“Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.”
– Matthew 26:14-15
The abundance of silver found in the Sierra Minera de Cartagena gave rise to Carthaginian control of southern Spain during the 3rd century BC and subsequent Roman occupation. Silver mining made Carthago Nova, present-day Cartagena, one of the most flourishing cities in Roman Hispania, as Roman currency’s stability relied upon silver bullion supply from Spain, of which Roman miners produced on an unparalleled scale at the time. Since ancient times, silver has been associated with money and wealth. Famously, 30 pieces of silver was said to be the bribe that Judas Iscariot had taken to turn Jesus of Nazareth over to the soldiers of the high priest Caiaphas.
As Spain explored and conquered the New World, silver was among her most sought after, for an entire country was named after this precious metal that is present-day Argentina, whose name goes back to the first Spanish voyages to the Río de la Plata, or the River of Silver. The survivors of the shipwrecked expedition mounted by Juan Díaz de Solís found indigenous people in the region who gave them silver objects as presents. The news about the legendary Sierra del Plata, a mountain rich in silver, reached Spain around 1524. Vast amounts of silver mined in Potosí and Mexico fueled the global trade between China and the West beginning in the 16th century well into the 19th century. While Europe was intensely interested in numerous Chinese goods, Chinese interest in European goods was not so much, but they couldn’t get enough of the Spanish silver coins, so much so that Qing Dynasty China referred to them by the individual King of Spain carved upon each. As one of the kings’ portrait resembled the depiction of the Buddha, the coins bearing his face were referred to as the “Fat Buddha” coin or the “Buddha Head” coin, which drove up demand for this particular coin. Even long after this king was dead, others discovered the Chinese’s desire for coins with his image on them, driving up the price of the coin.
The stability of Spanish currency in the 16th century made it the first international currency, being used in the Americas, Europe, and the Far East. Countries around the world, including the United States, based their currencies on the Spanish peso, whose full name was known as Peso de Ocho, or weight of eight, meaning that it was valued at eight royals. The American dollar was pegged to be on par with the Spanish peso. The amount of silver in the dollar was based on the average weight of a random selection of worn Spanish coins, of which Alexander Hamilton ordered to be weighed at the Treasury. The dollar was divided into “pieces of eight,” or “bits,” each consisting of one-eighth of a dollar. The New York Stock Exchange followed this system to spread stock values at one-eighth dollar denominations. It was not until 2001 that U.S. stock markets switched to the decimal system.
Silver is a favorite precious metal for use in jewelry. With the abundance of silver mined from the Americas, it was particularly popular as mountings for diamond during the 18th century, as its whiteness was felt better to complement the stone’s brilliance than gold. In 1712 the English noblewoman Lady Pawlet was described at a wedding “in all her finery of true lovers knots of diamonds set in as much silver as would make a pair of candle-sticks.” As silverware was the dining metal of choice for European elites, the grandest form was for the dressing rooms, called the toilet service, which typically included from ten to thirty pieces. The English writer Mary Evelyn described the toilet service in Mundus Muliebris, published in 1700:
“The Table Miroir, one Glue Pot,
One for Pomatum, and what not?
Of Washes, Unguents, and Cosmeticks,
A pair of Silver Candlesticks;
Snuffers, and Snuff-dish, Boxes more,
For Powders, Patches, Waters store,
In silver Flasks or Bottles, Cups
Cover’d, or open to wash Chaps;”
So much love for silver, unsurprisingly, gives way to the expression “born with a silver spoon in his mouth” to describe someone with inherited wealth. Indeed, digestion of enough silver could make one blue-blooded, an expression originating from the Spanish “sangre azul”, which signifies noble, aristocratic families. While it is commonly thought that a blue-blooded person was called thus because their veins appeared exceptionally blue underneath their pale, untanned skin, the more plausible explanation is the condition known as agyria. Agyria is caused by swallowing silver particles unable to pass through the body, turning the skin, eyes, internal organs, nails, and gums a blue-grey color. Silver compounds accumulated in various parts of the body decompose to silver sulfides when exposed to sunlight. These microscopic particles deposit in the skin, effectuating changes in pigment color.
The bending silver spoon motif embroidered onto this silk halter top is inspired by a passage from the movie The Matrix. During Neo’s first visit to the Oracle, a boy was teaching him how to bend a spoon. Said the spoon boy to Neo, “Do not try and bend the spoon, that’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth. There is no spoon. Then you’ll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.”
