Purest silver

[kiwiman]

I know the bullion silver is .999 pure but what is the purest silver can possibly be? Is there a much more expensive way to get .9999999999 or something? is there such thing as 1.0?

[rexmerdinus]

I think the only theoretical way to have 1.0 is have only one atom, or maybe to "grow" silver in a laboratory or something. Even then, the reagents in that chemical reaction would leave residual impurities unless perfectly balanced and measured--and I mean down to individual molecules. Then again, I'm no chemist, so I'm just spitballing

[Cu Penny Hoarder]

I know the bullion silver is .999 pure but what is the purest silver can possibly be? Is there a much more expensive way to get .9999999999 or something? is there such thing as 1.0?

Canadian Maples are .9999. That's pure enough for me.

I think there is an Aussie coin that is .99999, but I forget which one it is.

[natsb88]

5 9s here: http://www.royalsilver.com/retailstore/

[TXBullion]

so why can you not have 100% pure? I think this has= been talked about.

[rexmerdinus]

Because nothing is 100% pure--there are always tiny impuritues...and if a mint says 1.000, the first guy that files a lawsuit saying "prove it" is going to walk away with a nice fat check because as soon as a piece of silver is exposed to air it begins to oxidize--and a court of law will call into question the cleanliness of the testing environment. Even if a mint could produce 0.(a million) 9's pure silver, it's best to say 0.999 or 0.9999 or whatever, because if anyone ever challenged the level of purity, the producer would be erring on the side of caution.

[TXBullion]

So really couldnt you make a round bar that said 1.00 pure *upon refinement by manufacturer or something along those lines. Just seems weird, is that the main reason?

[barrytrot]

So really couldnt you make a round bar that said 1.00 pure *upon refinement by manufacturer or something along those lines. Just seems weird, is that the main reason?

You could say that, but *why*? People want "physical silver" because they can keep it, use it, trade it. The fact that when *you had it* it was more pure doesn't sound like a selling point.

[TXBullion]

So really couldnt you make a round bar that said 1.00 pure *upon refinement by manufacturer or something along those lines. Just seems weird, is that the main reason?

You could say that, but *why*? People want "physical silver" because they can keep it, use it, trade it. The fact that when *you had it* it was more pure doesn't sound like a selling point.

Just wondering, probably not a great selling point.

I wonder if there was a precedent that established this.

Just trying to know for my own records. Like the Ce symbol on plastic, its everywhere but no one knows what it means

[natsb88]

... Like the Ce symbol on plastic, its everywhere but no one knows what it means

It's a European thing...

Certain product categories have to meet certain standards to be sold in certain countries, so manufacturers must be certain to comply with those certain standards if they wish to export certain products to certain countries. So it's certainly easier just to make sure all their stuff complies and throw the symbol on everything