Silver: The Spanish Conquest Of The New World

The name silver is derived from the old Anglo-Saxon word ‘seolfor’, and the symbol (Ag) comes from the Latin name Argentum. From B.C times to present, the way the element silver is prepared, used and priced has slowly changed and evolved. Although these things change over the course of history, the chemical and physical properties of silver and any other element do not. Silver was not only used in Ancient Times, but throughout the Bible as well. Considered a precious metal since Ancient times, the element Silver is one of the earliest metals known to humans. While studying the element silver, it is import to look it’s properties, how it’s prepared, along with it’s use and value in both Ancient/Biblical times and present. The element silver
is a transition metal from group 11, period 5, with 47 protons and electrons along with 61 neutrons. Silver has an atomic weight of 107.8682 u with a boiling point of 3,924°F (2,162°C), and a melting point of 1,763°F (961.8°C). Silver is usually found in its natural, pure free-form and is a very inactive metal. When silver is mixed, it is found with gold, mercury, arsenic and antimony. It does not react with oxygen in the air under normal circumstances but it does react slowly with some compounds of sulfur in the air. This reaction produces silver sulfide (Ag 2 S) that is a black compound that develops over time on silverware. Silver is ductile, malleable, soft, of high density and an excellent conductor of both heat and electricity. Although silver is generally innocent in its natural form, its chemical tendency to form many new compounds and dissolve in solutions makes silver potentially deadly to humans in high concentrations when absorbed in the body’s tissues and in contact with the eyes. The mining of silver began over 5000 years ago around 3000 B.C in Anatolia (Turkey). In 1200 B.C the silver production shifted to the Laurium mines in Greece, fueling the growing empires. The Spanish mines were an essential trading component along the Asian spice routes and for the Roman Empire, therefore in 100 A.D, Spain became the capital of silver production. Silver was prepared for use by extracting silver from ores, and began in ancient times with a method called the patio process. This involved mixing silver ore, copper sulphide, water and salt to produce silver chloride. The resultant was then picked up by adding mercury. This method was concluded as inefficient and so the von Patera process came about. This process began with the heating of the ore with rock salt to produce silver chloride which would be pulled out with sodium hyposulfite. Continuing, the Spanish conquest of the New World dramatically led to more mining of silver than ever before.
Bolivia, Peru and Mexico accounted for 85 percent of world production during the 1800s. Between 1900 and 1920 there was a 50 percent increase in global production of silver resulting from new discoveries in Australia, Central America and Europe. Today, the silver production is more than 671 million troy ounces per year. Silver breakthroughs like stream-assisted drilling, mine dewatering, and haulage improvements have majorly impacted the preparation for use of silver. The most commonly known method of preparing silver today is called the cyanide process, first idealized in the 18th century by Spanish miners, and developed during the 19th century. Briefly, the cyanide process begins with crushing the silver ore into pieces, then the ore is stacked on impermeable pads and finally sodium cyanide and water solution is added to the ore. Most commonly, the Merrill-Crowe precipitation process is used to recover silver from heap leach solutions. The mining of silver has majorly increased since 3000 B.C, along with the preparation increase because of the low-cost cyanide
process.
In very early Biblical times, silver was first mentioned in Genesis 13:2. The main use of silver was as a medium of exchange. In Matthew 26:15 we see that the betrayal of Jesus was with silver, “‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?’ So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.” The betrayal of Jesus was key to the death and resurrection of Christ; this being our way to salvation through the son. Silver was weighed in shekels, but because the work shekel was often omitted in Hebrew, translators use the word “pieces”. Although silver was mainly used as a form of money, there are also many other underlying uses. In Genesis 24:53, silver is used used for ornaments and vessels of many kinds. In Exodus 20:23, many idol figures were either laid with or made of silver. A major trade in Ephesus was to manufacture silver shrines, seen in Acts 19:24. The construction of both the tabernacle (Exodus 26:19), and the temple (1 Chronicles 29:4) used silver.
Silver is presently used in a variety of industries since it has many special physical characteristics.
In Biblical times, silver was mainly used for money, and now is currently big with the photography industry because the halides, or light-sensitive salts, formed from silver develop high-quality photos. Silver’s high electrical conductivity is used in the area of electrons with specialization in switch and relay contacts for automobile controls and automotive window heating. Since silver is a strong oxidant, it is used for dinnerware or otherwise known as “silverware”. Industrial processes use silver because of its strong thermal conductivity and resistance to combustion. Silver is not only a good conductor of heat and an essential catalyst for many industries, it also is commonly used as jewelry. The lack of durability in pure silver forces a mixture to be made with 5-20% copper to form an alloy known as sterling silver. The uses of Silver have dramatically changed as more inventions and ideas have come along. Silver’s small availability and high price due to high numbers of coins, brought the U.S to pass the Johnson Silver Coinage Act in 1965 to stop silver coin production.
Although silver is known for is beauty and utility, because of its availability, silver was used for basic money (meanwhile gold was a rarity). For example, back in ancient Babylon, workers earned about 2.1 grams of silver per day, translating to two dollars in modern times. The value of silver in Ancient
times differed slightly depending on location, but was largely the same throughout the time period. The Roman and Greece workers would earn more silver than the Babylonians, but the silver value was the same. Since for most of human history silver was used as money, it’s difficult to gauge its historical price. During the 18th and 19th centuries the use of paper money was increasing, meanwhile the price of silver was fixed and stable of long stretches of time. From founding the U.S to the Civil War, Silver was around one dollar and 30 cents per ounce. During the War Silver rose to three dollars per ounce and then declining to sixty cents in 1897, fifty cents during World War One, and a low of twenty-five cents per ounce in 1932. The price rose about one dollar per ounce during the 60s. Silver jumped to an astonishing fifty dollars an ounce in the January of 1980 alongside gold, caused by the Hunt brothers attempt to corner the market. Silver crashed to four dollars per ounce in the early 90s, and then rose again to its current price of thirty-three dollars per ounce. Today’s minimum wage buys around thirteen times the amount of silver compared to what the daily wage in ancient Greece bought.
In conclusion, the mining, use and value of silver has slowly changed from Ancient/Bible times to present. Most importantly, the mining of silver began over 5000 years ago, silver is used in many ways/industries because of its special physical characteristics, and the value of silver has fluctuated as it has strayed from everyday use as money. Silver has been of use for over 5000 years in the world, and although many aspects of silver has changed, the physical and chemical properties of the element have not. Despite the fact that silver is commonly referred as the stepchild of gold, Silver has been and still his prominent in society.