Gyrogami Blog - Precious Metals, Jewelry, Artwork

When all the information is provided by a third party, the transaction is at their mercy. If they say it is sterling silver or real silver, take it lightly unless there is proof.

Is it marked with a recognizable hallmark? Do any on-line resources help? A thorough inspection is the best defense since you can perform one without having the item in your presence (mostly, with good pictures).

There is a smell to silver that should transfer to your hands after a few minutes. Eventually you will recognize color differences between pure silver, silverplated, non-silver, and sterling silver. Real silver patina will rub off with light finger pressure. Some of the fake silvers have patinas impervious to all but the harshest abrasives or chemicals.

Manufacturers can use thin gauge silver because it's so malleable. Ergo, a heavy piece that is thick for no other reason than being thick is suspect. Silver is denser than all the imitations so its heftiness relative to size is important.

Actually, there are two tests. Use a powerful rare earth magnet. If it sticks, your item is most likely a fake. The exception to this rule would be if a weighted item has rod inside it. However, the magnet's attraction should reveal the depth and size of internal structures.

The way silver interacts with magnetism is interesting, referred to as the Lenz Effect. Several metals exhibit this property: silver, copper, aluminum, bismuth, brass, and others. There is an observable effect when a strong magnet is nearby. Without getting into too much detail or science, it can't be easily measured but it can be observed with first-grade science experiments.

Then again, you get gems like this (taken from a fakebook ad): "There is no sterling mark on it, but I have been told by an expert that it is silver by a test that was done with a magnet." Go figure.

A second non-destructive test is the ice cube or heat test, the latter working better. Silver is the most thermally conductive element. Simply, it will transmit heat or cold fastest. Having some known fake silver of various sizes and thicknesses is a good contrast. Real silver will quickly attain the surrounding temperature of whatever it contacts.

A more difficult test is the specific gravity test (density is acceptable here). You need an accurate weight and volume. Volume is measured by fully submersing the piece in a known quantity of water and observing how much the water is displaced. Take the weight in grams and divide it by the volume. A volume of 112.9cc and a weight of 1175 grams would be 10.41g/cc, a very high grade of silver if it's real.

For fake silver to have a specific gravity equal to real silver, it would require a metal heavier than silver as its mainstay. Rule out all other precious metal, mercury, actinium, iridium, and osmium for various reasons. That leaves lead which must be combined with other metals to lower its density. A creative counterfeiter could make a lead-based ingot with thick silver on the outside.

XRF technology uses x-ray beams. This will give false readings on heavily plated items. Unless you have $40k to buy one or hundreds a month to rent, find a friendly scrap yard with one. Seriously, there is no bigger waste of money or a more useless piece of equipment!

Mass spectrometers are costly, specialized laboratory equipment. Universities may have one but they are generally not for public use. They are well beyond the technical requirements of this article.

Ultrasound has been gaining some momentum as a testing tool. It will quickly and non-destructively determine whether the sample is fully homogenous or plated/filled. Entry-level machines can be had for under $200. It relies on the speed of a sound wave through a material of a known thickness. Every metal has a different value so if the display doesn't match what it should be, there is some chicanery afoot.

The "regular" sound test can be helpful in certain situations. Listen to the sound the item makes when you flick it or ring it. Every shape will make a different sound, will resonate differently, so this works best with bars, ingots, coins, rounds, etc. Silver has a distinctive sound. Dead-soft silver has a different pitch than hardened silver.