Are gold and silver simply relics of the past, or critical tools for navigating what may be the next major shift in the global monetary system?
In this episode of The Agent of Wealth, host Marc Bautis is joined by David Morgan, a precious metals analyst and monetary system critic with more than four decades of experience. David is the co-author of The Silver Manifesto, publisher of The Morgan Report, and creator of the documentary Silver Sunrise. Together, they cut through the hype to explore what precious metals really represent, why they’re surging, and how they may fit into a modern financial plan.
In this episode, you will learn:
- Why today’s market environment may represent a historic confidence shift, not just another economic cycle — and what that means for currencies, assets, and investors.
- How gold and silver act as financial barometers, signaling stress in the monetary system before it shows up elsewhere.
- What’s driving the surge in silver and gold demand, from industrial shortages and institutional buying to central banks quietly preparing a “Plan B.”
- How individual investors can think about precious metals practically, including physical ownership, ETFs, and why a modest allocation can serve as portfolio insurance.
- And more!
Tune in for a wide-ranging conversation on money, markets, mining, and the psychological forces behind inflation — plus a grounded perspective on how precious metals can provide balance, liquidity, and peace of mind during uncertain times.
Resources:
themorganreport.com | silversunrise.tv | The Silver Manifesto | Bautis Financial: 8 Hillside Ave, Suite LL1 Montclair, New Jersey 07042 (862) 205-5000 | Schedule an Introductory Call
Disclosure: The transcript below has been edited for clarity and content. It is not a direct transcription of the full episode, which can be listened to above.
Welcome back to The Agent of Wealth, this is your host Marc Bautis. Today’s episode is dedicated entirely to precious metals – what they are, what they are not, and where they fit in a modern financial plan. Gold and silver have served as stores of value for thousands of years, yet they’re often misunderstood, misused, or ignored altogether.
To help us separate signal from noise, I’m joined by guest David Morgan today. David is a precious metals analyst and monetary system critic with over four decades of experience.
David is the author of The Silver Manifesto, publisher of The Morgan Report, and now creator of the upcoming documentary Silver Sunrise.
With insight grounded in monetary history and hard-won market experience, David’s here to unpack money, markets, and mining.
David, welcome to the show.
Marc, thanks for having me.
So, I’m excited to talk about precious metals today. I think the timing couldn’t be any better, given what’s gone on recently over the past year — really, the past couple of years. I’m sure listeners will have a lot to gain from our conversation. You’re one of the world’s most trusted voices on precious metals. What brought you to really study — or become an expert — in this area?
Yeah, it’s a great question, and I’ve answered it often. The truth of the matter is, I was 11 years old when the coinage changed. My dad used to deposit 25 cents in my hand — a 25-cent allowance — and I earned it. I had to water the orchard, which was one acre of trees. And when you’re 10 or 11 years old, spending an hour or two behind a hose feels like forever.
But the coin had changed. I remember thinking, This is weird. This new coin can’t be as valuable as a silver coin. No one around me seemed to be paying any attention. I think that might have been the spark. I don’t want to make too big a deal out of it, but I was fascinated by money.
I started trading stocks when I was 16, asking my dad to get me under the 18-year-old age limit. California said, “If your parents say it’s okay, you can start trading stocks at 16.”
I wanted to go into finance, but my dad was against it. I started a different career, but I was always interested in finance. I studied monetary history on my own — what happens when banks make money that doesn’t have any value behind it. That led me to the Austrian School of Economics, which I studied independently as my life progressed.
Eventually, I went back to school and earned a second degree in finance. My first degree was in engineering. I lost my career, you could say, in the aircraft industry and moved into finance, and I’ve been there ever since.
I really wanted to be a newsletter writer because I had read so many and attended so many investment conferences. These men and women were very astute about what I’ll call the “real economy,” or at least a different viewpoint.
When the internet started, I had the opportunity to begin that business because it didn’t require a lot of money — it could be done electronically. And here I am, 25 years later, talking to you.
Maybe you can give us a little background on what’s happened with precious metals over the past six months, year, or couple of years. Everyone gets blasted by what they’re hearing about the stock market or this or that, and sometimes what’s going on in the precious metals market — particularly gold and silver — goes under the radar. But there’s been a lot of activity and a lot of movement recently.
I’m going to broaden the framework, and thanks for the question. The subtitle of The Morgan Report is “Money, Metals, and Mining.” Money affects everyone. Everyone is concerned about their money, no matter what nationality you are, what religious beliefs you have, or what team you root for.
The bigger picture for me is this: we are not in just another cycle. This is a confidence shift — in money, in institutions, and in promises.
We’re not simply at one of those currency changes that happen every 50 or 60 years, which is true as a general rule of thumb. I think we’re in a much larger shift that happens every 300 to 400 years, and that has a lot to do with unsound money on a worldwide basis.
Every fiat collapse in history — the Weimar Republic, Argentina, the Italian lira — has occurred within a given country. You could escape by holding another country’s currency, or perhaps precious metals, real estate, or something else.
But this time, the U.S. dollar is the reserve currency of the world, as we all know. If the dollar goes down, I think everything goes down. That doesn’t mean the end of the world. It doesn’t mean things stop. It does mean a realignment — a repricing of everything.
Real estate gets repriced. Stocks get repriced. Precious metals get repriced. And normally, after that massive shift — or “reset,” as the overused word goes — there’s a rebuilding into a more realistic value system that people appreciate far more than what we had before, much like what followed the Roaring ’20s and the Great Depression.
Let’s say the U.S. dollar does go down. What could trigger that?
Precious metals are more of a barometer than a thermometer. If you’re a sailor or a pilot and you look at the barometer and see drastic changes ahead, you might change your plans. You might not make that flight. You might cancel your voyage or take a different route.
What happened in precious metals last year — with silver and platinum leading most asset classes, with gains of over 100%, and gold doing quite well too — that’s the barometer telling us, watch out, choppy seas ahead.
The real trigger point is this: enough money has already been printed to cause hyperinflation ten years ago. Here we are, ten years later, and it hasn’t happened. It still may happen, or it may never happen. So the trigger isn’t purely monetary, even though overprinting is the cause.
The true trigger is psychological.
When people wake up and say, This time, when I go to the grocery store, I’m going to buy more because I know the next time I go, it’s going to cost more, that’s when the velocity of money accelerates. People start spending money just to get rid of it and acquire something tangible.
That’s what happens in all major inflations.
That kind of behavior hasn’t fully taken place in the United States yet. The velocity of money is still relatively low. But based on what the metals are foreshadowing, I anticipate that in 2026 we’ll see more people buying precious metals for safety — and more people doing whatever they can, even draining bank accounts, to buy things of value because the currency is losing purchasing power so rapidly.
How much of the recent spike in gold, silver, and platinum is flight-to-safety? Is it retail-driven, institution-driven, or more of a fundamental rejection of the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency?
It’s a combination, but let me break it down.
First, retail silver investors have largely been out of the market. Some are still there — I’m still there — but many were worn out by silver’s behavior. Years ago, I coined a phrase: silver will scare you out or wear you out.
Many investors were simply exhausted. Silver didn’t do much for a long time. When it finally broke out into the mid-30s and then the 40s, people who had bought at 20 or 30 saw a profit and said, I’m out. I’m tired of it. I wish I never bought it. They either took profits or broke even and exited.
Until very recently — within the last four or five weeks — retail silver investors were primarily sellers, not buyers.
Now, on the flip side, institutions have stepped in. Silver is primarily an industrial metal. It still has monetary properties and serves as a safe haven like gold, but industrial demand is the main driver — and will continue to be.
We’ve been in a supply deficit for four or five years, and industrial users have finally caught on. Chinese markets, in particular, have taken over physical silver demand. They’re buying silver in large blocks.
The silver market is based on derivatives and futures, but the physical backbone is 1,000-ounce silver bars. Those bars are being bought hand over fist and, in many cases, stockpiled for future industrial use — by companies like Tesla, Apple, Samsung, and electronics manufacturers.
There is no substitute for silver in many of these applications. As physical industrial demand overtook retail investment demand, it drove prices from roughly $50 to $80 in just a few months.
Gold is a bit different.
I said the run to gold had started when it was around $2,000, and now we’re near $4,400. I said that with confidence because of careful observation. Central banks have been buying gold in greater quantities than ever before in recorded history — and that continues today.
For more than two years now, central banks have been buying gold aggressively while reducing their appetite for U.S. Treasuries. I wouldn’t say they’re directly substituting, but they are clearly adding to gold reserves.
There’s no fever like gold fever. The run to gold starts slowly — a walk, then a brisk walk, then a jog, then a run, and finally an all-out sprint.
Right now, we’re probably in the light run phase. Markets are accelerating, but we’re not at the top yet. When everyone is talking about their favorite gold stock or silver stock, or melting down silver candelabras for their metal value, then we’ll know we’re there.
This is unfortunate, but it’s history repeating itself. There has never been a fiat monetary system that hasn’t failed. To believe this one won’t is naïve.
Failure doesn’t mean the U.S. dollar goes to zero. I don’t believe that. I do believe a new system will be implemented — likely still called the U.S. dollar — but operating on a blockchain or CBDC-style infrastructure, largely electronic, and moving us further into a cashless society. That’s the direction being pushed.
If something like that does happen and there is a new type of currency, where do gold and silver fit? Where might they fit going forward in that type of system?
Yeah, that’s a great question. And I wish I could look at you now and say, “Marc, it’s going to be this,” but I really don’t know.
What I do know are two things, and they’re both vital.
First, gold has been vital to all monetary systems that have failed in the past. Let me explain a little bit. This is a very short, broad-brush view of monetary history, leaving a lot of details out:
- Gold standard — great system, success, fairness, as much as fairness can exist in the human experience.
- Go off the gold standard, go into fiat, fail.
- Go back to a gold standard — stability, prosperity, confidence.
- Go off the gold standard again, go into fiat, fail.
- Go back to gold.
So you see this repeated pattern of fiat failure leading back to gold, over and over again. Again, that’s a very broad overview.
This time, if we fail, will we go back to a gold standard? I don’t think so — at least not initially.
However, as I mentioned earlier, central banks are buying gold hand over fist. I believe that’s their backup plan — their Plan B. Plan A is to move the world onto a central bank digital currency, whether private or public, government-issued or non-government. It doesn’t really matter. A stablecoin is basically a CBDC that exists outside of direct government control.
If that doesn’t work, then I believe there will be a system tied to gold at some level. It will not be a gold exchange standard where you take your U.S. CBDC dollar and exchange it for gold. Instead, you’ll be told that there are “this many grams of gold” backing every dollar in circulation.
That’s one point.
As far as silver is concerned, it’s absolutely essential to a high-tech society. It’s imperative. It cannot be substituted.
So what role will it play in the crossover? Since silver doesn’t serve the same monetary role as gold anymore, I think it will simply be repriced in the new system — likely at a much higher level than it was before. Silver has been suppressed for well over 50 years, and now it’s in a true price discovery phase that will probably continue for several more months.
Depending on when a new system is implemented, silver will likely cross over at a much higher valuation than it had, say, a year and a half ago.
Because silver has that industrial utility, do you see more demand going forward for silver versus something like gold?
Absolutely. If you go back 25 years, when I started on the web, about 35% of silver demand came from industrial applications. That’s over a third of all silver mined — a pretty significant amount. At the time, we mined roughly 500 million ounces per year, so about 150 million ounces went to industry.
Today, industrial demand is about 70% of the market. It has doubled in 25 years. We now mine around 800 million ounces annually. Seventy percent of that is roughly 560 million ounces.
Now, for a thought experiment, let’s say that from the year 2000 until now, we never increased production and only mined 500 million ounces per year. That’s not true — production has increased — but just for argument’s sake.
In that case, industry alone would need more silver than is mined annually. And we’re getting close to that reality today.
When you add industrial use, jewelry, and silverware together, we are essentially consuming all the silver that is mined and recycled every year. The offset has been monetary demand, which averages around 200 million ounces annually. That deficit is exactly what we’ve seen over the past four or five years.
If monetary demand accelerates the way gold’s has — and it appears to be happening in the East — then the imbalance grows. Remember, I said retail silver investors in North America have been net sellers, which is true. But in Asian markets, retail investors have caught onto the silver story.
In places like Hong Kong and across Asia, people have been buying silver for investment purposes. So the market is a bit skewed right now, but that’s where we are.
What’s the process of mining silver? Is there an infinite amount that could be mined? Is it very labor- or resource-intensive? And how does that compare to gold mining?
A pure silver mine is a much rarer animal than a gold mine.
First of all, there’s almost no such thing as a pure silver mine anymore. There is one exception — a mine in Morocco that’s almost entirely silver — but generally speaking, silver is mined as a byproduct of other metals.
About 70% of silver production comes from other mining activities. Roughly 27% comes from copper mining. About 13% comes from gold mining. The remaining percentage comes from lead and zinc mining.
Even so-called “primary” silver mines usually extract silver alongside copper, lead, zinc, tin, or gold. There are very few standalone silver mines.
To further your question, the cost of mining silver is around $30 per ounce. For a long time, silver traded near that level. Many miners were barely making a living.
To be a viable mining operation, you need margins. Let’s say silver is $50 and your cost is $30 — that’s a $20 margin. That sounds good, but mining is capital-intensive. You need to reinvest constantly in exploration, drilling, assays, geophysics — all the work required to find the next deposit.
Because even the best gold or silver mine eventually fails. Once you take the last ounce out of the ground, the mine closes. If you want to stay in business, you must keep finding new economically viable deposits — and there aren’t many.
Now that prices have risen so dramatically over the past year, many deposits that couldn’t be mined economically before can be mined now.
Let me clarify a term I used earlier: AISC — All-In Sustaining Cost. It simply means, “What does it cost me to do everything necessary to produce one ounce of silver or gold?” That cost must be below the market price, or you’re not in a viable business.
You mentioned that North American retail investors are net sellers, while investors abroad are buyers. I’m starting to get more questions about gold and silver. What’s the practicality for a retail investor? How do they actually invest in silver? People hear they can buy bars at Costco. How does that compare to trusts like SLV or GLD? What other options exist?
First, let me say this: I’m not a bullion dealer, so I’m not selling my own book here.
But I truly believe that anyone who has the ability to invest should own some precious metals — especially given current economic conditions. For most people, 10% is probably plenty.
I’ve always taught that you should start with real metal. Physical gold or silver. You can buy it at Costco — that’s as good a place as any — or from reputable online dealers. Banks don’t sell it, but it’s easy to acquire.
Once you have physical metal and some additional capital, then you can explore ETFs, mining stocks, or options. I don’t recommend those as a first step, but I’m not opposed to them once physical ownership is established.
For most investors who already have brokerage accounts and want to avoid futures — which I recommend most people stay away from — ETFs are the easiest route. SLV, PSLV, SILJ (a junior silver miners ETF) — there are many options.
Any stock investor can spend five minutes online and find a wide range of gold and silver investments.
And the 10% allocation you mentioned — is that diversification, insurance, or growth?
It’s more of a hedge than anything else.
Years ago, I was asked to write for a book called The Investing Rules Book. It no longer exists, but it was published in the U.K. for many years. Experts from all investment disciplines contributed — mutual funds, options, dividend stocks, even film investing.
I was asked to write “The 10 Rules of Silver Investing.” Rule number 10 was this: Too much of a good thing is still too much.
Ten percent is correct for most portfolios. You own precious metals for times like these. You’re buying sound money when a currency crisis is ahead — and that crisis has been building since Nixon closed the gold window on August 15, 1971.
We’re not collapsing overnight, but we’re near the end of the cycle. Even the bankers are looking for a new system.
If everything goes down — real estate, stocks, bonds — precious metals usually sit on the opposite end of the seesaw. They balance you out.
Ten percent is enough. Look at 1980: gold went from around $42 to $850 — over a 20x move. Ten percent would have more than balanced declines elsewhere, and nothing else went to zero.
The biggest misunderstanding in my business is that people hear the story, resonate with it, and go all in. Or they buy the wrong type of gold, or buy too much, or act emotionally.
My position has always been that everyone needs some, not everything, in precious metals.
Liquidity matters, too. If you’re a real estate investor and something goes wrong with a property, having 10% in metals gives you quick access to capital without selling assets at a bad time.
I’m getting off into the weeds, but that’s the idea.
Speaking of liquidity — if someone buys physical metals and later needs to sell, how does that work?
There’s nothing more liquid than gold or silver.
There are coin shops in nearly every town. Even pawn shops — which I don’t recommend — will buy it. You can liquidate almost anywhere in North America and most countries worldwide.
In fact, all jet pilots carry a survival pack, and inside that pack is a gold coin — not cash. If you eject in Vietnam, France, or Colombia, that gold coin will be accepted almost anywhere. That’s why they include it.
I mentioned earlier that you’re creating a documentary called Silver Sunrise. What led you to do that?
Great question.
I’ve used business coaches off and on throughout my career. I believe two heads are better than one — but not everything by committee.
My most recent coach asked me about writing another book. I’ve already written three: The Silver Manifesto, a silver primer, and Second Chances, which focuses on preserving wealth.
He suggested a documentary. I thought, That sounds like a lot of work. But things fell into place. I met the right people. One acquaintance connected me with James Yeager, who had done 10 documentaries, including Fiat Empire, which won a Telly Award.
Two and a half years later, we released Silver Sunrise for free at silversunrise.tv.
It takes a more spiritual look at money. The subtitle is Overcoming the Stress, Fear, and Control of Money. Money is one of the biggest sources of stress globally — it contributes to divorce, job loss, anxiety — and it doesn’t have to be that way.
Alright, David, that’s all the questions I have. Where can listeners learn more about you and your work?
Visit themorganreport.com and sign up for the free newsletter at the bottom of the page. You’ll receive interviews like this and a weekly market perspective covering money, metals, and mining.
It offers an alternative viewpoint. The mainstream financial press is very “rah-rah” on stocks — and I love stocks — but in times like these, wealth protection matters.
We may reach a point where it’s not about how much you gain, but how much you don’t lose. Precious metals can provide peace of mind in uncertain times.
Great. We’ll link to that in the resources section of the show notes. Thanks again, David. And thank you to everyone who tuned into today’s episode. Don’t forget to follow The Agent of Wealth on the platform you listen from and leave us a review of the show. We are currently accepting new clients, if you’d like to schedule a 1-on-1 consultation with our advisors, please do so below.
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