The amount of gold used in the United States is about equal to the production. Nearly $80,000,000 is coined into money, and about half as much is used in the arts,—that is, for jewelry, tableware, in dentistry, in bookbinding, and various chemical processes. The quantity used in the arts has doubled since 1900. In 1907 the stock of gold coin in the United States, according to the Director of the Mint, was $1,600,000,000, which is almost exactly one-fifth of the gold coin of the world.
The production of gold is rapidly increasing. Since 1850 we have mined three times as much gold as in all the previous time since the discovery of America. Such rapid production greatly shortens the life of the gold supply. When the gold fields of southern Africa were first opened they were said to be inexhaustible; but they have been mined so rapidly, and the supply has proved so far short of the first excited estimates that experts say that the entire region will be almost exhausted within twenty years. The loss of gold in mining and refining is comparatively small. In extracting gold from the cheaper ores the percentage of loss is large; but as only a small part of the gold is gained in this way the total loss is relatively small. By other methods ninety-five per cent. or more is saved. In many cases the loss is too small to be considered.
Unlike other minerals little gold is destroyed by use. It is melted and remelted, all scraps are used, even the sweepings from the mint and from manufacturing goldsmiths' shops are saved and the gold used. The waste of the world's gold and silver would be much greater but for the use of paper money, bank checks, and notes. Their very general use keeps the gold as a reserve, held in banks and storage vaults much of the time. If it were in constant use, the continual rubbing together of the coins would mean a no less steady, though slight, wearing away of their surface. This is very noticeable in old silver coins, which are kept in more constant circulation.
SILVER
The conditions in regard to silver are entirely different from those of the other resources. The production of silver is not increasing, in fact, the mining of silver alone is decreasing and the reason is not because the supply is lessening, but because the price is too low to make a larger working of the mines profitable, and the supply is kept down to the level of the demand. A great number of silver mines have been closed for the last few years. The production could be greatly increased at any time to meet an increased demand.
The highest production was in 1902, but there have been only slight changes since 1895; the production being a little less than 60,000,000 ounces, or about one-third of the world's supply—Mexico being the only other great producer. In many countries with a small supply the output is growing less each year on account of the low price, and the difficulty of competing with the United States.
The states now producing the most silver are Colorado, Montana, and Utah; each of these produces about one ounce out of every five ounces mined. Most of the remainder was produced by Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, and California.
Although nearly 60,000,000 ounces were mined in 1907 only one and a half million ounces were mined for the sake of the silver alone. The rest was obtained as a by-product in the mining of gold, lead, copper and zinc, or, as is often the case, it was distinctively silver ore, but could not be profitably mined unless some other ore could be obtained at the same time.
The richer regions seem to have been exhausted, and as the process of extracting the ore is expensive the lower grade ores will probably be held for several years till prices advance. A great silver region has recently been opened in northern Canada. This contains immense quantities of very rich ore, and will probably keep the price down for many years.
So the care and conservation of silver is not an important issue for the people of the present generation. As silver is now obtained largely as a by-product, there is almost no waste.