It can be made by the reaction of potassium cyanate with silver nitrate in aqueous solution, from which it precipitates as a solid.
[2] Silver cyanate is a beige to gray powder.
The silver ions are each equidistant from two nitrogen atoms forming a straight N–Ag–N group.
The nitrogen atoms are each coordinated to two silver atoms, so that there are zigzag chains of alternating silver and nitrogen atoms going in the direction of the monoclinic "b" axis, with the cyanate ions perpendicular to that axis.
[3] Silver cyanate reacts with nitric acid to form silver nitrate, carbon dioxide, and ammonium nitrate.