Both precious metals and cash serve as safe haven assets, intended to limit losses during market turmoil. However, as Visual Capitalist’s Jenna Ross notes, while modern currencies can be printed by central governments, precious metals derive value from their scarcity.
In this infographic from Texas Precious Metals, we compare the value of the world’s gold and silver coin production to global money creation.
Total Production Per Person, 2019
We calculated the value of global currency issuance in 2019 as well as precious metal coins minted, and divided by the global population to get total production per person.
Throughout, global money supply is a proxy based on the 5 largest reserve currencies: the U.S. dollar, Euro, Japanese Yen, Sterling Pound, and Chinese Renminbi.
The value of new global money supply was 600 times higher than the value of gold coins minted, and 3,700 times higher than silver coins minted.
Put another way, for each ounce of minted gold coin, the global money supply increased by more than $908,000.
Change in Annual Production, 2019 vs. 2010
Compared to the start of the decade, here’s how annual production levels have changed:
Annual increases to global money supply have increased by one-third, far outpacing the change in the world’s gold and silver coin production.
Even more recently, how has production changed during the COVID-19 pandemic?
The COVID-19 Effect
In response to the global pandemic, central banks have enacted numerous measures to help support economies—including issuing new currency.
The global money supply increased by more than $11.8 trillion in the first half of 2020. In fact, the value of printed currency was 1,600 times higher than the value of minted gold coins over the same timeframe.
Investors may want to consider which asset is more vulnerable to inflation as they look to protect their portfolios.