Historical Background on Silver:

Silver has been known since prehistoric times and was discovered soon after the discovery of gold and copper. Silver was considered to be a precious metal and though it wasn’t as important or highly looked up on as gold, it was still used cautiously. The root of the chemical symbol even comes from the Roman word for silver: argentum (Ag). Silver is very ductile and malleable and because of these properties, as well its luster, caused silver to be used mainly for ornamental purposes in ancient times. A few mineral slags and old mines located in the near- east and some islands on the Aegean Sea show evidence that people knew how to extract silver from lead ore. This evidence dates the knowledge of silver all the way to 5000 BCE! Because silver has such a long history, there is no exact discoverer of silver, or an exact date; but rather a time period in history where evidence shows knowledge of silver.

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