If your goal is to buy silver then you should buy silver bullion. Please remember that the spot price of silver you see in the paper is for a 5000 ounce ingot in New York. Also remember the price of the Certificates includes not only the market value of the underlying silver, but also such costs as minting, storage, insurance, printing and distribution, bookkeeping, supporting the Redemption Centers, advertising, and all the other usual expenses of a free-market enterprise. Plus the Certificates are wholesaled to the Redemption Centers at a discount to provide them a profit for political action to repeal the Federal Reserve, the IRS and bring about a positive change to our monetary system. The main advantage is simply that the ALC Silver Certificates transforms an impractical valuable commodity that is difficult to price into a useful and valuable tool for commerce.
Silver is a wonderful, valuable metal.
But it is heavy and its fluctuating price makes it difficult to use in daily transactions. The answer to all these questions is no. As a purchaser, you want as much purchasing power as possible while the store-keeper needs an easy and quick dollar amount for his accounting at the end of the day. One that functions in parallel with the Federal Reserve Notes. You can not buy a loaf of bread for the price of flour.