Silver is a soft, white metal with chemical symbol Ag. But who discovered silver? This post will attempt to answer that question and will then look at a few interesting facts about silver.
Who Discovered Silver?
Unfortunately, no one know who discovered silver. All we know is that it has been known since ancient times (for several thousands of years at least). It is mentioned in the book of Genesis (the first book in the Bible) and many ancient languages have a word for ‘silver’. Slag heaps found in Asia Minor indicate that silver was being separated from lead as early as the 4th century BC.
Interesting Facts About Silver
- Ores of copper, copper-nickel, lead and lead-zinc often contain large amounts of silver.
- Peru and Mexico are the two largest producers of silver.
- In the Bible, Judas Iscariot is famous for betraying Jesus for 30 silver coins.
- Silver can help stop the growth of bacteria and fungi. Wound dressings contain some silver to stop wounds from becoming infected.
- Silver has 28 radioisotopes (radioactive forms), although most are very unstable and have very small half-lives (under 3 minutes).
- Silver is slightly harder than gold.
- The first silver coins were used by the Lydians in 700 BC. The coins were actually an alloy of gold and silver.
Other Great Discoveries: