People still buy silver as an investment, I hesitate to say "as money" ; although I told in Mexico you can buy and sell silver in many banks (I don't know the details however).
In the USA, gold was demonetized (1933) before silver (1965) in the currency when used in the USA. The dollar was convertible into gold internationally however.
The international gold window was closed by Nixon in 1971.
http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/silver-a-brief-history-of-d...