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I bought a spoon at a thrift store today... I wish I had been 100% sure on what it was made of, but I thought it was worth the risk just this once.

I'm sure hundreds of us have been in a similar situation... spoons and forks sitting there at a yard sale, garage sale, auction, thrift store, pawn shop... but we weren't sure if what we were looking at was silver or just silver plated... or not silver at all. Who has some knowledge about this subject that they would like to share?

If its not marked, its not ( general rule)

Magnet. Acid test.

I currently have some silverware I picked up that I was pretty damn sure was silver. weight was right, but no marking. I bought it. It's not magnetic. I bought an acid test kit online so I'm waiting for it to arrive to find out for sure. That's the only thing I can recommend.

A good start to a discussion, but surely there is much more to be said... Or am I the only one that would like a "silverware for dummies" thread?

Scrapman:
What markings would mean sterling and what would mean silver plated? I know there are multiple markings over the last hundred plus years. My spoon was a design from 1916...

Avidbrandy:
I now know that my spoon is silver plated. But it does not stick to a magnet. So that didn't help... what would stick and what wouldn't? Please explain more about the acid test. Is that something the average seller would be OK with me doing to their products?

uthminsta wrote:A good start to a discussion, but surely there is much more to be said... Or am I the only one that would like a "silverware for dummies" thread?

Scrapman:
What markings would mean sterling and what would mean silver plated? I know there are multiple markings over the last hundred plus years. My spoon was a design from 1916...

Avidbrandy:
I now know that my spoon is silver plated. But it does not stick to a magnet. So that didn't help... what would stick and what wouldn't? Please explain more about the acid test. Is that something the average seller would be OK with me doing to their products?

I got my acid test kit today. tested the silverware I picked up. It was sterling. The way it works is you put a drop of this stuff on the item and the color should identify what the percentage is (the instructions tell you), or if it doesn't react, it's not silver. I tested it alongside something I knew was sterling and something I knew was silverplated as it was my first time using it.

I'm not sure what the different metals used in flatware are. generally a magnet test eliminates the majority of items that are not sterling.

The acid test is just a drop of solution, but on the sterling it left a noticeable mark that made the spot look foggy, so I don't know how many people would be ok with it. I did on the bottom of a small spoon so it is in a spot unlikely to be noticed. I don't know if there is a way to remove this afterwards, because as far as I'm aware, what the acid test does is remove anything not silver, which would mean it's a permanent mark, though small. If someone knows more about this please let me know.

Always check for wear... look at the tips of the forks and knives and spoons.. if the tip is discolored it is plated..

avidbrandy wrote:

uthminsta wrote:A good start to a discussion, but surely there is much more to be said... Or am I the only one that would like a "silverware for dummies" thread?

Scrapman:
What markings would mean sterling and what would mean silver plated? I know there are multiple markings over the last hundred plus years. My spoon was a design from 1916...

Avidbrandy:
I now know that my spoon is silver plated. But it does not stick to a magnet. So that didn't help... what would stick and what wouldn't? Please explain more about the acid test. Is that something the average seller would be OK with me doing to their products?

I got my acid test kit today. tested the silverware I picked up. It was sterling. The way it works is you put a drop of this stuff on the item and the color should identify what the percentage is (the instructions tell you), or if it doesn't react, it's not silver. I tested it alongside something I knew was sterling and something I knew was silverplated as it was my first time using it.

I'm not sure what the different metals used in flatware are. generally a magnet test eliminates the majority of items that are not sterling.

The acid test is just a drop of solution, but on the sterling it left a noticeable mark that made the spot look foggy, so I don't know how many people would be ok with it. I did on the bottom of a small spoon so it is in a spot unlikely to be noticed. I don't know if there is a way to remove this afterwards, because as far as I'm aware, what the acid test does is remove anything not silver, which would mean it's a permanent mark, though small. If someone knows more about this please let me know.

Did you file into the spoon? you need to test under the plating

A sterling silver spoon made in 1916 would be stamped STERLING along with a maker mark.

Some silver ware may be stamped 'coin' (.900). Some European coin silver is stamped 835

Really old and foreign stuff maybe stamped with hallmarks (there are hundreds maybe thousands of hallmarks).

I did once score a big salad spoon with no mark indicating it was silver. I turned out to be coin silver.

If it's not marked, "925", "sterling", "ster", "coin", or some other no-brainer hallmark, then it most likely is NOT silver.

But, here's a trick... British sterling, before the "sterling" mark appeared, was identified with a lion rampart (still used today). This rampart is preceded by other hallmarks which identify the maker, city, and year produced. In this picture below, the lion rampart is the mark furthest to the right. If you see this marking on flatware or tableware, but no "sterling mark", then you have an old piece of British sterling:

Ok so I tested the silverware again because it's not stamped sterling or anything else. It seems to be .800. Good to know. I wouldn't have realized that if it weren't for multiple people insisting it would be stamped.

Most plated flatware will not stick to a magnet. The base metal alloys used did not include iron. Many of them do include a high percentage of nickel.

Thogey and Market Harmony have the best ideas. Still, an old refiner I used to read a lot on the 'net had his signature line always read: "Hallmarks are liars."

The acid test and refining it are the ultimate tests of silver content.