Silver Facts: History of Silver

History of Silver | Old World Silver (4000 BC - 1500 AD) | New World Silver (1500 - 1875) | The Rise Of North America (1876 - 1920) | The Modern Era (1921 - Present)

A major watershed of silver production was the discovery of the New World in 1492, which was followed by the opening of major silver mines in Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru, leading to a rapid rise in the annual world production of silver. This rise, coupled with improved techniques for extracting silver from ore, broadened both the quality and quantity of ore that could be exploited. Later improvements, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, vastly enhanced the base of silver production and accelerated the exploitation of silver as a byproduct of base-metal mining.

Only about 25 percent of cumulative world silver production occurred before the 1770s. Records remain incomplete for the periods before 1900, however they play a critical part in determining cumulative historical production. To learn more, select from the following periods of time. This material has been adapted in part from the Silver Institute's Stocks of Silver Around the World publication.

History of Silver | Old World Silver (4000 BC - 1500 AD) | New World Silver (1500 - 1875) | The Rise Of North America (1876 - 1920) | The Modern Era (1921 - Present)