Silver Eagles, Maple Leafs, rounds and bars.

The United States' silver bullion coin, and the ounce most American stackers start with. Its reverse was redesigned in 2021, adding a variable reeded edge. It usually costs more over spot than other one-ounce coins.

Canada's silver bullion coin, one step finer than the Eagle at .9999. Security is built in: radial lines, a micro-engraved maple leaf showing the year, and Bullion DNA. For the same money it usually buys a little more silver than an Eagle.

The Britannia carries four security features, including a latent image that turns from a trident to a padlock as the coin tilts. The Royal Tudor Beasts are a 2 oz series of ten heraldic beasts begun in 2022; each is its own design, so it costs more than a Britannia.

Four .9999 silver lines from Australia. The Kangaroo keeps one design and is the plain bullion ounce; the Kookaburra, the Koala and the Lunar series (one zodiac animal a year) change design annually and cost more for it. The Perth Mint's bars are with the refiners.

A one-ounce silver piece from a private mint, with no face value, so it usually costs less than a coin of the same weight. Rounds come in from Sunshine, SilverTowne, Scottsdale Mint and Asahi, as available.

The cheapest way to hold silver by the ounce: the bigger the bar, the lower the premium. Bars come from the same U.S. mints as the rounds, from PAMP Suisse and Valcambi (including the break-apart CombiBar), and from Johnson Matthey on the secondary market.