Process for preparing A silver-containing, disperse, water-containing formulation useful for producing electrically conductive and/or optically reflective coatings, which comprises (i) reacting a silver salt solution with a solution containing hydroxide ions, wherein at least one of said solutions comprises a polymeric dispersant, to produce an Ag2O sol, (ii) reacting the Ag2O sol obtained from step i) with a reduction agent, and (iii) purifying the solution obtained from step ii).