All That Gleams is Silver

Harder than gold, silver is a soft white lustrous transition metal. It has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity for a metal. It occurs as a free metal and in minerals such as argentite and chlorargyrite. Most silver is produced as a by-product of copper, gold, lead and zinc mining in the United States, Canada, Mexico(the world’s largest silver producer providing 15% of the annual production in the world), Peru and Australia.

With its brilliant, white, metallic luster, silver can take a high degree of polish. It is a precious metal highly valued by societies since antiquity. Used in currency, ornamentation, utensils and jewelry, silver has also been used in the past and today in photographic film, electrical contacts and mirrors.

Silver also has certain anti-microbial activity. Although disputed by the traditional chemical-based medical community, in alternative medicine there has been increasing interest in colloidal silver as a broad-spectrum remedy for certain ailments. Although harmless for the most part, with prolonged use some individuals may develop argyria, a darkening of the skin.

Pure silver has the whitest color and highest optical reflectivity of all silver. Silver also has the lowest contact resistance of any metal which results in tarnish when it is exposed to ozone, hydrogen sulfide or air containing sulfur.

Sterling silver is 92.5 percent silver, usually alloyed with copper. It is primarily used in jewelry and silverware. Silver is the standard for the British pound currency which originally had the value of one troy pound of sterling silver. The words for silver and money are the same in at least 14 languages.

Remember the Werewolf and Dracula movies? Originating from European folklore, silver has long been believed to be an antidote to various maladies and fictional monsters. Mirrors were originally made of polished silver and vampires could not see their reflection in them. Silver bullets were the only way to slay a Werewolf. This curious mystical aura and folklore surrounding silver has coined a modern term, “Silver Bullet”, which describes things that deal very effectively with a specific problem; the Lone Ranger left a silver bullet as a calling card.

More facts about silver:

Silver is used as an alloy in fillings.

Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, discovered that silver had healing and anti-bacterial qualities, thus before the advent of antibiotics, silver compounds were used to prevent infections. Silver has been used for this purpose as far back as the Phoenicians; who stored water, wine and vinegar in silver bottles to prevent spoiling. In the 1900s, people would drop a silver dollar in a milk bottle to keep their milk fresh.