What Is Silver Used For?

The Uses Of Silver

Many people who buy silver as traders or investers spend a lot of time thinking about the price of an ounce of silver. They only think about demand as it relates to that price of silver. They do not spend a lot of time thinking about why silver is in demand though.

Silver Jewelry

Of course, almost everybody realizes that silver is a precious metal that is used in jewelry. Silver jewelry is usually less expensive then gold jewelry because silver costs much less then gold. But silver jewelry still has status, and is not considered constume jewelry. And of course, silverware, is made from silver.

From High Tech to Dental Fillings

Dentists use silver in fillings, and silver is also used in photography. Some electrical and electronic products use silver for its superior conductivity, even when tarnished. Silver is also used to make solder solutions, electrical contacts, and high capacity batteries. Specialized mirrors which require superior reflectivity use silver as a backing, though normal mirrors use aluminum. Silver (upon some suitable support) is probably the only catalyst available today to convert ethylene to ethylene oxide (later hydrolyzed to ethylene glycol, used for making polyesters)—a very important industrial reaction.

Silver Money

Of course, silver has been used as money for thousands of years. Until 1964 many US coins were 90% silver, though today silver is only used in special commemerative or collector’s coins here.

Medicinal Uses Of Silver

And silver has had medical uses for thousands of years too. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, wrote of the healing properties of silver. And silver does have a toxic effect on some bacteria, algae, fungi, and viruses. In fact, silver was used successfully in WWI to treat infections before the invention of antibiotics.

Silver has medicinal uses, even today. Today, wound dressings containing silver are well established for clinical wound care and have recently been introduced in consumer products such as sticking plasters.

Silver is Not Just Shiny Stuff!

So silver does have industrial uses, and it actually does get used up in some processes. Many investors compare this to gold which is usually not consumed. In fact, some experts suspect that the majority of gold that has even been mined is still in use today. Well, that is if you consider sitting in a bank vault somewhere to be in use.

silver, silver products, silver medicine, silver jewelry, silver electronics