Mineral · Native elements
Silver
Ag
Native silver forms wires, dendrites and rare crystals at Kongsberg (Norway), Freiberg (Germany), Batopilas (Mexico), Cobalt (Ontario) and Michigan's Keweenaw. Kongsberg wire silver is the classic; Michigan copper-silver halfbreeds are the American form. Silver tarnishes black in sulfurous air, and dealers clean it, so a bright specimen has probably been treated.
| Formula | Ag |
|---|---|
| IMA status | grandfathered |
| Crystal system | Cubic |
| Mohs hardness | 2.5–3 |
| Group | Native elements |
| Type locality | None (known since antiquity) |
| Streak | Silver white |
| Specific gravity | 10.5 |
| Reference list | IMA List of Minerals (RRUFF) — verify formula and status against the current list |
Elsewhere
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Silver" (Mineral). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/minerals/silver. Accessed 2026-09-20.
@misc{stratum-silver,
title = {Silver},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/minerals/silver}},
year = {2026},
note = {Mineral article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, wikidata, commons. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.