Check out sdbullion.com - they usually have an introductory offer for first-time buyers to pick up 10 oz. of silver at spot price. Also, apmex.com is a good, reliable bullion dealer. I stick with the strategy of buying bullion weight as opposed to buying collectible coins. I think it best to keep your precious metals in smaller (1 oz) denominations because they will be more useful for trading/barter if you need to use them. Big bars (over 10 oz.) are not so easily trusted by most people who do trade precious metals, on a local level. In a pawn shop or gold and silver store, never sell for less than spot price.

I have bought a car and a boat over the last few years with silver eagles and silver rounds. Not everyone deals with or understands silver, so you have to find the right people to trade/barter with, but you can just go down to a local pawn/gold store and get cash if they don't understand what real money is. They want the fake (paper) stuff - only because they are generally uneducated about real money, or they are just looking for some cash to spend.

As far as ETFs go, that's a whole other ball of wax.