History of silver bullion
From Silver Bullion
Contents |
Who discovered silver?
Silver has been known since ancient times. For thousands of years, silver, not gold, was the coin of the civilized world.
Silver bullion has attracted man’s fascination for many thousands of years. The area of Anatolia is considered the first major source of silver bullion for the Western cultures flourishing in the Near East, Crete, and Greece (sometime after 3000 B.C.).
Extraction of silver from lead ore was widespread in Roman Britain as a result of Roman mining very soon after the conquest of the first century AD.
In the 500-year period from 1000-1500 A.D. the number of mining locations increased and mining and processing technology began to improve.
Silver in China
China is country that has been on a metallic silver standard for hundreds of years, using silver bullion as a form of currency. The use of silver ingots can be traced back as far as the Han dynasty.
Silver in the New World
Europeans found a huge amount of silver in the New World in the now Mexican State of Zacatecas (discovered in 1546) and Potosí (Bolivia, also discovered in 1546), which triggered a period of inflation in Europe. The early colonial America preferred silver over gold.
From 1500 through 1800, Bolivia, Peru and Mexico accounted for over 85 percent of world production and trade of silver bullion.
Silver mining was a driving force in the settlement of western North America. Notable silver rushes were in Colorado, Nevada, Cobalt, Ontario, California and the Kootenay region of British Columbia, notably in the Boundary and "Silvery" Slocan. The first major silver ore deposits in the United States were discovered at the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, Nevada, in 1859.
Silver in the United States
In 1792, silver assumed a key role in the United States monetary system when Congress based the currency on the silver dollar, and its fixed relationship to gold. In 1785 the U.S. adopted a silver standard based on the "Spanish milled dollar". Silver was used for the U.S. coinage until its use was discontinued in 1965. Now circulated pre-65 U.S. 90% silver coins are known as "junk silver coins" and often sold by dealers in junk silver bags.
Silver today
Today, silver bullion stocks make up a significant component of silver supply. The American Eagle Silver Bullion program was launched in 1986 with the sale of gold and silver bullion coins.
