Low temperature scanning tunnelling spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy were used to study the electronic and vibrational properties of silicene formed on the Ag(111) surface for coverage up to one monolayer in the temperature range 230–250°C. The tunnelling spectra reveal the strong contribution of silver states in the measured density of states around the Fermi level. The Raman spectra are found to evolve as a function of the submonolayer coverages, giving rise at one monolayer coverage to peaks that are characteristic of chemical bonds with distorted sp3 hybrid orbitals. Such properties account for the electronic transparency of the silicene/Ag(111) interface.