From our perspective, silver is the most fascinating metal in existence.

Silver is best known for having extraordinary properties that have made it an effective monetary metal for thousands of years. Currency buffs all know the metal as being rare, durable, fungible, malleable, ductile, and divisible, which match the properties of money agreed on by most economists. Silver, of course, has been used by civilizations ranging from Ancient Rome to the United States for monetary purposes.

However, these monetary uses are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of silver’s overall utility. More than 50% of all silver uses are for industrial applications, and it’s not just a single application that dominates that mix.

Silver has an array of properties that make it interesting for many practical purposes. Firstly, silver is the most conductive and the most reflective metal, which make it useful in batteries, solar panels, and electronics. It’s also an effective industrial catalyst for producing very important materials such as plastics or polyester. Lastly, silver is extremely anti-bacterial and non-toxic, making it handy for a wide variety of medical and technological applications.

21 INCREDIBLE USES FOR SILVER

The following infographic shows 21 incredible uses for silver. Many of them may be surprising or seemingly “oddball”, but it really speaks to the impressive versatility of the metal.

The above infographic from BullionVault puts the many uses of silver in perspective.

The metal’s properties make it a great choice for technological applications such as batteries, solar panels, media storage, or 3d printing. However, it also has many “oddball” uses as well: anti-microbial labcoats, water purification, laundry detergent, photography, stained glass, wood preservation, treating warts, cloud seeding, and food garnishing.

The possibilities seem endless for silver, and there’s no telling what it could be used for in the future.