A couple of months ago, Germany’s finance ministry took a remarkable step: it cancelled the long-planned Christmas issuance of a “Three Wise Men” commemorative silver coin, and a second (less festive) silver token celebrating monorails.

The reason? Silver prices surged in October to hit $53 per ounce, a level where “the material value of the German €20 and €25 silver coins currently exceeds their respective face value by a significant margin,” as the finance ministry explained. In plain English: issuing those coins no longer made economic sense.

And since then, silver prices have continued to soar. Indeed on Wednesday, the silver price hit $63.86 per ounce — nearly double its level a year ago — after the Federal Reserve trimmed rates by 25 basis points.