Silver - Rare, Beautiful Metal of Trade and Empire
Silver constitutes only about 73 parts per billion of the earth's crust. Though silver
can be found throughout the world, it is rare enough to stimulate the acquisitive
drive in human nature. A theme running through the history of silver is that it
was never solely a rich man's pleasure. Silver has always provided an instantly convertible
reserve of enduring wealth and security. Silver outlasts paper money and governments. Melt
silver and hide it, and it escapes identification and taxes. Portable and universally
accepted, silver became the coinage of trade, the motivation of conquering armies
and voyages of exploration. For thousands of years men fought and died to add to
their stores of this elusive, glittering metal. Along with gold, silver is the stuff
on which empires have been built, and for lack of which they have fallen.
Silver as Symbol
Silver has universal appeal and a powerful hold on the imagination. To the ancients,
the noble metals were objects of wondrous beauty, imbued with the mystic qualities
of distant heavenly bodies whose nature they seemed to contain. Classically, gold
is seen as the symbol of the sun, silver the moon. The ancient Egyptians called silver
"white gold." We search clouds for silver and not copper linings, lend an ear to
silver-tongued speeches, and find silver hair distinguished. One famous attribute
of silver is its supposed powers against enchantment. Silver bullets were thought
to have unique powers against witches and vampires.
Silver the Adaptable Metal
Lustrous, gleaming, pure and without taint, capable of being refashioned again and again,
silver is wonderful to work with- soft, malleable, and strong. Silver is virtually
indestructible and can be endlessly reworked. Silver can be beaten into an airy thinness,
drawn out to form extremely thin wire, or forcibly shaped without crushing or shattering.
Silver has enormous aesthetic potential. Silver can be chased, pierced, cast, enamelled,
gilded and shaped with extraordinary complexity.
Silver Mining and the Ancient World
Unlike gold, silver is almost never found in natural nuggets, but as a component of
ores which must be smelted out. In fact, most of the world's silver is actually recovered
as a by-product of refining other metals such as lead, copper or zinc. The Greek
philosophers believed metals were living things that grew and propagated themselves
in the rocks of the earth's core. They reasoned that if the other two kingdoms of
nature - animal and vegetable - reproduced themselves by means of seeds given off
from their own bodies, then minerals such as silver must do the same. By this logic,
it also followed that if a worn-out silver ore field were given a sufficient rest,
it would replenish itself and become worth mining again.
Living Metals and Silver Alchemy
A corollary to the ancients' belief in "living" metals was the notion that the content
of the earth's crust was gradually changing from baser metals into more valued ones.
Aristotle, in the Fourth Century BC, wrote that "nature always strives after the
better." By that dictum, lead ore containing some silver was thought to be in the
process of transmutation into pure silver; samples of silver that contained traces
of gold, as silver often did, were maturing into gold. For centuries such persistent
misconceptions fueled alchemists' vain attempts to create noble metals from base metals such as lead.
Silver - The Noble Metal
Great durability is a primary quality that sets silver apart from the other 100 or
so elements that constitute all earthly matter. Silver is a noble metal, a name that
in chemical terminology refers to its outstanding resistance to the corrosion and
oxidation that cause base metals such as iron, copper and tin to weaken and disintegrate.
Silver is tasteless, nontoxic and resistant to acids. Strong and heavy, silver is
at the same time wonderfully malleable.
Silver's Unique Physical Properties
Of all metals base or noble, silver boasts the highest capacity to conduct heat and
electricity, and is also the most reflective of all the metals. No other element reflects
light so well and uniformly, qualities that give silver its characteristic pale white
luster. Even the thinnest silver sheet will relect 95% of the light striking it.
Though only about half as heavy as gold, silver is a strong metal, and relatively
heavy as a result of its closely-packed atomic structure. Silver's malleability,
a joy to metalsmiths throughout the ages, also helps silver survive the destructive
atmospheric forces to which it is exposed in nature. Bonds between metal atoms are
unique in that electrons in the individual atoms merge until the entire mass is a
group of atomic nuclei spaced at regular intervals in a sea of swimming electrons
. Silver malleability is the result of this free electron movement, which allows entire
blocks of silver atoms to slip easily in opposite directions when strong force is
applied. The silver atoms tend to rebond once the force is removed, and the metallic mass remains in one piece.
The Many Industrial Uses of Silver
Silver can be used for much more than just fine silver tableware and silver jewelry,
with many important industrial uses as well. Silver wires lace silicon solar cells,
and silver oxide batteries power hearing aids, calculators, submarines and satellites.
Hardened with tungsten or molybdenum, silver is used in electrical switches for
cars, telephones and computers. A household appliance timer alone may have over 50
such silver electrical contacts, which open and close without excessive heat or friction
because silver is a natural dry lubricant, good reason to plate silver on the bearings of jet engines and diesel locomotives.
Photography: Silver's Mirror With a Memory
Silver can be prepared as silver iodide crystals and seeded into clouds to become
the core of raindrops and snowflakes. In photographic film, cystalline silver salts
instantly change when light falls upon them, enabling the miraculous process of photography.
One ounce of silver can be used to manufacture 5,000 color photographs. This "mirror
with a memory" is faithful, permanent and works instantly. In fact a tiny silver
salt crystal is sensitive enough detect the light falling onto the earth from a candle
on the moon.
Silver as Natural Disinfectant and Healer
Silver is sterile and anti-bacterial, used since the middle ages by apothecaries and
surgeons. Silver activates oxygen to kill bacteria, and in some swimming pools charcoal
filters impregnanted with silver eliminate germs and the need for irritating chlorine.
Drinking water is purified with silver; surgeons disinfect burns with silver cream
and mend bones using cement containing silver salts.
The Lure of Silver Jewelry
Through all the vagaries of fashion and the endless parade of styles, we still respond to
the same kinds of silver jewelry as the ancients. In silver jewelry we see magic,
beauty, personal adornment, pleasure and wealth. Unlike clothes, which we wear out
and discard, silver jewelry is expected to give us pleasure for a long time. We cherish
it and pass it on. Silver is the most abundant of all the precious metals, and always
in good supply. Silver is therefore the easiest to buy and the lowest in price.
Solid Sterling Silver Jewelry vs. Silver Plate
Silver itself is often used for plating, but usually not for jewelry. Silver plate
is actually not used much for jewelry, since silver itself is relatively inexpensive.
Usually when you see silver plated jewelry, it is electroplated, which means a thin
coating of silver is chemically deposited on base metal- a layer of silver so thin
it wears off quickly with use. Silverplating is not appropriate for silver jewelry,
which will be worn and cherished for many long years, and should never be bought
- or sold- as a substitute for the real thing.
Silver Polish and Patina
When worn frequently, fine sterling silver jewelry usually doesn't need to be polished.
The friction of hands and skin is enough to keep your silver jewelry softly bright.
It is a pleasure to watch silver age and develop its characteristic beautiful patina,
which actually adds to silver's beauty and value. There are many so-called silver
dips on the market, but it is best not to use these to polish silver jewelry. They
not only take off the tarnish you don't want, but they also eat away at the mellowed
dark insets of tarnish that give definition and character to your silver piece as
it ages, and add to its patina. If you drop a piece of silver jewelry into one of
these dips, it will emerge stark naked, stripped of all its individuality. For the
small amount of work involved in hand-rubbing your silver jewelry, you will gain
a world of beauty and value. In general, stay away from quick and easy methods, and
you'll enjoy your beautiful sterling silver jewelry for years to come.
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