{ "schemaVersion": 1, "id": "historical-silver-production-1930", "version": "1.0", "title": "Historical Silver Production, 1493–1927", "subtitle": "A historical data explorer · Bureau of Mines, 1930", "url": "/research/historical-silver-production-1930/", "reviewedAt": "2026-10-04", "scope": "A historical source analysis reviewed on 4 October 2026. Values describe the periods, territorial groupings and ore classes in Economic Paper 8. The compilation uses historical estimates and records of varying quality. It establishes neither present mine output nor present inventories, reserves or availability.", "standfirst": "Explore how the reported geography and scale of silver production changed across 435 years. Read the long periods as averages, follow the annual world series, and examine the ore classes behind U.S. output.", "assessment": "Silver supply had become geographically concentrated and connected to the mining of other metals. These historical tables let us examine that structure while keeping production, cumulative output and available inventory distinct. Every view retains the source period and links back to the scan.", "report": { "title": "Summarized Data of Silver Production", "author": "Charles White Merrill and the Staff of the Common Metals Division", "publisher": "U.S. Department of Commerce · Bureau of Mines", "documentId": "Economic Paper 8", "publishedAt": "1930", "datePrecision": "year", "setting": "Calendar years 1493–1927; manuscript completed November 1929", "sourceId": "bureau-silver-1930", "catalogUrl": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc40312/", "catalogLabel": "Read the library catalog record ↗", "readPdfPage": 8, "pdfPages": 66, "sha256": "7d5575f4f84df1f3b83113e1f3c8b5bf024adfdd8212abac0135d45ee12cd81d", "summary": "The Bureau of Mines compiled world, country and U.S. ore-source statistics to support mineral-economic research. Its opening argument connects silver output to other nonferrous mining because much silver was recovered alongside other metals. The data begin in 1493; the report also discusses earlier mining, which is outside this statistical coverage.", "caution": "Published in 1930, with the manuscript completed in November 1929 and series ending in 1927. Early periods are historical estimates, not modern annual measurements. The 66-page archived scan includes the full Table 46 foldout. This release transcribes Table 1, Table 5, Table 6 quantities and regional shares, Table 12, and Table 45; the foldout remains a linked source, not a fully digitized dataset.", "locators": [ { "label": "Period summaries · Table 1", "printed": "vi", "pdfPage": 6 }, { "label": "Sources, units and methods", "printed": "1–2", "pdfPage": 8 }, { "label": "Annual world production · Table 5", "printed": "6", "pdfPage": 13 }, { "label": "Countries and continents · Table 6", "printed": "8–11", "pdfPage": 15 }, { "label": "U.S. ore sources · Table 12", "printed": "28", "pdfPage": 35 }, { "label": "Cumulative producers · Table 45", "printed": "58", "pdfPage": 65 }, { "label": "Master summary · Table 46 foldout", "printed": "foldout", "pdfPage": 66 } ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "bureau-silver-1930", "title": "Summarized Data of Silver Production", "publisher": "Bureau of Mines · Government Printing Office", "kind": "Original government statistical compilation · archived scan", "url": "https://www.silverwars.com/content/files/2025/08/Summarized-Data-of-Silver-Production---1930.pdf", "publishedAt": "1930", "datePrecision": "year", "retrievedAt": "2026-10-04", "locator": "Economic Paper 8. Table 1, printed vi / viewer 6; Table 5, 6 / 13; Table 6, 8–11 / 15–18; Table 12, 28 / 35; Table 45, 58 / 65; Table 46, viewer 66.", "supports": "Historical production quantities, period definitions, reported rounded percentages, territorial footnotes and the authors’ ore-source interpretation.", "limit": "A historical compilation with estimates and mixed source quality. Source blanks are retained as unreported cells; they are not silently converted to zero. Annual ore-class and country totals are separate series. Scan publication/upload dates are not data observation dates.", "sha256": "7d5575f4f84df1f3b83113e1f3c8b5bf024adfdd8212abac0135d45ee12cd81d" }, { "id": "unt-catalog", "title": "Economic Paper 8 library catalog", "publisher": "University of North Texas Libraries", "kind": "Government-document catalog", "url": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc40312/", "publishedAt": "1930", "datePrecision": "year", "retrievedAt": "2026-10-04", "locator": "Title, creator, publisher, physical description and 1930 creation date.", "supports": "Bibliographic identity and year of publication.", "limit": "Catalog accession and later update dates do not describe production observations or a revised statistical edition." } ], "historical": { "unit": "fine troy ounces", "definition": "Troy ounces, 1,000 fine; calendar years. Source quantities are reproduced at their reported precision.", "periods": [ { "id": "1493-1927", "start": 1493, "end": 1927, "label": "1493–1927", "kind": "period-total" }, { "id": "1493-1600", "start": 1493, "end": 1600, "label": "1493–1600", "kind": "period-total" }, { "id": "1601-1700", "start": 1601, "end": 1700, "label": "1601–1700", "kind": "period-total" }, { "id": "1701-1800", "start": 1701, "end": 1800, "label": "1701–1800", "kind": "period-total" }, { "id": "1801-1850", "start": 1801, "end": 1850, "label": "1801–1850", "kind": "period-total" }, { "id": "1851-1900", "start": 1851, "end": 1900, "label": "1851–1900", "kind": "period-total" }, { "id": "1901-1925", "start": 1901, "end": 1925, "label": "1901–1925", "kind": "period-total" }, { "id": "1926-1926", "start": 1926, "end": 1926, "label": "1926", "kind": "annual" }, { "id": "1927-1927", "start": 1927, "end": 1927, "label": "1927", "kind": "annual" } ], "world": [ 14356724911, 746932166, 1271922450, 1832768759, 1064261495, 4034289688, 4901347412, 253806386, 251396555 ], "periodSummary": [ { "start": 1493, "end": 1600, "total": 747000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 5.2, "annualMean": 7000000, "years": 108 }, { "start": 1601, "end": 1700, "total": 1272000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 8.9, "annualMean": 13000000, "years": 100 }, { "start": 1701, "end": 1800, "total": 1833000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 12.8, "annualMean": 18000000, "years": 100 }, { "start": 1801, "end": 1900, "total": 5099000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 35.5, "annualMean": 51000000, "years": 100 }, { "start": 1901, "end": 1927, "total": 5406000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 37.6, "annualMean": 200000000, "years": 27 }, { "start": 1493, "end": 1888, "total": 7067000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 49.2, "annualMean": 18000000, "years": 396 }, { "start": 1889, "end": 1927, "total": 7289000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 50.8, "annualMean": 187000000, "years": 39 }, { "start": 1493, "end": 1800, "total": 3852000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 26.9, "annualMean": 13000000, "years": 308 }, { "start": 1801, "end": 1850, "total": 1064000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 7.4, "annualMean": 21000000, "years": 50 }, { "start": 1851, "end": 1875, "total": 1036000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 7.2, "annualMean": 41000000, "years": 25 }, { "start": 1876, "end": 1900, "total": 2999000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 20.9, "annualMean": 120000000, "years": 25 }, { "start": 1851, "end": 1900, "total": 4035000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 28.1, "annualMean": 81000000, "years": 50 }, { "start": 1901, "end": 1910, "total": 1830000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 12.7, "annualMean": 183000000, "years": 10 }, { "start": 1911, "end": 1920, "total": 1958000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 13.6, "annualMean": 196000000, "years": 10 }, { "start": 1921, "end": 1925, "total": 1113000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 7.8, "annualMean": 223000000, "years": 5 }, { "start": 1901, "end": 1925, "total": 4901000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 34.1, "annualMean": 196000000, "years": 25 }, { "start": 1926, "end": 1927, "total": 505000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 3.5, "annualMean": 253000000, "years": 2 }, { "start": 1493, "end": 1927, "total": 14357000000, "publishedCumulativeShare": 100, "annualMean": 33000000, "years": 435 } ], "annualWorld": [ { "year": 1876, "quantity": 66932201 }, { "year": 1877, "quantity": 74174990 }, { "year": 1878, "quantity": 78291041 }, { "year": 1879, "quantity": 78876244 }, { "year": 1880, "quantity": 77902694 }, { "year": 1881, "quantity": 84487883 }, { "year": 1882, "quantity": 88274154 }, { "year": 1883, "quantity": 89956458 }, { "year": 1884, "quantity": 82307566 }, { "year": 1885, "quantity": 91997703 }, { "year": 1886, "quantity": 95484904 }, { "year": 1887, "quantity": 97148513 }, { "year": 1888, "quantity": 110030745 }, { "year": 1889, "quantity": 126564054 }, { "year": 1890, "quantity": 134429165 }, { "year": 1891, "quantity": 138283427 }, { "year": 1892, "quantity": 154377339 }, { "year": 1893, "quantity": 166594198 }, { "year": 1894, "quantity": 164829094 }, { "year": 1895, "quantity": 167744560 }, { "year": 1896, "quantity": 157321170 }, { "year": 1897, "quantity": 160765331 }, { "year": 1898, "quantity": 169537121 }, { "year": 1899, "quantity": 168806306 }, { "year": 1900, "quantity": 173688775 }, { "year": 1901, "quantity": 173100586 }, { "year": 1902, "quantity": 162936273 }, { "year": 1903, "quantity": 167814265 }, { "year": 1904, "quantity": 164274497 }, { "year": 1905, "quantity": 172393042 }, { "year": 1906, "quantity": 165998018 }, { "year": 1907, "quantity": 184784361 }, { "year": 1908, "quantity": 204103994 }, { "year": 1909, "quantity": 213391993 }, { "year": 1910, "quantity": 221428092 }, { "year": 1911, "quantity": 227128987 }, { "year": 1912, "quantity": 225899157 }, { "year": 1913, "quantity": 227519787 }, { "year": 1914, "quantity": 177246560 }, { "year": 1915, "quantity": 189454264 }, { "year": 1916, "quantity": 174632240 }, { "year": 1917, "quantity": 179890233 }, { "year": 1918, "quantity": 203428269 }, { "year": 1919, "quantity": 179931884 }, { "year": 1920, "quantity": 173345280 }, { "year": 1921, "quantity": 171580712 }, { "year": 1922, "quantity": 209828662 }, { "year": 1923, "quantity": 246275858 }, { "year": 1924, "quantity": 239680209 }, { "year": 1925, "quantity": 245280193 }, { "year": 1926, "quantity": 253806386 }, { "year": 1927, "quantity": 251396555 } ], "producers": [ { "label": "United States", "quantities": [ 2995643236, null, null, null, 425600, 1337727544, 1534422940, 62672953, 60394199 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "Mexico", "quantities": [ 5123242279, 90410000, 306650000, 1044510000, 605050000, 1259034854, 1614722340, 98291166, 104573919 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "Canada", "quantities": [ 539449516, null, null, null, null, 30184476, 464279982, 22371924, 22613134 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "Central America", "quantities": [ 78842691, null, null, null, null, 19732885, 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"note": "" }, { "label": "Guianas, Uruguay, and others", "quantities": [ 888285, null, null, null, null, 1443, 870842, 8000, 8000 ], "note": "Source grouping retained." }, { "label": "Venezuela", "quantities": [ 1113065, null, null, null, null, null, 1106635, 3215, 3215 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "Austria", "quantities": [ 325098355, 87770000, 30220000, 62050000, 40550000, 73579861, 30904767, 14050, 9677 ], "note": "Austria-Hungary prior to 1918." }, { "label": "Czechoslovakia", "quantities": [ 7051624, null, null, null, null, null, 5536133, 765491, 750000 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "France", "quantities": [ 71242890, null, null, null, 2342374, 58201688, 10128358, 261830, 308640 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "Germany", "quantities": [ 496917138, 50300000, 26560000, 66620000, 44560000, 174719723, 123298557, 5358858, 5500000 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "Greece", "quantities": [ 45428112, null, null, null, null, 30418311, 14514402, 254274, 241125 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "Italy", "quantities": [ 40477651, null, null, null, 50000, 25177852, 14193550, 519351, 537098 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "Norway", "quantities": [ 45859643, null, 10970000, 14250000, 5485996, 7492291, 7030895, 308640, 321821 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "Poland", "quantities": [ 1266320, null, null, null, null, null, 694620, 271700, 300000 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "Rumania", "quantities": [ 606734, null, null, null, null, null, 372361, 93685, 140688 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "Russia", "quantities": [ 93404949, null, null, 31125000, 34177000, 21258212, 6273237, 250000, 321500 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "Spain", "quantities": [ 200990531, null, null, null, 20490000, 79600412, 94842898, 3000656, 3056565 ], "note": "Includes Portugal." }, { "label": "Sweden", "quantities": [ 11378346, 3632166, 1952450, 1173759, 1050525, 2692672, 716024, 80375, 80375 ], "note": "" }, { "label": "United Kingdom", "quantities": [ 31465656, null, null, 1000000, 4900000, 22858517, 2619079, 41345, 46714 ], "note": 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"publishedShares": [ 60.86, 12.1, 24.11, 57, 56.89, 65.6, 74.79, 73.61, 75.87 ] }, { "label": "South America", "quantities": [ 3322433729, 453820000, 800570000, 598040000, 304680000, 692474639, 415522057, 30463552, 26863481 ], "publishedShares": [ 23.15, 60.76, 62.94, 32.63, 28.63, 17.16, 8.48, 12, 10.69 ] }, { "label": "Europe", "quantities": [ 1440711579, 177702166, 89702450, 189218759, 153605895, 496072827, 311476259, 11265265, 11667958 ], "publishedShares": [ 10.03, 23.79, 7.05, 10.32, 14.43, 12.3, 6.36, 4.44, 4.64 ] }, { "label": "Asia", "quantities": [ 338049407, 25000000, 75000000, 1000000, 500000, 38955623, 171316187, 12736425, 13541172 ], "publishedShares": [ 2.35, 3.35, 5.9, 0.05, 0.05, 0.97, 3.49, 5.02, 5.39 ] }, { "label": "Africa", "quantities": [ 35234538, null, null, null, null, 2495131, 30184751, 1280623, 1274033 ], "publishedShares": [ 0.25, null, null, null, null, 0.06, 0.62, 0.51, 0.5 ] }, { "label": "Australasia", "quantities": [ 483102598, null, null, null, null, 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"publishedShares": [ null, null, null, null, null, null, null ] }, { "start": 1919, "end": 1919, "total": 51899460, "quantities": [ 78401, 19043515, 12880624, 14351293, 39480, 232157, 5273990 ], "publishedShares": [ null, null, null, null, null, null, null ] }, { "start": 1920, "end": 1920, "total": 56536904, "quantities": [ 73383, 20477612, 12151424, 17069506, 1258341, 669503, 4837135 ], "publishedShares": [ null, null, null, null, null, null, null ] }, { "start": 1921, "end": 1921, "total": 46332956, "quantities": [ 81375, 24117251, 4782538, 14912990, 6163, 449417, 1983222 ], "publishedShares": [ null, null, null, null, null, null, null ] }, { "start": 1922, "end": 1922, "total": 61207989, "quantities": [ 60769, 28631579, 10376123, 16756835, 1676967, 669809, 3035907 ], "publishedShares": [ null, null, null, null, null, null, null ] }, { "start": 1923, "end": 1923, "total": 70355674, "quantities": [ 57752, 27636947, 14684333, 20139928, 2171186, 1348025, 4317503 ], "publishedShares": [ null, null, null, null, null, null, null ] }, { "start": 1924, "end": 1924, "total": 64070744, "quantities": [ 51251, 20388065, 16335433, 18858782, 24431, 1194323, 7218459 ], "publishedShares": [ null, null, null, null, null, null, null ] }, { "start": 1925, "end": 1925, "total": 66710080, "quantities": [ 50303, 17099876, 18051937, 18777853, 181886, 970370, 11577855 ], "publishedShares": [ null, null, null, null, null, null, null ] }, { "start": 1926, "end": 1926, "total": 62487219, "quantities": [ 49890, 13567095, 17039546, 15528454, 313119, 1415699, 14573416 ], "publishedShares": [ 0.08, 21.71, 27.27, 24.85, 0.5, 2.27, 23.32 ] }, { "start": 1927, "end": 1927, "total": 59625682, "quantities": [ 49829, 11775384, 14556572, 15762197, 1685764, 2171792, 13624144 ], "publishedShares": [ 0.08, 19.75, 24.41, 26.44, 2.83, 3.64, 22.85 ] } ], "oreSummaries": [ { "start": 1906, "end": 1910, "total": 275644692, "quantities": [ 768572, 98644811, 79106743, 78752758, 1298764, 9490695, 7582348 ], "publishedShares": [ 0.28, 35.79, 28.7, 28.57, 0.47, 3.44, 2.75 ] }, { "start": 1911, "end": 1915, "total": 340306432, "quantities": [ 764874, 133101900, 87365745, 89988875, 2662910, 2175078, 24247050 ], "publishedShares": [ 0.22, 39.12, 25.67, 26.44, 0.78, 0.64, 7.13 ] }, { "start": 1916, "end": 1920, "total": 326014361, "quantities": [ 486233, 107169230, 90350112, 88025102, 3257445, 2107555, 34618684 ], "publishedShares": [ 0.15, 32.87, 27.71, 27, 1, 0.65, 10.62 ] }, { "start": 1921, "end": 1925, "total": 308677443, "quantities": [ 301450, 117873718, 64230364, 89446388, 4060633, 4631944, 28132946 ], "publishedShares": [ 0.1, 38.18, 20.81, 28.98, 1.32, 1.5, 9.11 ] } ], "cumulative": [ { "label": "Mexico", "quantity": 5123242279, "publishedShare": 35.68 }, { "label": "United States", "quantity": 2995643236, "publishedShare": 20.87 }, { "label": "Bolivia", "quantity": 1567624166, "publishedShare": 10.92 }, { "label": "Peru", "quantity": 1349052029, "publishedShare": 9.4 }, { "label": "Canada", "quantity": 539449516, "publishedShare": 3.76 }, { "label": "Germany", "quantity": 496917138, "publishedShare": 3.46 }, { "label": "Australia", "quantity": 458099584, "publishedShare": 3.19 }, { "label": "Austria", "quantity": 325098355, "publishedShare": 2.26 }, { "label": "Chile", "quantity": 294944645, "publishedShare": 2.05 }, { "label": "Japan", "quantity": 243176024, "publishedShare": 1.69 }, { "label": "Spain", "quantity": 200990531, "publishedShare": 1.4 }, { "label": "All others", "quantity": 762487407, "publishedShare": 5.32 } ], "geographyNotes": [ "Austria includes Austria-Hungary prior to 1918.", "Spain includes Portugal.", "Yugoslavia covers Serbia from 1876 to 1918; Serbia was included under Turkey prior to 1876.", "German Southwest Africa is included under Union of South Africa since 1915.", "Union of South Africa includes Swaziland, Tanganyika, and Bechuanaland and Southwest Africa since 1915.", "Historical labels and source groupings are retained; values have not been reassigned to current national borders." ], "verification": "Quantities were transcribed against rendered scan pages, with OCR used only as an aid. Country world shares are calculated from Table 6 quantities and its world denominator; source regional shares and Table 45 shares remain separately labeled. Checks flag source arithmetic differences without replacing the printed values. Table 12 prints 10,862,890 for dry and siliceous ore in 1909; that annual row is 8,964,000 ounces short of its printed total. Its five-year summary is preserved separately, rather than used to overwrite the annual cell." }, "sections": [ { "id": "report", "label": "Source and definitions", "heading": "Read the source on its own terms", "blocks": [ { "type": "report" }, { "type": "paragraph", "text": "A fine ounce means a troy ounce of silver at 1,000 fineness. Long-period totals and their reported annual means have different time bases. The publication year, 1930, is separate from the observation years, which end in 1927.", "sourceIds": [ "bureau-silver-1930" ] }, { "type": "limit", "text": "Historical cumulative output is not all silver ever mined: production before 1493 lies outside the tabulated series. It is also not a measure of metal remaining above ground, mine reserves or silver available for delivery.", "sourceIds": [ "bureau-silver-1930" ] } ] }, { "id": "long-history", "label": "Long history", "heading": "Compare period averages, not invented annual data", "blocks": [ { "type": "paragraph", "text": "The bars use the non-overlapping century groups in Table 1. Each bar represents the source’s rounded annual average over its full date range. The accompanying table retains all 18 published summaries, including overlapping periods that must not be added together.", "sourceIds": [ "bureau-silver-1930" ] }, { "type": "historical-view", "view": "long-history" } ] }, { "id": "annual-world", "label": "Annual world output", "heading": "Follow the annual world series, 1876–1927", "blocks": [ { "type": "historical-view", "view": "annual-world" }, { "type": "paragraph", "text": "Calculated from Table 5, world output fell 22.10% between 1913 and 1914. On printed page 6, the authors attribute roughly 43 million ounces of the approximately 50 million-ounce decline to disruption in Mexico during the revolution. That explanation is the report’s interpretation, rather than a causal estimate produced by this chart.", "sourceIds": [ "bureau-silver-1930" ] }, { "type": "limit", "text": "The line connects the 52 reported calendar-year quantities. It does not interpolate observations before 1876. The report’s discussion of future output was written in 1929 and is not a present forecast.", "sourceIds": [ "bureau-silver-1930" ] } ] }, { "id": "producers", "label": "Producer comparison", "heading": "Compare the source’s producing territories", "blocks": [ { "type": "paragraph", "text": "Select a period and compare quantity or calculated share of that period’s world total. Rankings include the source’s regional and unallocated groupings, clearly labeled in the table. Multi-year quantities are period totals; 1926 and 1927 are annual quantities.", "sourceIds": [ "bureau-silver-1930" ] }, { "type": "historical-view", "view": "producers" }, { "type": "paragraph", "text": "Table 45 reports Mexico at 35.68% of cumulative production from 1493 through 1927. Its rounded percentage is reproduced separately below; the explorer’s percentages are calculated from the source quantities.", "sourceIds": [ "bureau-silver-1930" ] }, { "type": "historical-view", "view": "cumulative" } ] }, { "id": "regions", "label": "Regional shifts", "heading": "Trace the changing regional distribution", "blocks": [ { "type": "historical-view", "view": "regions" }, { "type": "paragraph", "text": "Table 6’s period quantities are used to calculate the stacked chart shares, so reported rounded percentages remain visible as separate fields in its table. Blank source cells are labeled unreported. A residual segment accounts for the world total not allocated to the numeric regional cells; it does not reclassify a blank as a reported zero.", "sourceIds": [ "bureau-silver-1930" ] }, { "type": "historical-geography" } ] }, { "id": "ore-sources", "label": "U.S. ore sources", "heading": "Examine the U.S. ore-source mix, 1906–1927", "blocks": [ { "type": "paragraph", "text": "Table 12 divides U.S. production into seven ore classes. Its annual quantities support calculated shares across 22 years. The printed percentages are retained for the four five-year summaries and for 1926 and 1927; the other annual percentage cells are unreported.", "sourceIds": [ "bureau-silver-1930" ] }, { "type": "historical-view", "view": "ore-sources" }, { "type": "paragraph", "text": "Dry and siliceous ore is an ore class, not a synonym for primary silver mining. These U.S. data do not establish a numerical global byproduct share.", "sourceIds": [ "bureau-silver-1930" ] }, { "type": "limit", "text": "Table 6 reports U.S. output of 60,394,199 fine ounces in 1927; Table 12 reports 59,625,682. The 768,517-ounce difference remains unresolved in this release. Both totals are preserved, and Table 12 alone is the denominator for its ore-class shares. Some printed row and summary arithmetic also differs slightly; the table shows the residual rather than adjusting an ore class.", "sourceIds": [ "bureau-silver-1930" ] } ] }, { "id": "explorer", "label": "Verified data explorer", "heading": "Search the transcribed observations", "blocks": [ { "type": "historical-explorer" }, { "type": "paragraph", "text": "Search by territory, year, ore class or source table. Each row retains the observation period, measure, source locator and qualification. This is a transcription of selected tables, not complete digitization of the master foldout. Overlapping rows are intentionally available for inspection and must not be summed as a single production history.", "sourceIds": [ "bureau-silver-1930" ] } ] }, { "id": "sources", "label": "Sources and limits", "heading": "Sources, provenance and further research", "blocks": [ { "type": "paragraph", "text": "The original manuscript identifies historical sources and their limitations on printed page 2. Changes in borders, definitions and statistical coverage require reconciliation before joining these series to later datasets.", "sourceIds": [ "bureau-silver-1930" ] }, { "type": "watchlist", "items": [ { "title": "Digitize the master foldout", "question": "Which source-specific qualifications in Table 46 explain changes across the smaller tables?", "evidence": "A reviewed transcription of the full foldout, keeping its annual and aggregate rows distinct." }, { "title": "Reconcile U.S. country and ore-source totals", "question": "What original reporting boundaries account for the different U.S. totals?", "evidence": "The underlying Bureau of Mines and other cited source records; no silent adjustment to the historical tables." }, { "title": "Compare with modern observations", "question": "How did producer concentration and ore-source dependence change after 1927?", "evidence": "A separately sourced later series with definitions, historical borders and revisions reconciled before comparison." } ] }, { "type": "links", "items": [ { "url": "https://www.silverwars.com/content/files/2025/08/Summarized-Data-of-Silver-Production---1930.pdf#page=66", "label": "Open the complete Table 46 foldout ↗" }, { "url": "/research/photographic-silver-recovery-1981/", "label": "Read Silver Recovery from Photographic Wastes →" }, { "url": "/research/strategic-materials-stockpiling/", "label": "Read Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling →" }, { "url": "/silver-institute-audit/", "label": "Explore the silver data and methodology audit →" } ] }, { "type": "sources" } ] } ] }