Organization	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2017
Organization [Abstract]
Organization	1. Organization The ETFS Silver Trust (the “Trust”) is an investment trust formed on July 20, 2009 (the “Date of Inception”) under New York law pursuant to a depositary trust agreement (the “Trust Agreement”) executed by ETF Securities USA LLC (the “Sponsor”) and The Bank of New York Mellon (the “Trustee”) at the time of the Trust’s organization. The Trust holds silver bullion and issues ETFS Physical Silver Shares (“Shares”) (in minimum blocks of 50,000 Shares, also referred to as “Baskets”) in exchange for deposits of silver and distributes silver in connection with the redemption of Baskets (effective August 11, 2016 the number of Shares in a block that constitutes a Basket for creations and redemptions in the Trust was reduced from 100,000 to 50,000. Where Basket is used in this Form 10-Q it refers to a block of 50,000 Shares). Shares represent units of fractional undivided beneficial interest in and ownership of the Trust which are issued by the Trust. The Sponsor is a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of ETF Securities Limited, a Jersey, Channel Islands based company. The Trust is governed by the Trust Agreement. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of silver, less the Trust’s expenses and liabilities. The Trust is designed to provide an individual owner of beneficial interests in the Shares (a “Shareholder”) an opportunity to participate in the silver market through an investment in securities. The fiscal year end for the Trust is December 31. The accompanying financial statements were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions for Form 10-Q. In the opinion of the Trust’s management, all adjustments (which consist of normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly the financial position and results of operations as of and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 and for all periods presented have been made. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Trust’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016. The results of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 are not necessarily indicative of the operating results for the full year.

1. Organization

The ETFS Silver Trust (the “Trust”) is an investment trust formed on July 20, 2009 (the “Date of Inception”) under New York law pursuant to a depositary trust agreement (the “Trust Agreement”) executed by ETF Securities USA LLC (the “Sponsor”) and The Bank of New York Mellon (the “Trustee”) at the time of the Trust’s organization. The Trust holds silver bullion and issues ETFS Physical Silver Shares (“Shares”) (in minimum blocks of 50,000 Shares, also referred to as “Baskets”) in exchange for deposits of silver and distributes silver in connection with the redemption of Baskets (effective August 11, 2016 the number of Shares in a block that constitutes a Basket for creations and redemptions in the Trust was reduced from 100,000 to 50,000. Where Basket is used in this Form 10-Q it refers to a block of 50,000 Shares). Shares represent units of fractional undivided beneficial interest in and ownership of the Trust which are issued by the Trust. The Sponsor is a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of ETF Securities Limited, a Jersey, Channel Islands based company. The Trust is governed by the Trust Agreement.

The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of silver, less the Trust’s expenses and liabilities. The Trust is designed to provide an individual owner of beneficial interests in the Shares (a “Shareholder”) an opportunity to participate in the silver market through an investment in securities. The fiscal year end for the Trust is December 31.

The accompanying financial statements were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions for Form 10-Q. In the opinion of the Trust’s management, all adjustments (which consist of normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly the financial position and results of operations as of and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 and for all periods presented have been made.

These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Trust’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016. The results of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 are not necessarily indicative of the operating results for the full year.