ROCK & GEM FIELD GUIDE: Silver

Silver (Ag) is a native element and one of Earth's most prized precious metals.

- BY DR. STUART MILLS & PAM FREEMAN

Chemically, it belongs to the transition metal group and occurs both in pure metallic form and in combination with sulfur, arsenic, or antimony in various minerals. With atomic number 47 on the periodic table, its name derives from the Latin argentum, meaning “white” or “shining,” a nod to its brilliant luster and enduring appeal.

Historic Silver

Few metals have shaped human history like silver. Mined for over 5,000 years, it has always dazzled with its mirror-bright shine, softness under the hammer and sheer versatility. The earliest workings in Anatolia and the Aegean, around 3000 B.C., produced a metal that quickly became a marker of wealth and power. By the Classical world, silver's destiny was clear: coinage. The famous Athenian owl tetradrachms, struck from the veins at Laurion, paid for temples, warships and the foundations of the empire. Rome followed and the denarius became a symbol of Roman reach, spreading silver coinage across Europe and beyond. Saxony’s Freiberg district followed and Bolivia's mighty Potosí poured out silver on a scale the world had never seen.