While gold and the NASDAQ have captured headlines with strong 2024 performance, silver has also played a starring role, surging an unprecedented 75 percent, outpacing everything else in the market. This isn’t just a good run — silver has made history, recently hitting an all-time nominal high of roughly $52.63 per troy ounce in futures and breaking $50 in spot prices.

This milestone shattered a record that stood for 45 years. The previous peak of $48.70 occurred in January 1980 during one of the biggest commodity scandals of the 20th century, during which the Hunt brothers infamously attempted to corner the global silver market. That artificial spike, which inspired movies such as Trading Places, was driven by financial chaos rather than fundamentals.

However, context matters. Adjusted for inflation, silver would need to exceed $200 per ounce to truly match the buying power of that 1980 peak. What makes this current rally fundamentally different is that it