A silversmith is a craftsman who crafts objects from silver. The terms "silversmith" and "goldsmith" are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary greatly as may the scale of objects created. However most goldsmiths have also worked in silver although the reverse may not be the case.
Silversmith is the art of turning silver sheet metal into hollow ware (dishes, bowls, porringers, cups, candlesticks, vases, ewers, urns, etc.), flatware (silverware), and other articles of household silver, church plate or sculpture. It may also include the making of jewelry.
In the ancient Near East the value of silver to gold being less, allowed a silversmith to produce objects and store these as stock. Ogden states that according to an edict written by Diocletian in 301 A.D., a silversmith was able to charge, 75, 100, 150, 200, 250, or 300 denarii for material produce (per Roman pound). At that time, guilds of silversmiths formed to arbitrate disputes, protect its members welfare and educate the public of the trade.
Smith is a family name (surname) originating in England. It is the most prevalent surname in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, the second most common surname in Canada, and the fifth most common surname in Ireland. The surname Smith is particularly prevalent among those of English, Scottish and Irish descent, but is also a common surname among African Americans, which can be attributed to black slaves being forced to adopt the name during slavery and never changing the name upon the end of the era of slavery and after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. 2,376,206 Americans shared the surname Smith during the 2000 census, and more than 500,000 people share it in the United Kingdom. At the turn of the 20th century, the surname was sufficiently prevalent in England to have prompted the statement: "Common to every village in England, north, south, east and west"; and sufficiently common on the (European) continent (in various forms) to be "...common in most countries of Europe."