- Joined
- Apr 24, 2005
- Messages
- 47,534
- Likes
- 33,575
Only when used for certain applications. When used chemically, it is often never recovered as it is impractical to recycle. In the old days when B&W photo film was in common use, Kodak offered a silver recovery service (https://p2infohouse.org/ref/31/30567.pdf), but it was not in very common use and only a small fraction of the silver from silver nitrate was recycled.Obviously. But my observation is that ammo, once its used, is gone (yes, save the brass) and the value is zero.
Silver retains its value, up or down. Melt it down and make teapots and spoons, the value is retained. If the price goes down, you have less value, but not zero.
Buying ammo is paying a usage fee.
Sure, hoarded ammo is a commodity, if you dont plan on ever shooting it.
The silver used in topical wound creams like Silvadine and in certain bandages (commonly used for burns) is pretty much never recovered.
So silver is sometimes put into a different form, but a considerable amount is actually consumed never again to grace someone's PM horde or broker's vault.