Thermally developable materials such as thermographic and photothermographic materials include a novel non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions that are predominantly provided as rod-shaped particles of silver salt of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound containing an imino group. The rod-shaped particles have an average aspect ratio of at least 3:1 and a width index for particle diameter of 1.25 or less, and provide improved imaging properties. These particles can be prepared using double jet precipitation procedures in which vAg is kept constant at a value of equal to or greater than -50 mV.