarded as coin and bullion for millennia and follows gold through episodes of distrust. That second source of demand has nothing to do with industrial activity, and it produces the dramatic spikes copper’s curve never shows.
The result is a two-faced asset, markedly more volatile than copper while sharing part of its causes. The widest gaps between the two curves almost always read the same way: silver took off for reasons that owed nothing to factories.
Frequently asked questions
If silver conducts better, why does copper dominate?
Price, and abundance. The gain in conductivity is a matter of per cent, the extra cost a matter of tens of times: it is only justified where every fraction counts, on very small quantities.
Does photovoltaics change silver demand?
It has become one of its main industrial outlets. Manufacturers are working in parallel to cut the amount per cell, which tempers the effect of the sector’s growth on total demand.
Which of the two is more volatile?
Silver, by a clear margin. It combines copper’s industrial cyclicality with gold’s investment demand, on a market narrower than either.