Silver/Golden: Of all the colors or divisions of Persians, the Silver and Golden is probably the least understood by those who do not work with these colors – and perhaps even by those who do! These unique and beautiful colors are a combination of genes working together to produce an overall effect. The first gene is actually the “Tabby” gene, which is often called “agouti.” The 2nd gene is called the “inhibitor” gene, which is actually the same gene as the smoke gene. The final gene, or set or genes, actually, is what sets the silvers and goldens apart and makes them so unique. These are termed “wide banded polygenes.” All three of these genes are dominant, so they cannot be carried or hidden unless the cat also has a copy of the White gene. As with the chocolate gene, the polygenes do not have any effect on the red color (other than eye color, and this isn't quite understood, so I will not get into that). The polygene can have “variable penetrance” just as smoke gene can, which is what causes the range of silver colors from shaded silver (which has a fairly heavy layer of black, easily seen) to the chinchilla silvers (which have just a dusting of black, they appear to be a white cat with just a dusting of color.) It can be argued that a shaded black and a shaded silver are the same color: however, they are not. The shaded silver will have green eyes and eye/nose liner, and it will overall be a lighter called cat. It follows that a shell black is not the same as a chinchilla for the same reason (this is because the shaded shiver and chinchilla silver have two dominant genes NOT found in the black shaded or shell black – the Tabby gene and the “polygene.”) A golden is produced by a cat that has a Tabby gene and the polygene, but no inhibitor (or smoke) gene. I am not going to delve any further into the silver/golden genetics, as with the smokes, that would take a whole article all on its own. The best article I found when researching this was this one: Silver And Golden Genetics. I highly recommend it if you would like to know more about the genetics of silvers and goldens.