A history of an origin of silver is quite interesting. There is a word "argenta" in Sanskrit, which means "light" in English translation, and scientists believe that this word gave the name to the similarly-named chemical element– argentum.
This precious mineral has been known to humanity for quite a long time. For example, in ancient Egypt it was used for making kitchenware and jewels, as well as it was used to mint coins. Back then this metal was of rare occurrence in nature and was rather uncommon. Unsurprisingly, its cost and value were higher in comparison to the cost and value of gold. The most interesting fact is, however, that no one actually knows who discovered the mineral and when did it happen.
Historically lead bullion was considered a rare commodity. This was caused by the fact that at that time it was not possible to separate pure metal from ore. Fine metal was only used in his native form.
The properties of this mineral are also quite noteworthy. For instance, one of them is antibacterial effect. As was noted, during long military campaigns those soldiers who drank water from tin mugs suffered from intestinal infections more frequently if compared to officers who used for the same purposes silverware. More recently it was found out that silver dissolves in water and forms collodium, a compound which exhibits a highly bactericidal action.
In today’s world, silver is widely used in photography and for electronic-equipment production. Thanks to high conductivity, it is also highly demanded in manufacturing industry.
As for now, analysts predict noticeable rise in the cost of white metal in the nearest future due to its possible depletion. Therefore, it may happen that quite soon both jewels and dishware made from silver will be of the same or even greater value as goldware.
Silver. A dendrite - a "twig" with copper 47*35*10 mm. White Pine Mine, Michigan, USA
Silver. Mossy-like aggregates on ochre hematite. Huelgoat, France
Twisted wire-like aggregates. Semenovskiy mine, Altai
Nugget "The Basket". Weight - 301,3 g. Andreasberg, Germany
Skeletal forms on quartz. Potosi Mine, Bolivia
