Silver

Silver is one of the earliest known precious metals and has been mined for thousands of years. 

Silver is a soft white metal with a lustrous surface. It is known as the chemical element with the highest reflectivity, thermal conductivity, and electrical conductivity of all metals. Silver has the atomic number 47 and its symbol on the periodic table is Ag. The transition metal also belongs to Group 11 (Ib) of the periodic table which includes copper and gold.

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The History Of Silver

Early History

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The history of silver is long and nobody knows who discovered the metal. However, it is known that silver was probably used, in one form or the other, since prehistoric times. The first recorded history shows that Greece and Turkey had the earliest silver mines and that they dated back to 3,000 B.C. By 1,200 B.C., several silver mines helped the ancient Greek culture to flourish and similarly, by 100 B.C., major silver mining in Spain boosted the Roman Empire.

However, the biggest impact the metal had on history occurred after Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492 and subsequent Europeans found silver in abundance. Exploiting the opportunity, Spain extracted massive quantities from Mexico, Bolivia and Peru. Their successful mining operations gave the Spanish considerable political power over the New World.

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Early Uses and Applications

From early on, silver was used for making jewelry and was also widely used as currency. In the ancient world, silver as a currency was notably used in the form of coins. Greece minted silver coins from 400 B.C., and in England, the Anglo-Saxons used silver pennies from the 8th century AD.

China, Korea, Japan, and South America also used the precious metal to craft beautiful objects of art, jewelry and items of status while Babylon used silver as a measure to pay workers. The ancient Phoenicians were also among the most prolific traders of the metal. They most commonly dealt in silver bullion which they transported in the form of ingots, rings, and disks.

Some early cultures also used silver as a remedy to treat infections.

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Characteristics

Silver has a lustrous veneer and the metal is nearly white in color. The shiny metal is also ductile and soft, making it a malleable metal on its own. Fine silver, however, at a purity standpoint of 99%, is easily damaged due to its pliable nature.

The density of silver is 10.49 grams per cubic centimeter which is less than gold. Of all the metals known to science, silver also shows the highest thermal and electrical conductivity and it is also the most reflective of all known metals.

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American Silver in Silver Eagles

Many people believe that they have heard that the U.S. Mint is required by law to purchase silver mined in the United States to create the American Silver Eagles.

This is only partially true.

 

The Original Law

When American Silver Eagles were first introduced in 1986, the law stated that the silver for American Eagles come from the U.S. Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Pile (curious? read about the stockpile here).

At that time, the Mint could only buy silver for Eagles from the government stockpile. For other silver coins (but not Eagles), it could purchase newly mined silver from American refiners.

 

The 2002 Change

However, in the early 2000s, the stockpile was quickly depleting. If it was allowed to be used up, no more silver American Eagles could be minted. So the law changed in 2002, such that once the stockpile was depleted, the Mint was required to buy silver from natural deposits in the United States that were brought to the U.S. Mint within a year after being mined (as had been allowed for other silver coins).

However, the law also provided an out: "If it is not economically feasible to obtain [silver from U.S. mines]", the Mint could obtain the silver "from other available sources." That gave the Mint the ability to buy foreign silver in cases where American silver was not available (or could only be obtained above spot price, as it states that the Mint cannot pay more than the "average world price", essentially the COMEX spot price).

 

Newly Mined Silver

The requirement to use American silver only applied to newly mined silver (within 1 year of being mined), to help support American silver mines.

So the law treated "old" silver mined in the United States the same as foreign silver.

At any point where obtaining the recently mined U.S. silver was not economically feasible (e.g. if it would cost more than spot, or not available as quickly as needed), the Mint could use any other silver they could find.

 

Source

You can find the law, as well as the notes about changes, at law.cornell.edu.