Silver is money. In French, Thai and many other languages, the words for 'silver' and 'money' are the same. Most currencies denominated in pounds (or livres, lira etc.) were based on a troy pound (= 12 troy ounces) of silver. Norman silver coins in 11th Century England often had stars on them (ster) and gradually, sterling (small star) became synonymous with silver of guaranteed purity (nowadays 92.5%). British pounds are still referred to as 'sterling'.
In Spanish, the phrase valer un potos means to be worth a fortune. However, even many Spaniards would not know why. Potos was once easily the largest city in the Americas, with over 200,000 residents, making it in fact one of the biggest (and richest) in the world. At 4090m above sea level, it remains one of the highest cities in the world. However, it features hardly at all in the mental maps of most of us today.
Potos, now in modern-day Bolivia, was part of the viceroyalty of Peru in 1546 when the Spanish founded the city next to the Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain) - thought to be made almost entirely of silver ore. Once mining started, it produced over 45,000 tonnes of pure silver over the following 240 years.
This wealth was mined at huge human cost. The Cerro Rico has been named 'The Mountain the Eats Men'. At first, the Spanish used Inca 'contributed' labour (an interesting example of a 16th Century euphemism) to mine and process the silver ore. It is thought that between 10,000 and 20,000 of these labourers died each year due to the physical and chemical dangers involved. Silver ore was processed by cold-mixing mercury with silver ore using bare feet. Mercury poisoning killed most workers within months.
Once Inca labour was running short, the conquistadores started to import black African slaves. When they realised that the mules used to pull carts out of the tunnels died after a couple of weeks, they substituted twenty slaves for four mules. The slaves died just as quickly. But they were cheaper. In total it is estimated that some 8 million workers died in and on the Cerro Rico between 1546 and 1824. 45,000 tonnes for 8 million lives. Do the math, as they say. (In case that's not your forte, each tonne of silver cost 178 lives.)
Apart from the human death toll, there was an economic price to pay, too. Monetary systems across Europe were based on the price of silver. These huge tonnages of 'pieces of ate' from South America constituted a significant increase in the supply of silver in circulation throughout Europe. This caused inflation. Estimates vary, but it is thought that the average peasant in England and in the Low Countries in the mid 16th Century earned between two thirds and a half (in real terms) of what had been normal 50 years earlier.
Potos's silver was therefore not only produced at enormous human cost, but cost innumerable lives on its passage back to Europe (through piracy) and on its arrival (inflation).
Today, Potos still produces silver - though in very small amounts. Very little silver is used for coins today - and indeed only about a fifth of the world's annual silver production is used for jewellery. (The rest is used for photography, electronics and other industrial processes.)
Today, silver is produced ethically and cleanly. At The Regnas Collection we use silver in our jewellery because of its bright colour, malleability and durability. However, every time I wear my grandfather's silver cuff-links, I wonder whether that silver came from the mountain that ate men.
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Tim Gardener invites you to visit http://www.jewellerymen.com for more information about heraldic engraved jewelry, gemstone cufflinks and gifts or sign up for our monthly newsletter at http://eepurl.com/oIvP. Thank you.
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