There is nothing you or I can do about our government's missing silver. The problem is not in where will we get the tens of millions of ounces for the mintage of Silver Eagles over the next few years. If the Mint stops producing silver coins the world won't end. The problem is where will the United States get the hundreds of millions of ounces of silver necessary for our national defense. Without an adequate national defense, the world could go up in smoke.
Defense contractors can no longer buy silver cheaply from the government stockpile.
They will have to procure it on the open market at much higher prices. This expense will be billed to the government and the taxpayers. And, in case there's a chronic shortage, it would have been nice for the government to hold on to a supply of this critical precious metal. Nor is it just about price. It's a question of availability of a critical item in a shortage.