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Silver vs. CPI since 1971 — the floating-rate era. Silver's "inflation hedge" reputation is more variable than gold's because of its industrial-demand component. The chart indexes both series to 100 at the displayed start year so you can compare growth rates and see exactly when silver has and hasn't kept pace with inflation.
Less reliable than gold. Silver tends to outperform inflation during commodity-bull periods (1970s, 2000s) and underperform during disinflationary periods (1980s, 2010s). Toggle the chart's ranges to see the divergence.
August 1971 is when the U.S. dollar severed its last formal link to gold (Nixon shock). Before that, the silver price was relatively stable under Treasury monetary regimes; after, it floats freely. 1971 is the natural anchor for "free-market silver" comparisons.
Gold tracks inflation more reliably long-run than silver. The /vs/gold-vs-inflation page shows the gold comparison.
S&P 500 total return — price + reinvested dividends