sterling silver jewelry - history of silver

sterling silver jewelry has attracted man's fascination for many thousands of years. Ancient civilizations found silver deposits plentiful on or near the earth's surface. Relics of these civilizations, include jewelry, religious artifacts, and food vessels formed from the durable, malleable metal. Silver is known by the mankind since Pre-History, and its discovery is estimated happened to shortly after that of copper and gold.  The oldest reference to the element appears in the book of Genesis. Silver has been used to make jewelry since the ancient times. The exploration of continents in the western hemisphere uncovered many sterling silver jewelry mines. Some mineral scums in old mines of the Near-East and in some islands of the Aegean sea seem to reveal that by 5000 b.C. a method was already known to separate silver from lead The gold and the silver were extracted from its ores and bonded to lead. After oxidation of this mixture, it was possible to obtain the precious metals. In 1792, silver assumed a key role in the United States monetary system when Congress based the currency on the silver dollar, and its fixed relationship to gold. Sterling silver jewelry was used for the nation's coinage until its use was discontinued in 1965.

What is Sterling Silver?

Sterling Silver is a soft metal in its purest form. Silver is too soft to be used for jewelry and other items, so it is mixed with other metals to make it harder and more durable. One of the most popular mixtures is called alloy, this mixture is known as sterling silver jewelry.

What does 925 mean?

You will see this all over when searching and looking at sterling silver jewelry. It is the mixture that makes the silver. It is the minimum silver content allowed in the US or an item is not allowed to be called silver, solid silver, sterling silver jewelry or sterling. This minimum stated as 925 is parts per thousand of pure silver, so you might see the figure 925 or 92.5 used to mark silver content. Copper is the most common used alloy to mix with silver. This is where the 7.5 percent comes into play. Copper adds hardness to pure silver. Unfortunately it tends to tarnish the sterling silver jewelry over time. So every time your silver is tarnishing, it is due to the hardening allow in your pure silver.

For more info on silver check the Silver Institute.