Definition
Argentum is a Latin term meaning silver or, by extension, money. It appears in Roman civil law texts, medieval English legal records, and early common law sources dealing with property, currency, and contractual arrangements. The term carries distinct meanings depending on context:
1. Silver as a commodity or material. In civil law usage, argentum refers to silver in its various physical states — whether raw, worked into objects, or held as bullion.
2. Money generally. In old English legal usage, argentum was sometimes used broadly to mean money or currency, not strictly silver coin.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Argentum is the Latin word for silver. In modern English, it is primarily encountered in scientific contexts as the source of the chemical symbol Ag (from argentum) for the element silver.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Not listed as an English entry; recognized as a Latin word for silver, informing chemical and numismatic terminology.
The gap between common and legal meaning is contextual rather than definitional. In ordinary and scientific usage, argentum means silver the metal. In legal sources, the term could extend to coined money, wrought silver objects, or earnest money — meanings that go well beyond the raw material and which researchers must distinguish when reading historical texts.
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES
Argentum album. Literally "white silver." Used in historical English law to denote bullion, uncoined silver, common silver coin, or silver coin worn smooth through circulation. The term appears in Cowell and Spelman and reflects the practical concern in early monetary law with distinguishing coined from uncoined silver.
Argentum factum. "Made silver" or "wrought silver" — silver that has been worked into articles, plate, or manufactured objects. Distinguished from raw silver in the civil law of legacies and succession. See Digest 34.2.19.9.
Argentum infectum. "Unwrought silver" — silver in the mass or raw state, not yet fashioned into objects. The Digest defines the category explicitly: infecti argenti appellatio rudem materiam continet, id est, non factum ("the term unwrought silver denotes raw material, that is, silver not yet made"). See Digest 34.2.19.11.
Argentum Dei. "God's money" or "God's penny." Earnest money given at the time of making a bargain as a token of the parties' agreement. The concept reflects early contract practice in which a small payment symbolized the binding of a deal, analogous to the later doctrine of consideration. Recorded in Cowell and Spelman; appears in early English case law including 1 Lord Raymond 20 and Comberbach 306.
Why It Matters in Research
Argentum is an index term, not a working legal doctrine. Researchers encounter it primarily when reading civil law sources in Latin, early English property and succession records, or historical monetary law. Several navigational points matter:
The factum/infectum distinction carries legal weight in legacy disputes under Roman law. When a testator left "argentum" to a legatee, the question of whether wrought plate or raw bullion was included turned on this distinction. Researchers working with civil law succession materials — particularly continental or Scottish sources influenced by Roman law — should watch for this subdivision.
Argentum Dei is the subtype most likely to appear in English common law sources. It connects directly to the history of earnest money, part-payment as evidence of contract, and the development of consideration doctrine. Early English reports use the term in contract and sale contexts. A researcher tracing the history of earnest or the penny as a symbol of contractual assent should treat argentum Dei as a key phrase.
Argentum album presents a trap in monetary history research. The phrase was applied inconsistently to bullion, worn coin, and standard silver coin at different periods. Source-specific context is essential; do not assume uniformity of meaning across different authors or centuries.
The term rarely appears in American legal sources. Its research value is concentrated in civil law, early English common law, and legal history contexts.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's (1st and 2nd editions) handle argentum briefly, offering the core translation (silver; money) and identifying the principal subtypes — argentum album and argentum Dei — with references to Cowell and Spelman. The 2nd edition is marginally fuller.
Burrill's Law Dictionary provides the most useful treatment. Burrill distinguishes the civil law sense (with Digest citations for factum and infectum) from the old English law sense (silver plate, silver bullion, uncoin[ed silver]), and he records the English case law references for argentum Dei. Burrill is the preferred starting point for a researcher who needs to trace the term into Roman law sources.
All three historical dictionaries agree on the core meaning. None addresses the interpretive problems that arise in legacy disputes under civil law — the factum/infectum distinction is noted but not analyzed. Researchers needing that level of detail should move from the dictionary entries to the Digest passages directly (34.2.19) or to civilian commentators on the law of legacies.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Earnest Money (for argentum Dei and the history of earnest in contract formation); Roman Law of Legacies (for the factum/infectum distinction in succession).