Silver, Mexico’s Treasure

Try to describe Mexico in five words. If you ask Mexican, the answer would probably be something like “colors, flavor, history, people, traditions”, but if you ask the same question to a visitor on Baja streets, you might hear something like “beach, party, tequila, tacos, silver”. Mexico has many faces, flavors and treasures. In each town or Mexican state you can find different most representative characteristics. But one of them, common to the whole country, is silver.

Mexico has been commercializing silver on and off ever since the country was discovered by Cortes in 1521. Between 1600 and 1800, Bolivia, Peru and Mexico grew to produce about 85% of the world’s silver production. With the War of Independency in Mexico, many Spanish barons destroyed their mines before they were taken by the revolutionaries. Afterwards, the ancient art of silver was forgotten for a while. It was brought back by Mr. William Spratling (American born, but Mexican resident) in the late 1920’s when he arrived to Taxco, a charming colonial city with cobblestone streets and red tiled rooftops in the state of Guerrero, to study Mexico and its culture.

He visualized the potential of silver and saw the talent of local artisans, motivating them to develop their skills and to teach youngsters about the beauty of silver craftsmanship. Their creations and quality of work was soon noticed around the world, making Taxco the most renowned producer of silver in Mexico, widely known also as Mexico’s “Silver city”. In 1953, to honor the silver artisans, Mexico’s president declared the last weekend in November as National Silver Day (Feria Nacional de la Plata). Today, Mexico is one of the top five producers of silver in the world; much of it comes from famous mining districts in Zacatecas, Durango, Guerrero and others.

Also in Baja, where you can find many beautiful and inviting silver jewelry stores, we boast with history of silver mining. The silver mines near San Antonio were worked in 1784, and the Baja California Sur happened from 1850 to 1890. The most productive silver mine was called El Triunfo de la Cruz, giving the birth to a mining town of El Triunfo. The silver in fact was so attractive that it brought to the south of Baja many workers, which within a few years formulated a city with a population of 10,000. El Triunfo was then the largest city in the south and briefly served as the capital of Baja California Sur in 1828 and 1829.

Gradually, the quality of the dig declined. In 1918 the hurricane flooded the mine, there were tries to resurrect the operation, but it was finally abandoned in 1926. If you would like to explore more, visit San Antonio and El Triunfo. The ruins of the silver mine are still there. You will notice huge round brick chimney jutting into the Baja sky, a reminder of the once importance of this now small village.

Since ancient times, silver has played an important role in human culture throughout the centuries: used as a currency first by some western Asian cultures, believed to have beneficial healing and anti-disease properties by Hippocrates, some silver compounds were used to prevent infection in World War I before the use of antibiotics, and so much more.

New applications for silver are being explored in areas such as water purification and solar energy. With new technologies emerging, it will come as no surprise the use of this valuable metal will expand in the future.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The word ‘silver’ appears in Anglo-Saxon as seolfor and siolfor.
• The chemical symbol Ag is taken from the Latin word for silver, argentum. Name Argentina comes from this word, too.
• The symbol of the Moon has been used since ancient times to represent silver.
• Silver coins were, and still are in many places, essential for internal and international trade. The Spanish reales containing silver, minted in Mexico and Peru, were used throughout the Americas for generations.
• United States coinage minted prior to 1965 contained 90% silver.
• The major producers of silver include the United States, Mexico, Canada, Peru, Russia and Australia.Silver can achieve the most brilliant polish of any metal.

How do you know that you are buying real silver? Always look for the seal “925”. In Mexican silver you will most of the times find another seal “Mexico” or “Mex”; and some jewelers mark their jewelry with their seal too.

To care for your silver, store the unworn silver jewelry in a sealed bag, so as not to tarnish. A silver cleaner and soft cloth will easily remove any tarnish, and small chains can be shined using dry baking soda and a toothbrush.