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Definition

A precious metal and an element (Ag), Silver is a soft, white metal which is well suited to jewellery and has been exploited since pre-historic times. Together with gold, iron, copper, mercury, tin and lead, silver is a metal of antiquity and has been used by humans for more than 5000 years. Silver conducts heat and electricity very well. It has been used as a form of commodity money for thousands of years. Originally, silver was more rare and highly priced than gold because it oxidises more easily and is thus harder to find in visible form than gold. The relationship between silver and gold is the subject of much analysis and speculation. Today silver is much cheaper than gold or platinum but is nonetheless regarded as a precious metal. It is mostly used in the jewellery industry but has numerous industrial uses.

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