The Collaborative International Dictionary
Silverite \Sil"ver*ite\, n. One who favors the use or establishment of silver as a monetary standard; -- so called by those who favor the gold standard. [Colloq. or Cant]
Wikipedia
The Silverites were members of a political movement in the United States in the late-19th century that advocated that silver should continue to be a monetary standard along with gold, as authorized under the Coinage Act of 1792. The Silverite coalition's famous slogan was "16 to 1" – that is, the ratio of sixteen ounces of silver equal in value to one ounce of gold, a ratio similar to that established in the Coinage Act of 1834. Silverites belonged to a number of political parties, including the Silver Party, Populist Party, Democratic Party, and the Silver Republican Party.
The Silverites advocated free coinage of silver. They wanted to lower the gold standard of the United States to silver therefore allowing inflation of the money supply. Many Silverites were in the West, where silver was mined. Advocates predicted that if silver were used as the standard of money, they would be able to pay off all of their debt. The debt amount would stay the same but they would have more silver money with which to pay it.
The Silverites' main presidential candidate was William Jennings Bryan, whose famous Cross of Gold speech argued in their favor. He ran for president several times but was never elected.
Usage examples of "silverite".
The silverites were not inclined to insist upon their man, however, declaring that, if the platform contained the silver plank, they would carry their States for whatever candidate might be chosen.
The silverites in Congress were reenforced by representatives from new States in the far West, the admission of which had not been unconnected with political exigencies on the part of the Republican party.
Party, afforded for a time through its lodges the machinery with which to control and organize the silverites of the West and the South.
Hanna was a stanch friend of the gold standard, but he was too clever to alienate the sympathies of the Republican silverites by supporting the nomination of a man known to be an uncompromising advocate of gold.