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The International Silver Trade PDF

200 Pages·1992·9.372 MB·English
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The international silver trade THOMAS PATRICK MOHIDE WOODHEAD PUBLISHING LIMITED Cambridge, England Dedicated to Jean Dorothy Dudbridge Mohide, Deirdre Siobhan Mohide, Patrick, Ann and Christie Mohide and to the memory of my great grandfather Thomas Lloyd, silversmith, and his granddaughters, Christina and Dorothy Lloyd and Patrick Joseph Mohide. Published by Woodhead Publishing Ltd, Abington Hall, Abington, Cambridge, CB1 6AH, England First published 1992, Woodhead Publishing Ltd © Woodhead Publishing Ltd Conditions of sale All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The factual information contained in this study has been carefully compiled from sources the author believes to be reliable. However, the author does not wish it to be construed as a representation for trading purposes, nor as a prospectus for orders for metal or company stocks. Neither the author nor the publishers can be held responsible for the consequences of any errors or omissions. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 1 85573 067 7 Designed by Andrew Jones (text) and Chris Feely (jacket), typeset by BookEns Limited, Baldock, Herts and printed by St Edmundsbury Press Dedicated to Jean Dorothy Dudbridge Mohide, Deirdre Siobhan Mohide, Patrick, Ann and Christie Mohide and to the memory of my great grandfather Thomas Lloyd, silversmith, and his granddaughters, Christina and Dorothy Lloyd and Patrick Joseph Mohide. Published by Woodhead Publishing Ltd, Abington Hall, Abington, Cambridge, CB1 6AH, England First published 1992, Woodhead Publishing Ltd © Woodhead Publishing Ltd Conditions of sale All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The factual information contained in this study has been carefully compiled from sources the author believes to be reliable. However, the author does not wish it to be construed as a representation for trading purposes, nor as a prospectus for orders for metal or company stocks. Neither the author nor the publishers can be held responsible for the consequences of any errors or omissions. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 1 85573 067 7 Designed by Andrew Jones (text) and Chris Feely (jacket), typeset by BookEns Limited, Baldock, Herts and printed by St Edmundsbury Press Tables 3.1 Estimated silver reserves 20 32 Breakdown by country of estimated silver reserves not yet mined 21 4.1 Estimation of US sources of silver 27 4.2 Estimated world mine output of silver, '000 tonnes 30 4.3 Whole world and US mine output of silver, tonnes 33 4 A US - major silver producers 34 4.5 Canada - major silver producers 37 4.6 Australia - major silver producers 39 4.7 Mexico - major silver producers 41 4.8 Peru - major silver producers 43 4.9 Chile - major silver producers 44 7.1 Silver consumption in photographic materials, tonnes 69 7.2 Forecast of photographic uses in the world, 1992 and 1995 71 7.3 US silver consumption in electrical and electronic uses 73 7.4 Use of silver in commemorative coins 88 THE INTERNATIONAL SILVER TRADE 8.1 Western world consumption of silver, '000 tonnes 97 8.2 US silver fabrication demand in 1990 98 8.3 Japanese consumption of silver, tonnes 99 8.4 Consumption of silver in its three main uses, by country 103 9.1 Inflation and silver prices 124 92 Summary of leading gold forecasts 131 Figures 5.1 Total secondary silver output between 1980-91. 53 6.1 Stocks of silver in the market. 59 6.2 The supply of silver to and from India (estimated). 60 6.3 The steep drop in silver stocks. 63 8.1 Western world consumption of silver, Ό00 tonnes. 95 9.1 Current and constant ( 1967) US silver prices 1840-1990. 111 9.2 Silver supply and demand, non-communist world. 113 93 Long term silver supply/fabrication demand balance. 114 9.4 Silver to gold price ratio over 5000 years. 117 9.5 Silver to gold production ratio. 119 9.6 The value of the dollar over 43 years. 123 XI Preface T his desktop reference is designed to fill a gap, providing a compre- hensive work on silver. It aims at providing an easy to read inclusive picture for those who want to know more about this very important and glamorous metal in a handy form to use in their jobs or in their private lives, and occasionally to make some extra money. Silver fascinates a large number of people as a valuable and beautiful metal that is part of mankind's entire known history and early archaeology, first as ornaments and money and now as a vital constituent in so many products in our modern convenience society: in its dishwashers, cameras, automobiles and X-rays to name but a few. Silver is a lustrous white-moonbeam colour, soft (although harder than gold) precious metal. In fact, the Peruvian Inca word for silver is 'the tears of the moon', a brilliant and poetic name. Silver, less often found in metallic form than gold and platinum, was used by man much later than gold and copper. The allure of silver is undeniable. It has been known and valued for its brilliance and portability since very ancient times and XIII THE INTERNATIONAL SILVER TRADE was used for jewellery and general ornament 6000 years ago and became a standard of value, widely used for trade by 3500 BC and in the form of coinage from 450 BC. My purpose is to describe as interestingly as possible the things that make silver desirable and indispensable and the way that money is made from silver by many people and how the ordinary person of modest means can do something similar without it being onerous. The book's scope is panoramic. It tends to be encyclopaedic in nature - everything you want to know, ranging from silver's unique qualities as a metal and as a chemical when combined with certain elements, to a variety of uses which are an inescapable part of our modern standard of living: photography, X-rays, jewellery, sterling silver tableware, collector coins, electronic equipment, medicine and so on. Further, it covers the countries it comes from and those nations that consume it, how it is hoarded and traded and how banks, insurance companies and others help to make all this possible. The method of treatment is to look at each of the various facets of silver as one does a cut diamond, e.g. the close relationship that its usage has to the surging increase in the world's population, its truly unique value in safeguarding the eyesight of each baby born in advanced countries, its unique value in money terms, its use in medicine generally, from radi- ography to ointments and in preventive medicine, in our environmental protection and safety, in family photographs, in telephone systems and in the direct generation of electricity from the sun in large amounts. With regard to the figures used in this book, I have declined to take the view that only one view is valid and correct. This panoramic book describes the world overall silver situation for the intelligent reader. Some figures are given as 'flavour' but they are not articles of faith. As a result, I have used various sources which may or may not be in agreement with each other. This is an integral part of the silver trade which is an ani- mate, changing entity and not one which can or should be forced to gather dust on the antiquated bookshelf. I have studied all aspects of silver for more than four decades and have bought and sold large quantities of physical silver bullion to an extent that few individuals now alive have done. It has never been a 'paper' subject to me. I have worked in companies mining, refining and trading silver in several countries. I have been down a number of mines XIV PREFACE and have had the privilege of serving in government, supervising the mining and refining of silver. I have also been involved in the government super- vision and reporting process of the public trading of metals and I have also headed a commodities exchange, trading precious metals. In writing this book, my special thanks go to a number of people who provided me with invaluable information and I am indebted to them for their assistance, particularly: Dr Gerry Anders, Bob Manning, John Lutley, Samuel F Etris, Walter Frankland, Donald Corrigan and Patricia Howe Gibson. I would also like to thank the Silver Institute for their kind- ness, generosity and assistance in the preparation of the uses of silver in Chapter 7. Thomas Patrick Mohide XV Executive summary 1 Silver is a precious metal that has retained value over extraordinarily long periods of time. Although the purchasing power of silver has been subject to significant fluctuations, it has been a relatively stable store of value and medium of exchange over the last 6000 years. 2 Silver, because of its lower price, has a more universal appeal than the other much more expensive precious metals such as gold, platinum and rhodium. 3 Silver is greatly desired for personal adornment in jewellery which is silver's third largest use worldwide along with tableware. World silver jewellery demand doubled between 1985 and 1990. Silver is also used for the protection of personal savings in the form of bars and coins as an ulti- mate and indestructible store of wealth that is unlikely to diminish as most paper currencies do. 4 Silver, with its unique properties, has a very wide and growing range of uses in industry: in medicine, dentistry, space vehicles, commemorative coinage, mirrors, photography and X-ray films, tableware and electronics. XVI

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