What Is Silver?
Since the earliest time recorded in history, silver has been the most used of the precious metals, both in the arts and as a medium of exchange. Even in the prehistoric times silver mines were worked and the metal was employed in the ornamental and useful arts. It was not so early used as money, and when it began to be adopted for this purpose, it was made into bars or rings and sold by weight. The first regular coinage of either gold or silver was in Phrygia, or Lydia, in Asia Minor. Silver was used in the arts by the Athenians, the Phœnicians, the Vikings, the Aztecs, the Peruvians, and in fact by all the civilized and semi-civilized nations of antiquity. It is found in almost every part of the globe, usually in combination with other metals. The mines in South America, Mexico, and the United States are especially rich. Silver is sometimes found in huge nuggets. A mass weighing 800 pounds was found in Peru, and it is claimed that one of 2,700 pounds was extracted in Mexico. The ratio of the value of silver and gold has varied greatly. At the Christian era it was 9 to 1; 500 A.D. it was 18 to 1; but in 1100 A.D. it was only 8 to 1. In 1893 it was as high as 2,577 to 1. The subject has entered largely into American politics as a disturbing element, and in 1896 the Democratic party, in its national convention, declared for the free coinage of the metals at 16 to 1. The Republican party adhered to the gold standard and declared against the free coinage of silver. Each party reaffirmed in 1900 this plank in its platform. In both years the Democrats were defeated.