Is silver a mineral?
Yes. Native silver, Ag, is an IMA mineral: cubic, hardness 2.5 to 3, density 10.1 to 11.1. Argentite is acanthite, Ag2S; embolite has no IMA row. Coins are not.
Yes. Native silver is a mineral: the element Ag, cubic, hardness 2.5 to 3, density 10.1 to 11.1, with its own row on the September 2026 IMA list (status G). Acanthite, Ag2S, 87.06% silver, is a common silver species in ore veins; old labels call its cube-shaped crystals argentite, a name with no IMA row. Silverware and coins are not minerals.
In short
- The definition. The IMA commission’s 1995 definition of a mineral says a mineral is an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline and formed as a result of geological processes. The Handbook of Mineralogy silver sheet gives Ag, cubic, space group Fm3m, a primary hydrothermal mineral also formed by secondary processes, especially in the oxidised parts of deposits. It says silver forms a series with gold.
- The argentite rule. A case-insensitive scan of every line of the September 2026 IMA-CNMNC Master List finds 0 containing argentite. The acanthite sheet says the cubic high-temperature form (“argentite”) inverts to acanthite at about 173 °C, and that acanthite is commonly paramorphic after it, in cubes or octahedra to 8 cm. A label reading argentite, or a black cube of silver sulphide, is acanthite, Ag2S, 87.06% silver.
- The halogen check. The silver sheet names embolite among its associates; no IMA line contains the word. Chlorargyrite (AgCl) and bromargyrite (AgBr) each have rows, and the IMA commission’s 1998 guidelines define a species by the atom making up at least 50% of a site. The chlorargyrite sheet’s Broken Hill analysis works out at 65.1% chlorine among its halogen atoms: chlorargyrite. Its third column, Br:Cl 1:1, sits on the line and needs an analysis.
- The 0.79-gram gap. Worked as 20 − 20/D, a 20.00 g piece of native silver reads 18.02 to 18.20 g in water, and acanthite 17.22 to 17.23 g: 0.79 g apart. Galena (17.36 g) and the silver sulphosalts (16.41 to 16.81 g) are lighter still. Native copper, at 17.77 g, is only 0.25 g below silver’s bottom edge, so the balance sorts metal from ore, not silver from copper.
- Where the answer changes. The 1995 definition says anthropogenic substances are not minerals. Wire silver from Kongsberg is the mineral; silverware, a coin or a bar is the metal. Gold–silver alloy as a variety of gold is on is gold a mineral.
| Name | Formula (IMA) | IMA status | Silver by mass | Hardness | Density | 20.00 g piece in water | Tenacity (sheet) | Is it silver? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | Ag | G | 100% | 2.5 to 3 | 10.1 to 11.1 | 18.02 to 18.20 g | Ductile, malleable | Yes: native silver |
| Acanthite (old label: argentite) | Ag2S | G, 1855, Czech Republic | 87.06% | 2.0 to 2.5 | 7.20 to 7.22 | 17.22 to 17.23 g | Sectile | No: a silver sulphide |
| Chlorargyrite | AgCl | A, 1962 s.p., Germany | 75.26% | 2.5 | 5.556 | 16.40 g | Sectile and ductile; very plastic | No: a silver chloride |
| Embolite (old label) | No IMA line | - | - | - | - | - | - | Chlorargyrite or bromargyrite, by the dominant halogen |
| Stephanite | Ag5SbS4 | G, 1845, Germany | 68.33% | 2 to 2.5 | 6.26 | 16.81 g | Brittle | No: a silver sulphosalt |
| Proustite | Ag3AsS3 | G, 1832 | 65.41% | 2 to 2.5 | 5.57 | 16.41 g | Brittle | No: a silver sulphosalt |
| Pyrargyrite | Ag3SbS3 | G, 1831 | 59.76% | 2.5 | 5.82 | 16.56 g | Brittle | No: a silver sulphosalt |
| Bromargyrite | AgBr | A, 1962 s.p., Mexico | 57.45% | 2.5 | 6.474 | 16.91 g | Sectile, ductile | No: a silver bromide |
| Copper | Cu | G | 0% | 2.5 to 3 | 8.95 | 17.77 g | Highly malleable and ductile | No: another native element |
| Silverware, coins, bars | - | Not a mineral | Varies | - | - | - | - | The metal, made by people |
Is silver a mineral? Yes, as native silver
Native silver is a mineral: the chemical element silver, crystallised by geological processes. Nickel 1995, Definition of a mineral (Mineralogical Magazine 59, 767), published with the approval of the IMA commission, says that in general terms a mineral is an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline and which has been formed as a result of geological processes. The Handbook of Mineralogy silver sheet gives Ag, cubic, point group 4/m 3 2/m, crystals commonly cubic, octahedral or dodecahedral to 2 cm, more commonly elongated, wiry, arborescent or reticulated, and massive, in scales, sheets and coatings. It is ductile and malleable, hardness 2.5 to 3, density 10.1 to 11.1, 10.5 when pure; silver-white, tarnishing gray to black, with a silver-white streak.
What the IMA list and the classifications record. The September 2026 list gives silver, Ag, status G, grandfathered; the year and country columns read ? and unknown. The webmineral silver page places it in Dana class 01.01.01.02, native elements, gold group, and Strunz 01.AA.05. The sheet records the cubic form as 3C and hexagonal stacking polytypes 2H and 4H as known; the IMA list has one line beginning silver, the species itself. The parallel questions are is gold a mineral and is copper a mineral.
Natural silver is not pure. The sheet’s Kongsberg, Norway analysis is Ag 98.450 with Hg 1.130, Sb 0.581, Fe 0.024, Cu 0.011 and Au 0.004. It is still native silver: under the 50% rule of the IMA commission’s 1998 guidelines, the dominant atom names the species, and purity does not. The species page is native silver.
Is argentite a mineral? The argentite rule
Argentite is not an IMA species; a label reading argentite describes acanthite. The Handbook acanthite sheet says the high-temperature cubic form (“argentite”) inverts to acanthite at about 173 °C, and that below that temperature acanthite is the stable phase and forms directly. It records acanthite as commonly paramorphic after the cubic phase, of original cubic or octahedral habit, to 8 cm. A case-insensitive scan of every line of the September 2026 IMA list finds 0 containing argentite; acanthite has its row, Ag2S, G, 1855, Czech Republic, and the sheet marks Jáchymov as its type locality.
What that means for a cube. A black, cube-shaped crystal of silver sulphide keeps the shape it grew in and the chemistry of acanthite. Worked from Ag2S, it is 87.06% silver, the figure the sheet prints for the ideal. The sheet gives it monoclinic, sectile, hardness 2.0 to 2.5, density 7.20 to 7.22, iron-black with a black streak, and photosensitive. Proustite and pyrargyrite, the red silver sulphosalts, also darken with exposure to light on their sheets; their pages are proustite and pyrargyrite.
Where it is found with silver. The acanthite sheet’s localities for fine primary and paramorphic crystals include Jáchymov [TL]; Freiberg, Schneeberg, Annaberg and Marienberg, Saxony, and St. Andreasberg, Harz; large paramorphs from Arizpe, Sonora, and Guanajuato, Zacatecas and Chihuahua, Mexico; Butte, Montana; Tonopah and the Comstock Lode, Nevada; Cobalt, Ontario; and Chañarcillo, Chile.
What is embolite? The halogen check
Embolite is an old name with no IMA row; a chloride-bromide of silver is chlorargyrite or bromargyrite, whichever halogen dominates. The silver sheet lists acanthite, chlorargyrite, embolite, silver sulfosalts, gold and copper as associates. A case-insensitive scan of the IMA list finds 0 lines containing embolite, while chlorargyrite, AgCl (A, 1962 s.p., Germany) and bromargyrite, AgBr (A, 1962 s.p., Mexico) each have rows. Nickel and Grice 1998, the IMA commission’s procedures and guidelines (Canadian Mineralogist 36, 913) says that where two types of atom share a structural site, the species is to be defined by the atom comprising at least 50% of that site.
Worked on the chlorargyrite sheet. Divide each halogen’s weight percent by its atomic weight. The Chañarcillo, Chile analysis, Cl 24.73, is all chlorine. The Broken Hill, Australia analysis, Cl 14.36, Br 15.85, I 2.35, gives 65.1% chlorine, 31.9% bromine and 3.0% iodine by atoms: chlorargyrite, though bromine is the larger weight. The sheet’s third column, Ag(Br,Cl) with Br:Cl = 1:1, comes out at 50.0% each, exactly on the line; at that point only an analysis of the actual specimen names it. Substitute any analysis in the same division.
What the sheets add. Chlorargyrite is sectile and ductile, very plastic, hardness 2.5, density 5.556, colourless, pale yellow or gray, turning violet-brown to purple on exposure to light; the sheet calls it a rich ore in the oxidised zone above silver deposits, commonly preserved in arid climates, and names Broken Hill, the Lake Valley district of New Mexico and Chañarcillo among its localities. Bromargyrite is hardness 2.5, density 6.474.
How do you tell native silver from silver ore? The 0.79-gram gap
A 20.00 g piece of native silver reads 18.02 to 18.20 g in water; acanthite, the densest silver compound in the table, reads 17.23 g at most. Worked as 20 − 20/D on the sheets’ measured densities: silver 10.1 to 11.1 gives 18.02 to 18.20 g, and 18.10 g at 10.5 when pure; acanthite 17.22 to 17.23 g; bromargyrite 16.91 g; stephanite 16.81 g; pyrargyrite 16.56 g; proustite 16.41 g; chlorargyrite 16.40 g. Galena, at 7.58, reads 17.36 g. The gap from silver to acanthite is 0.79 g. The method is on how to measure specific gravity at home.
Documented limits. Native copper reads 17.77 g, only 0.25 g below silver’s bottom edge, and the silver sheet names the Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, where silver occurs with copper; a mixed piece will read between the two and name neither. Silver’s own measured range is 0.18 g wide, and matrix pulls any reading down. Gold, at 18.96 g, is heavier again. The pin test and the density–microhardness comparison on native silver are not repeated here.
When silver is not a mineral. The 1995 definition says anthropogenic substances are not minerals, and that one identical to a mineral is a synthetic equivalent; silverware, coins, bars and plate are the metal, not mineral specimens. The silver sheet’s Distribution field names Kongsberg, where development is exceptional; Freiberg and Marienberg, Saxony; Příbram and Jáchymov; Cobalt and Silver Islet, Ontario; Batopilas, Chihuahua; Chañarcillo, Chile; and Broken Hill. Any question about handling silver minerals belongs on toxic minerals in a collection; nothing here is health or safety advice. The classification questions are indexed at the collecting guides. Nothing on this site is offered for sale; the wanted list is the only commercial route.