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Sometimes known as ‘poor
man’s gold’, silver nevertheless has an equally fascinating
history. Like its illustrious partner, silver has been associated with wealth
and power for thousands of years. Its special properties also made it ideal
for coins – hence its use in the oldest mass produced form of coinage.
Following up from 12
astonishing things about gold, here are eight fascinating facts about
silver and its long association with money.
·
The chemical
symbol for silver is Ag, from the Latin
word argentum, comprising the root arg-,
meaning ‘white, to shine’; and the suffix -ent, meaning ‘made of’.
·
In several
languages, the words for silver and money are the same, for example l’argent (French); plata
(Spanish).
·
The ancient
Greeks began the custom of portraying an effigy or bust on the obverse and an
important symbolic motif on the reverse of a coin.
 
The Greek tetradrachm
silver coin portrayed the goddess Athena and Athena’s owl. (image
courtesy of www.cngcoins.com)
·
The name
silver originates from the Old English word ‘seolfor’.
·
In 12th
century England, a sterling was a silver penny decorated with stars (hence sterre meaning star + ling). One pound sterling was
originally the weight of 1lb of silver sterlings,
or about 240 of them.
·
Silver is
around 17.5 times more abundant than gold in the earth’s crust, which
is interesting because in Roman times the gold/silver price ratio was 12:1
and was officially set in the U.S. at 15:1 in 1792. The average ratio
throughout history is nearer 20:1 (although we’re currently at an
extreme closer to 60:1).
·
Silver was at
its peak value in the late 15th century. In 1477, silver was worth
approximately 100 times more than it is today.
·
A rare 1794
US silver dollar became the world’s most expensive coin when it sold
for US$7,850,000 in 2010.
With all this talk of silver, what would you be
worth if you were made of solid silver? Find out here.
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