Master silversmith Lin Chi-feng explains that although gold was discovered in Taiwan in 1893 in Chiufen and Chinkuashih, the Japanese colonial government tightly controlled it, and ordinary people had little chance of owning any pure gold. The little that was available was largely used as gold plate over silver. Hence, back then what "silver houses" crafted and sold was indeed mostly silver.
細銀藝師林啟豐解釋，台灣雖在一八九三年在九份和金瓜石地區發現金礦，但在日本政府嚴格管控下，尋常百姓不太可能擁有純金，大多只是在銀製品外層鍍金，所以「銀樓」名副其實，的確是以打銀、賣銀為主。