Highest gold and silver prices since 2010, due to pandemic

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – The price of gold and silver offer a good indication of the current economic and political climate. One local coin exchange owner says the COVID-19 pandemic has been driving more people to invest in commodities.

While demand may be high, metals such as silver are in short supply as people may be reluctant to liquidate their assets right now. Owner of Eau Claire’s General Coin & Gun Exchange, Brian Zinn says mid-year, he’d be waiting two to three months for an order of silver from manufacturers.

“Metals are rising, in the last year, they’ve gone up almost $300 for an ounce of gold. A lot of mints are shut down, private mints that make products, silver or gold to sell and so the weight has increased quite a bit for us to buy goods to sell you,” said Zinn.

Zinn says when he opened his store in 2002, an ounce of silver was around three dollars and an ounce of gold, 400 dollars.