Silver

Pure silver is a beautiful metal with a brilliant white luster. It is stable in pure air and water, but tarnishes when exposed to ozone, hydrogen sulfide or air containing sulfur. It is slightly harder than gold but still very ductile and malleable. The only more ductile metals are gold and perhaps palladium. Pure silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals and the lowest contact resistance.
We trade and we do have a large quantities of Silver. Please feel free to contact us if you are interested to buy or sell your silver.

You can see by clicking here the Periodic Table of the Elements.

See below more about Silver:

Few Interesting facts about silver:

  • Silver is a chemical element. Its chemical symbol is Ag and atomic number is 47
  • Silver is a soft, shiny metal that is a good conductor of electricity.
  • Silver occurs natively and in ores such as argentite (Ag2S) and horn silver (AgCl); lead, lead-zinc, copper, gold, and copper-nickel ores are principal sources.
  • Mexico, Canada, Peru, and the U.S. are the principal silver producers in the western hemisphere.
  • Silver is a precious metal that has had a number of different uses over the years, including jewelry, coins, silverware, electronics and photography.
  • Silver is also recovered during electrolytic refining of copper. Commercial fine.
  • Silver contains at least 99.9% silver. Purities of 99.999+% are available commercially.
  • Silver is precious metal that has been used for many years to make fine pieces of jewelry, coins, utensils and various pieces of art.
  • Silver nitrate and silver bromide are used in the manufacture of photographic film.
  • Silver has excellent electrical conductivity being used on circuit boards and high voltage connectors.
  • Silver alloys are used in dental fillings, a very safe and durable material for constant contact with such a busy part of the human body.
  • Elastoplast has made a plaster with silver nanoparticles which are believed by scientists to be antibacterial due to an ability to disrupt enzymes in bacteria.
  • Silver zinc and silver cadmium are two types of high capacity batteries.
  • Silver is not generally used for coins because it is now far too expensive a metal. Nickel silver is now used, an allow which has no silver in it but which is actually a compound of nickel, zinc and copper.
  • Silver can be used to back mirrors owing to its being an extremely efficient reflector of light, despite its tendency to tarnish on exposure to the air.
  • The Lone Ranger's bullets were made of silver (or so the masked man claimed), and his horse was called Silver.
  • In modern times silver is also used in dentistry, electronics, photography, mirrors and in a number of industrial applications that make use of its unique properties.
  • You may have heard of the term sterling silver, this is the name given to an alloy (combination of metals) that is at least 92.5% silver by weight. The other 7.5% is made up of other metals, usually copper.
  • Silver is found naturally by itself, as an alloy with gold or in an ore (a rock containing various metals and elements).
  • Silver is often found in copper and lead ores.
  • The price of silver has fluctuated dramatically over the last century, climbing as demand increases but dropping when large silver deposits are found.
  • As of November 2009, gold was valued at around 65 times the value of silver by mass.
  • Silver is also recovered during electrolytic refining of copper.
  • Commercial fine silver contains at least 99.9% silver. Purities of 99.999+% are available commercially.
  • Silver has no biological role.

 

Chemical Information about Silver:

Element Name:Silver
Atomic Symbol:Ag
Latin Name:Argentum
Atomic Radius:203 pm
Melting Point:961.78 °C
Atomic Weight:107.9
Boiling Point:2162 °C
Electron Configuration:[Kr]5s14d10
Oxidation States:1
Classification:Metallic
Group in periodic table:11
Group name:Coinage meta
Period in periodic table:5
Block in periodic table:d-block
Electron shell structure:2.8.18.18.1
Melting point:1234.93 [961.78 °C (1763.2 °F)] K
Boiling point :2435 [2162 °C (3924 °F)] K
Density :10490 kg m
CAS Registry ID:7440-22-4
ChemSpider ID:22394

 

Trading

Silver is traded around the clock and around the world, including the major global commodity markets of London, Zurich, New York, Chicago and Hong Kong. The London market began trading silver in the 17th century and, to this day, it remains the center of the physical silver trade for most of the world. However, the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange is the most
significant paper contracts trading market for silver. Silver’s spot price – the current price of silver that reflects market variables and expectations – is determined by the COMEX.
Overall, the price of silver is determined by the available supply versus fabrication demand. In recent years, fabrication demand has greatly outpaced mine production forcing market participants to use existing stocks to meet demand. As these available sources continue to decline, silver’s fundamental value continues to strengthen. However, because silver is a tangible asset, and is recognized as a store of value, its price can also be affected by factors like inflation (real or perceived), changing values of paper currencies, and fluctuations in deficits and interest rates.
In 2012, silver investment rose to a total of 252.7 million troy ounces. That figure represents approximately $8 billion. In 2012 robust global silver investor demand was the dominant driver of silver prices, accounting for almost a quarter of total silver demand. Averaging $31.15 per ounce, 2012 was the second highest price level on record, behind the average reached in 2011. While 2012 was a volatile year for most precious metals, globally, silver investment rose to a total of 252.7 million troy ounces (Moz). That figure represents approximately $8 billion on a net basis, substantially above the annual average of $1.2 billion over the 2001-2010 timeframe.
Investors remained significant net buyers of silver in 2012, as evidenced by the 21 percent increase in implied net silver investment (which includes physical bar investment, exchange traded unds and fund activity on Comex) to set an all-time high of 160.0 Moz. By comparison, in 2004, the level of implied net silver investment was 5.4 Moz.

Properties

Little harder than Gold and is very ductile and malleable, being exceeded only by gold and perhaps palladium. Pure silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals, and possesses the lowest contact resistance. It is stable in pure air and water, but tarnishes when exposed to ozone, hydrogen sulfide, or air containing sulfur. The alloys of silver are very valuable.

Uses of Silver

Sterling silver is used for jewelry, silverware, etc. where appearance is paramount. This alloy contains 92.5% silver, the remainder being copper or some other metal. Silver is of the utmost importance in photography, about 30% of the U.S. industrial consumption going into this application. It is used for dental alloys. Silver is used in making solder and brazing alloys, electrical contacts, and high capacity silver-zinc and silver-cadmium batteries. Silver paints are used for making printed circuits. It is used in mirror production and may be deposited on glass or metals by chemical deposition, electrode position, or by evaporation. When freshly deposited, it is the best reflector of visible light known, but is rapidly tarnished and loses much of its reflectance. It is a poor reflector of ultraviolet. Silver fulminate, a powerful explosive, is sometimes formed during the silvering process. Silver iodide is used in seeding clouds to produce rain. Silver chloride has interesting optical properties as it can be made transparent; it also is a cement for glass. Silver nitrate, or lunar caustic, the most important silver compound, is used extensively in photography. Silver for centuries has been used traditionally for coinage by many countries of the world. In recent times, however, consumption of silver has greatly exceeded the output.

Handling

While silver itself is not considered to be toxic, most of its salts are poisonous. Exposure to silver (metal and soluble compounds, as Ag) in air should not exceed 0.01 mg/m3, (8-hour time-weighted average - 40 hour week). Silver compounds can be absorbed in the circulatory system and reduced silver deposited in the various tissues of the body. A condition, known as
argyria, results with a grayish pigmentation of the skin and mucous membranes. Silver has germicidal effects and kills many lower organisms effectively without harm to higher animals.

History

Silver has been known since ancient times as early as 3000 B.C. and the Latin word for Silver is Argentum. It is mentioned in Genesis. Slag dumps in Asia Minor and on islands in the Aegean Sea indicate that man learned to separate silver from lead as early as 3000 B.C. Silver is a metal that has been highly regarded by empires for thousands of years. It is a chemical element which means that it cannot be split into any other chemical substance.
Silver occurs natively and in ores such as argentite (Ag2S) and horn silver (AgCl); lead, lead-zinc, copper, gold, and copper-nickel ores are principal sources. Mexico, Canada, Peru, and the U.S. are the principal silver producers in the western hemisphere.

References:

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Science Kids

Silver Institute