Silver Coins and Recycling Silver

As was mentioned when we discussed recycling silver, silver is no longer used as currency as it once was. We have very sophisticated mining equipment now, but even without this equipment, people in the ancient world were still able to unearth silver. One reason for this is that it was possible to find silver deposits that were not too far from the surface of the Earth. Thus even without all of today’s advances, people in other eras were able to obtain raw silver and shape it into silver coins and other products made of silver.

Silver was used as currency in the world's oldest societies and it played an important role in the early history of our country as well. Congress decided to use the silver dollar as a basis for the currency of the young United States in 1792. This decision was not based on silver alone--silver had a relationship to gold that made this possible.  Silver remained a very important part of the nation's currency until we stopped using it in 1965.

Still, we are among the countries that produce silver bullion coins. Other countries that make silver bullion coins include our neighbors to the north and south--Canada and Mexico.  Silver bullion coins can be symbols of national pride, even if they are not used as a part of daily life. For example, Canada makes the Silver Canadian Maple Leaf coins, which are world renowned for being 99.99+% silver. One side has Queen Elizabeth II, while the other side features the national symbol of Canada, the Maple Leaf. The Mexican Libertad is a one-ounce silver bullion coin that shows the symbol of Mexico City, the Independence Angel.

Although we stopped using silver to make coins and as a basis for our currency, this does not mean that silver is without value. Silver has important uses in industry and it is very much needed. Companies still mine for silver and silver can be obtained as a by-product of mining efforts to get gold, copper, lead and zinc.

One of the best ways to increase the silver supply is to reuse silver that has already been mined. Rather than put effort and labor into mining more silver, we can recycle silver that is already in use. You can help replenish the silver supply when you sell silver to a silver buyer and get instant cash for silver.