Though the yellow metal has captured much of the limelight amid its recent run past $1,000 an ounce, silver has quietly enjoyed its own bull market. The metal is up about 47% so far this year, recently topping $17 an ounce, though it has since slipped to about $16.65.
Silver is caught between two worlds. It's a precious metal accumulated by investors and central banks as a quasi-currency. And it's an industrial metal with an increasing number of applications in health care, electronics and even food and clothing, where silver's antibacterial properties are taking hold.
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