When prices are as erratic for silver and gold as they have been lately, but still moving in an upward trajectory, and you still want to buy, what do you do?
Figure out how much you can lose from your available cash without affecting your life or pysche and use only that much.
If you have the spare FRNs and don't intend to sell the PMs for at least 5 years then entry point is not that important. If you want to buy then buy. Presumably you have a good reason to believe the prices will go up so does it matter whether you buy at $18 or $19?
You are obviously buying because you expect value to hold or go up. So it doesn't really matter what the price is. If you are questioning what to do now, what will you do when the price is $25, $30, or higher? Buy what you want when you can.
The price of silver and gold will zig zag during the year. Those who buy for the long term expect that yearly zig zag to gradually move upwards when examined over the course of 12 months, 60 months, or longer. Surely everyone would prefer to buy during one the dips during the calendar year, however. I do.
I keep buying but not in bulk on silver. Little here and a little there. About 3 times a month. It adds up quickly though. If it hits $20.00 then I'll stop. I started investing/trading silver in January of last year so I have seen it go from $14 to almost $21. Not sure how things go when prices get higher ,i.e. Premiums on both buying and selling. Not sure what dealers do. I have some gold but that is long term Stuff that's in the don't touch stack.
One idea is to buy generic rounds and bars as close to melt during dips and opt for semi-numismatic when the prices are going up (so hopefully those silver items, like Perth Koalas, Kooks, Lunars or Chinese Pandas, will hold a premium even if silver goes down).
Bullion can be like wives. If you hold for the long term you will probably come out all right. But if you swap frequently and think you are upgrading each time it gets pretty expensive. I buy a little bit every month and work with it like dollar cost averaging a stock. Since our kids will probably be the ones to sell it will be marked to market and 100% profit to them in our estate. Collecting is a lot more fun than playing the bullion markets.