A Brief History Of Silver
Silver has attracted man’s fascination for many thousands of years. It was discovered after gold and copper in about 4000 B.C., and was generally found in copper or lead mineralization. Relics from these times include jewelry, religious artifacts, and food vessels.
The first sophisticated processing of silver ore was attributed to the Chaldeans in about 2500 B.C. The need for traditional silver resulted in the location and exploitation of silver deposits in what is now Armenia.
As early as 700 B.C., the Mesopotamian merchants used silver as a form of exchange. Later, many other civilizations also came to recognize the inherent value of silver as a trading metal.
Coins, in the sense of having an authenticating stamp on them, began to appear in the eastern Mediterranean during 550 B.C. By 269 B.C. Rome adopted silver as part of its standard coinage.
The word "sterling" has been used to mean high-quality silver since the 1200's. At that time, the coins of England had decreased in value and contained only a little silver. The only European coins that contained large proportions of silver, were those made by the merchants of the Hanseatic League, a group of trading cities in Northern Germany.
These coins were called "Easterlings" to distinguish them from the low-silver alloy coins of England. English speech contracted "Easterling" to "Sterling". Articles of sterling silver are solid silver through and through.
Sterling is 925 parts out of a thousand pure. We have a federal law which requires that all silver stamped "sterling" must be 925 parts of pure silver in every thousand parts of metal. The additional 75 parts out of a thousand are to add stiffness and durability as pure silver is quite soft.
In 1792, silver assumed a key role in the United States monetary system when Congress based the currency on the silver dollar, and its fixed relationship to gold. Silver was used for the nation’s coinage until its use was discontinued in 1965. The dawn of the 20th century marked an important economic function for silver, that of an industrial raw material.
Today, silver is sought as a valuable and practical industrial commodity, as well as an appealing investment precious metal. Many countries now issue silver bullion coins, including the Unites States..
Although silver is relatively scarce, it is the most plentiful and least expensive of the precious metals. The largest silver producing countries are Mexico, Peru, the United States, Australia and Chile. Sources of silver include; silver mined directly, silver mined as a by-product of gold, copper, lead and zinc mining, and silver extracted from recycled materials, primarily used photographic materials. Today, silver bullion stocks make up a significant component of silver supply.
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