Silver Investments, like other precious metals, silver is an investment. For more than four thousand years, silver has been a form of money and store of value. Like most commodities, the price of silver is by speculation and supply and demand. Compared to gold, the silver price is notoriously volatile. This is because of lower market liquidity, and demand fluctuations between industrial and store of value uses. At times, this can cause wide-ranging valuations in the market, creating volatility. Silver often tracks the gold price due to store of value demands, although the ratio can vary. The average gold/silver ratio during the 20th century was 1:47. A traditional way of investing in silver is by buying actual bullion bars. In some countries, like Switzerland and Liechtenstein, bullion bars is over the counter at major banks. Physical silver, such as bars or coins, may be stored in a home safe, a safe deposit box at a bank, or placed in allocated or unallocated storage with a bank or dealer. Various sizes of silver bars: 1000 oz troy bars – These bars weigh about 68 pounds avoirdupois (31 kg) and vary about 10% as to weight, as bars range from 900 ozt to about 1,100 ozt (28 to 34 kg). These are COMEX and LBMA good delivery bars. Hundred ozt bars – These bars weigh 6.8 pounds (3.11 kg) and are among the most popular with retail investors. Popular brands are Engelhard and Johnson Matthey. Those brands cost a bit more, usually about 40 cents to 2.00 dollars per troy ounce above the spot price, but that price may vary with market conditions. Odd weight retail bars – These bars cost less and generally have a wider spread, due to the extra work it takes to calculate their value and the extra risk due to the lack of a good brand name. Buying silver coins is another popular method of physically holding silver. One example is the 99.99% pure Canadian Silver Maple Leaf. Coins may be as either fine silver or junk silver, the latter being older coins with a smaller percentage of silver. U.S. coins 1964 and older (half dollars, dimes, and quarters) are 25 grams per dollar of face value and 90% silver (22½ g silver per dollar). All 1965-1970 and one half of the 1975-1976 Bicentennial San Francisco proof and mint set Kennedy half dollars are "clad" in a silver alloy and contain just under one half of the silver in the pre-1965 issues. Junk-silver coins are also available as sterling silver coins, which were until 1919 in the United Kingdom, Canada, and 1945 in Australia. These coins are 92.5% silver and are in the form of Crowns, Half-crowns, Florins, Shillings, Sixpences, and three pence. The tiny three pence weighs 1.41 grams, and the Crowns are 28.27 grams Canada produced silver coins with 80% silver content from 1920 to 1967. Other hard money enthusiasts use .999 fine silver rounds as a store of value. A cross between bars and coins, silver rounds are produced by a huge array of mints, generally contain a troy ounce of silver in the shape of a coin, but have no status as legal tender. Rounds can be with a custom design stamped on the faces or in assorted batches.

Legal Education

Legal education is the education of individuals who intend to become legal professionals or those who simply intend to use their law degree to some end, either related to law such as politics or academic or business. In addition to the qualifications required to become a practicing lawyer, legal education also encompasses higher degrees such as doctorates, for more advanced academic study.

In many countries other than the United States, law is an undergraduate degree. Graduates of such a program are eligible to become lawyers by passing the country's equivalent of a bar exam. In such countries, graduate programs in law enable students to embark on academic careers or become specialized in a particular area of law.

In the United States, law is a professional doctorate degree known as a Juris Doctor. Students embark upon only after completing an undergraduate degree in some other field usually a bachelor’s degree, and are considered to be a first professional degree program. The undergraduate degree can be in any field, though most American lawyers hold bachelor's degrees in the humanities and social sciences; legal studies as an undergraduate study is available at a few institutions. American law schools are usually an autonomous entity within a larger university.

A law school is an institution where prospective lawyers obtain legal degrees. In the United States, law is a Doctoral degree, the pursuit of which students undertake only after having completed an undergraduate degree in some other field usually a bachelor's degree. The law school program is considered to be a professional school program and upon graduation you receive the distinct title of Doctor. Though attorneys rarely if ever use the title 'doctor' even though they are entitled to by both degree and etiquette. The undergraduate degree can be in any field, though most American lawyers hold bachelor's degrees in the humanities and social sciences. American law schools are usually an autonomous entity within a larger university, though there are independent institutions.

In most cases, the degree awarded by American law schools is the Doctor of Jurisprudence or Juris Doctor J.D., degree. In contrast, the LL.B. degree is still the standard qualification in other common law jurisdictions, mostly in the Commonwealth of Nations. Research degrees that are awarded include the Master of Laws LL.M. and Doctor of Juridical Science degrees J.S.D. or S.J.D...

Once a student has graduated from law school, he or she is expected to pursue admission to the bar in order to practice. Requirements for membership in the bar vary across the United States. In almost every state, the only way to be admitted to the bar is to pass a usually multi-day written examination. Once admitted, most attorneys must meet certain Continuing Legal Education CLE requirements.

Faculty of law is another name for a law school or school of law, the terms commonly used in the United States. This term is used in Canada, other Commonwealth countries and the rest of the world. It may be distinguishable from law school in the sense that a faculty is a subdivision of a university on the same rank with other faculties, i.e. faculty of medicine, faculty of graduate studies, whereas a law school or school of law may have a more autonomous status within a university, or may be totally independent of any other post-secondary educational institution.

In addition in some countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada and some states of Australia, the final stages of vocational legal education required to qualify to practice law are carried out outside the university system. The requirements for qualification as a barrister or as a solicitor are covered in those articles. See advocate for details of the requirements for qualification as an advocate in Scotland.<