Let's say I had $100,000 in 1964 (in 1964 dollars). I could have bought 83,334 ounces of silver, 5 houses priced at the national median, and 12,500 shares of IBM stock. In 2013, my silver would be worth about $2 million; my houses would be worth about $950,000; my IBM stock would be worth $2.5 million. If I had invested in a 1 year CD in 1964 and rolled it over each year for the average CD rate, without shopping for the best one each year--even with the low rates in the last 10 years--I'd have $1.7 million (since the CD would be taxed annually, this doesn't accurately reflect the return, but my point is to illustrate that many assets could have been bought and held and equalled silver's performance).