It looks like silver will end the month with a hefty loss of more than 27%, but analysts are still optimistic that demand for the white metal, and prices, are in for a rally — if coin demand offers any indication. Earlier this week, Dillon Gage Metals said the U.S. Mint hasn’t been able to keep up with demand for silver bullion coins because there’s a shortage of blanks to make the coins. “We expect silver demand to remain strong, and could see prices push above $50 per ounce in late 2011,”said Terry Hanlon, president of Dillon Gage Metals, on Monday. “We’re optimistic for 2012, too, because we see an expanding group of buyers of coins and small bars.” There’s a “huge demand for silver coins all over the world, hence the shortage,” but that’s not the case with gold, according to Chintan Karnani, chief analyst at Insignia Consultants in New Delhi. “Gold over the coming years will be out of reach for the common man and silver will be the affordable way of owning bullion,” he said. At last check, December silver SI1Z was down 18 cents, or 0.6%, at $30.36 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, it’s trading slightly higher, but it’s also trading nearly 13% lower for the quarter and year to date, it’s still negative. December gold GC1Z, however, was trading $7.10 higher at $1,624.40 an ounce, down for the week and month, but up nearly 8% for the quarter for a year to date rise of more than 13%.

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