I don't think silver will ever be used as a monetary metal. Investment yes, but not as a means to fight inflation. Electronic silver (or gold) in my opinion is a very bad idea because there is much more electronic silver and gold than there is of its physical equivalents. In times of crisis this means you are never sure that you are going to get the real stuff in your hands, same with banks that go bust - if the FDIC goes bust, you won't be seeing the money that you saved.

Physical silver is not a very good metal to invest in. Whereas EUR 10,000 here buys me 10 single-oz Krugerrands (or about 300 grams of gold), in the case of silver, I would have to walk back from the issuing dealer to my car with 680 oz of silver or a bit more than 20 kgs of silver. That is not something you put in your pocket or even in a small vault. Then there is the fact that silver damages more easily than gold.

I prefer to hold Krugerrands. It's not going to buy me a bread at the local bakery, but it sure has been a better investment in the past few years than a simple savings account.