Silver bars and coins on sale for Dhanteras in a jewellery shop in Patna. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Oct. 23: This Dhanteras, currency-shaped silver bars are more in demand than traditional silver coins. Reason: good returns in future because of the price rise of the metal.

Prakash Rastogi, a resident of the city, told The Telegraph: “Silver bars have cent per cent purity and higher resale value. For Rs 1,300, I can buy a silver bar of 20gm. But I can purchase a coin of only 11.6gm for the same amount. Also, coins have a greater chance of being duplicate.”

He added that as the price of silver is going north, buying the precious metal is a good investment. “It is likely to give good returns in the future.”

Jewellers corroborated Rastogi’s claim.

“Around Dhanteras last year, the price of silver was Rs 37 per gram. This year, it has gone up to Rs 53 per gram,” said Vivek Kumar Gupta, the owner of Alka Jewel Jewellers on Boring Road.

“This Dhanteras, most of the customers are buying gold instead of silver. Those who cannot afford it are going for silver bars,” he said.

Gupta added that a silver coin has around 91.664 per cent purity but is priced much higher than its corresponding silver bars. “This is attracting customers to the bars,” he added.

Sources said the demand for silver bars would go up on the Dhanteras day.

Prachi Sharma, another customer, said: “If bars are more pure and have greater resale value, then why not?”

She added that she was planning to buy the new silver bars but the size of the shining piece would depend on how much her pocket permits.

Sources said silver bars of different weights were available in the market. A bar of 10gm can be purchased for Rs 650. If you can shell out more, you could also buy a 50gm bar for Rs 3,250 and a 100gm piece for Rs 6,500.

Silver bars, however, are not the only glittering items on offer. You could also pick up key rings, designer frames and idols of gods and goddesses to gift your loved ones this festive season.