Today the price is around $60. Normally, that'd be considered a win.

But over those 12 months, we silver bugs have been on a wild ride.

Simply incredible price action. From $36 to $119 in about 8 months. And now back down to $66.

I believe the silver bull market still has years to run. Maybe even another decade.

Today, let's explore why.

+$16 Since 1980?

Silver first reached $50 way back in 1980.

Of course, silver's miraculous 1971-1980 run wasn't totally natural. The famous Hunt brothers had cornered a big chunk of the silver market, controlling roughly 9% of investable silver through physical ownership and futures contracts.

But silver would have done well during the 1970s even without the Hunt Brothers. That year inflation peaked at around 14.8%.

Investors sought refuge from stagflation in precious metals. And gold and silver were the star sector of the 1970s.

It's wild that silver is still only $16 above the 1980 peak.

This Isn't 1980

1980 represented a peak for gold and silver that would last decades.

Some precious metal investors may be concerned that we're seeing a similar peak today.

But what caused the 1980 peak? Two factors dominated.

In 1971, Nixon ended the last remnants of the gold standard. The U.S. dollar was no longer bound by a fixed relationship to gold.

The 1970s gold and silver bull market was primarily driven by this massive shift to purely fiat money. It was a classic devaluation of hard money into fiat.

By 1980, the Petrodollar arrangement, in which oil producers agreed to only sell oil in dollars, had restored demand for U.S. dollars on the global stage.

Additionally, Fed Chairman Paul Volcker finally resolved to kill persistent inflation by hiking interest rates to nearly 20%. These sky-high rates finally tamed inflation.

By 1980, the U.S. had eliminated the inflationary threat, and set itself up for a period of strong growth.

In 1980, stocks were dirt cheap and poised to outperform precious metals for some time to come.