The reason for this demand is the use of silver in the photography industry, which takes advantage of silver's reactivity to light. Native Silver is rare and much silver is produced from silver-bearing minerals such as prousite, pyrargyrite, galena, etc. Specimens of Native Silver usually consist of wires that are curved and intertwined together, making an inspiring mineralogical curiosity. Color is silver white with exposed specimens tarnishing black. Luster is metallic.
Transparency is opaque.
Wires can form coiled clusters that resemble rams horns. Cleavage is absent. Fracture is jagged. Streak is silver white. Hardness is 2.5-3.