Silver through my lifetime- Happy birthday to me.

Today is my 45th birthday, and for some reason, that feels like the perfect excuse to look back at something that has quietly mirrored the passage of time alongside me: the price of silver. Not just as a chart or a number on a screen, but as a thread running through economic history from the year I was born to today.

I came into the world in 1981, just after one of the most dramatic periods silver has ever experienced. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw silver explode in price as the Hunt brothers attempted to corner the market, driving it briefly to levels that wouldn’t be seen again for decades. By the time I arrived, the chaos had already begun to unwind. Silver had settled back down, trading at roughly ten dollars an ounce — a far cry from the frenzy that had preceded it, but still carrying the echoes of that volatility.

As I grew through childhood and into adulthood, silver spent many of those years quietly ticking along in the background. The 1980s and 1990s weren’t particularly kind to silver investors. Inflation eased, markets stabilised, and silver drifted sideways for long stretches, often overlooked and undervalued. It was useful, industrial, dependable — but rarely exciting. In many ways, it was a metal waiting patiently for its moment again.

That moment began to stir in the late 2000s. Financial crises have a habit of reminding people why precious metals matter, and silver was no exception. As confidence in paper systems wavered, interest returned. By 2011, silver surged once more, climbing to heights not seen since before I was born. It didn’t last, of course — silver never does anything quietly — but it served as a reminder of what the metal is capable of when sentiment, scarcity, and demand align.

The years that followed were, once again, a lesson in patience. Prices pulled back, enthusiasm cooled, and silver resumed its familiar role as the underestimated sibling to gold. Yet beneath the surface, something was changing. Industrial demand continued to grow, especially with the rise of renewable energy, electronics, and modern technologies that rely heavily on silver’s unique properties.

Fast forward to today, January 11th, 45 years on from my birth, and silver finds itself in a very different place. The price now sits many times higher than it did in 1981, shaped by inflation, currency debasement, supply constraints, and a renewed understanding of silver’s dual role as both money and industrial necessity. It hasn’t been a straight line — far from it — but the long-term journey tells a story that charts alone often fail to capture.

Looking back, silver’s price history feels oddly relatable. Periods of rapid change followed by long stretches of quiet progress. Moments of hype and disappointment, growth and stagnation, all layered over time. It reminds me that value isn’t always obvious in the moment, and that patience often matters more than timing.

So today, as I turn 45, this isn’t really a blog about numbers or spot prices. It’s about perspective. About how something as simple as the price of silver can act as a marker for decades lived, lessons learned, and the slow, steady accumulation of experience — both in markets and in life.