Auction Silver

The Many Uses of Silver Other Than Decoration

Photography

In 1998 the manufacture of photography products consumed 31% of the world’s silver, while 20% was used in jewelry, 39% for industrial uses, and only 3.5% for coins and medals. The use of silver in photography has declined however as the demand decreased for consumer film from the widely accepted use of digital technology.

Electronics

Computer keyboards use silver electrical contacts.

Batteries

Silver is used to make high-capacity silver-zinc and silver-cadmium batteries that are mostly used for cameras.

Currency

The first coins were made in Lydia (modern day Turkey) where silver was minted with a gold alloy in 700 BCE. Later, due to technological advances in mineral extraction, silver was able to be refined in pure form and minted in pure silver. Societies valued silver as a common currency of trade. Most ancient languages use the words “silver” and “money” interchangeably, in other words during this time they were the same thing. In the modern world, the British pound originally represented the value of one troy pound of sterling silver.

Medicine

Recorded use of silver to prevent infectious disease dates to father of modern medicine, Hippocrates of ancient Greece, who wrote that silver had special healing and anti-disease powers. The Phoenicians used silver bottles to store water, wine and vinegar to prevent them from spoilage. Silver was rediscovered in the Renaissance where it was used for several purposes, such as to disinfect water and food during storage, and for the treating burns and wounds. In the 19th century, sailors on long ocean voyages would put silver coins in barrels of water and wine to keep the liquid pure. Pioneers in America used the same idea as they made their journey from coast to coast. Silver solutions were approved in the 1920s by FDA for use as antibacterial agents.

Silver compounds have been proven to eradicate certain viruses and bacteria. Although studies have shown in the lab that silver is an agent against harmful germs, it has been too hard for scientists to develop a standard compound to market without side effects.

Clothing

As silver has been known to prevent infectious diseases from bacteria and fungi, it has also been used in clothing to serve the same purpose. Humid conditions can cause bacteria and fungus to grow on wet surfaces, especially clothing. Silver coated yarn brings this function to clothing.