Silver

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Mineral guide

Learn about Silver

native silver with wire, leaf, and dendritic forms, bright luster and patina; prized for rare isometric crystals and iconic localities in collections.

Regional guide

Silver from Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, USA

from Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula belongs to one of the most recognizable native-metal traditions in mineral collecting. It is the bright, white-metal counterpart to the district’s native copper: a soft, lustrous native element, Ag, occurring as dendritic sprays, herringbone aggregates, distorted crystals, plates, sheets, “spikes,” and intimate copper-silver intergrowths long known in the trade as “halfbreeds.” The appeal is immediate. Fresh silver from the Keweenaw has a cool, brilliant sheen that contrasts dramatically with reddish copper, white calcite, pale green prehnite, quartz, epidote, and the dark basaltic matrix of the Lake Superior copper district.