Silver has been identified for the first time in high sulphur coals of Assam, India. Its total concentration varies from 55-60 microgram/gm and dominantly associated with the organic fraction (>81.8%) in non-exchangeable form. Knowledge gained from this study will be helpful to predict geo-chemical principles involved in association of silver with geological substrate. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.