I have been buying silver for a number of years. The least expensive is buying the silver rounds or ingots. I deal with a place in Florida (I live here) called Gainesville coins. Their website is "gainesvillecoins.com" without the " ... There is a place in Dallas that prices similar to the gainesville coins. it is
http://www.providentmetals.com/ One place I will not deal with is a place that does not have a address where I can go and get the product or find the people I am dealing with. Most of these places have information they can provide on good investment plans.
There is One main object. Buy Low Sell High.
My opinion is that I am interested in buying silver, it does not have to be collectable it has to be available to me for the lowest premium over the spot price. That means buying silver that is produced by a number of smelters, so it is important that you are dealing with dealers, like those above that you can trust.
Also, Do you need easily transported precious metals? consider gold. $1000 in silver weighs about 5 pounds. !000 in gold weighs about 1 ounce.
If you want to ask me any questions Just PM me.