The way it works is the following: workers pile outside the refiner and buy a lump of silver. They spend the day hammering away. Once it is flat, they sell it b

The way it works is the following: workers pile outside the refiner and buy a lump of silver. They spend the day hammering away. Once it is flat, they sell it back to the refiner for a profit or use it to do stuff (dies, ...) Unfortunately, there is no need for evil motivation, culture or racism. Good old economic and rational actors: humans to do the labour are just cheap and plentiful. I have no doubt that the very day it makes economic sense to use a machine, they will use machines. The reason we use machine in London is also simple: silvering leaf are 1GBP/g and silver grain is 0.6GBP/g. You would need to do hammer 300 sheet of silver per hour to earn minimum wage.