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Gyrogami Blog - Precious Metals, Jewelry, Artwork

Silverplated or Sterling - Part 1

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Categories: Instruction and information

Word count/read time: 374 words; 1-1/2 minutes

Sometimes it's best to assume the (mostly silver but sometimes gold) you are buying is fake for one reason or another. Sellers make many mistakes like "testing it" positive for sterling silver when there is a silverplate mark.

This is a primer for Silver 101. An informed buyer can prevent many of the shenanigans.

Sterling silver is easy to identify. Aside from blatant fraud it's because the seller neglected to do any research regarding their item. The number of supposed professionals (antique dealers, jewelers, coin stores, and pawn shops) who misidentify silver is much higher than it should be.

Most countries use unique hallmarks. Each country has a silver standard that may be different than 0.925. British silver was 0.958 for a while, some countries use 0.835, others 0.900, a few dabble with 0.935, and on and on. There are thousands of different symbols for purity, location, date, and more. Most of the stuff in the USA will have markings with STERLING, STERLING SILVER, 925/1000, and 925 SILVER.

Sterling silver has a legal definition which precludes ANY silverplated item from being called sterling ANYTHING. Any silver item with 70% or more silver content is generically referred to as sterling though it's usually called 830 sterling (for 83.0% silver content), 950 sterling (a higher purity alloy with 95.0% silver), etc. In the USA it's 92.5% silver minimum so even a piece of 0.999+ fine silver bullion can legally be called sterling.

Copper is usually the remainder but there may be nickel, zinc, tin, and germanium. Older or suspect silver may have cadmium and/or other toxic metals, mainly in the solder.

Silverplated items can have many different symbols. It looks fancy with five or six different hallmarks. Certainly it must be sterling silver...right? I suspect these were designed to fool people into thinking their base metal is the real deal. Sometimes it isn't even marked, leaving the metal composition up to the imagination of the newest owner.

If someone tries to sell you anything fake or misrepresented, get away. They are trying to rip you off, obviously. On-line auction sites are littered with them but they hide in plain sight at the local flea market and traveling or seasonal craft fairs.

Part 2 is next.

Posted by M: July 22, 2014

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