I'm also willing to hold the Silver in escrow if you like.
You pay shipping in both directions.
If you default, I sell ALL the silver at a local "Cash for silver and gold" brick&mortar store for USD. Use the USD to purchase bitcoins at straight MtGox rate, send the remaining principal balance owed to an address supplied by the lender, and any excess BTC to an address supplied by the borrower.
Previous escrows done?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=trust;u=60820(Depending on who you've added to your "trust list" you may have to expand the "Untrusted feedback" section to see may of the escrows I've held. Generally I'm holding escrow for untrusted people (that would be why they need escrow)
And
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=254369.0Also, feel free to create a new thread in the "Currency Exchange" forum asking:
"Can Danny Hamilton to be trusted to hold 16 BTC in escrow?"
I'm confident that the resulting posts will be supportive.