A broker's record that you own a share in a mutual fund is even less "real money" than a federal reserve note (paper money). There aren't even stock certificates anymore. There are those who maintain there's not sufficient silver in the vaults to cover all the metal owed by the exchange traded fund SLV. Some say there isn't any held that isn't already loaned or sold to someone else.

If your belief is that paper obligations will continue to be honored for the forseeable future and that the main reason to hold silver is to avoid the continued devaluation of the US dollar, maybe ETF's are OK. I held SLV and GLD for a while, but got to the point where I don't trust the trustees any more .

There is another fund, Central Fund of Canada, that invests half in silver and half in gold, all bullion held in a Canadian bank. They have been around for years and fees are very low. They trade in the US and any broker can buy them for you. Symbol is CEF. At this point, I think this is safe enough, but eventually holding the physical metal itself will be the only safe way to protect your savings.