SILVER: Introduction

Silver is a soft, white, lustrous precious metal that is one of the seven metals of antiquity (along with gold, tin, copper, lead, iron and mercury). These are the seven metals that humans identified and found use for in prehistoric times. Since its discovery we have found many uses for silver including jewellery, electronics, medicine and much more.

Long valued as a precious metal, silver has been the most used metal for currency throughout history. For example, vikings would chop off blocks from silver bars and use it as money. Other notable silver coins from history include the Greek drachma, the Roman denarius, the Islamic dirham, the karshapana from ancient India, and the Spanish dollar.

The antibiotic properties of silver make it ideal for other uses such as cutlery or even the coating for some medical devices as the silver ion is bioactive and kills bacteria when the concentration is high enough.