According to State Symbols USA, "silver was literally shoveled off the ground in Nevada" in the early years of the 19th century. "[H]eavy gray crusts of silver had formed on the surface of the desert over millions of years and were polished by dust and wind to the dull luster of a cow horn (called 'horn silver').
"A big silver bed could be tens of meters wide and more than a kilometer long (worth $27,000 a ton in 1860s dollars). The territory of Nevada and surrounding states were picked clean of silver within a few decades.
"These 'surface bonanzas' lasted only a few seasons, long enough to put up saloons and little else. The rough, violent life of many western movies reached its purest state in the Nevada silver camps."
Even so (according to Netstate), "Silver was the primary mineral mined in Nevada when it was admitted to the union in 1864. Nevada produced about 30% of all the silver mined in the United States in 1999. Nevada license plates began to carry the legend, 'The Silver State' in the early 1980s."
Note that Netstate also gives 'the Silver State' as one of six nicknames for Wyoming.
Nevada is also known as the Sagebrush State (sagebrush is its state flower) and the Battle Born State (because it joined the Union in 1864, during the Civil War). Both the sagebrush flower and the phrase 'Battle Born' are featured on the state flag.
Netstate gives Battle Born State as the official nickname, because of its presence on the state flag.
© Haydn Thompson 2021