How to tell if a spoon is silver or plated

Wear is a good barometer since silver and silver substitutes show their ages quite differently. Pure silver objects such as spoons will also have a stamp somewhere on it that will say 925 or 9251000 This shows you that the spoon has a silver content of 925 percent.

Silver that has the 925 stamp in it will be that 925 jewelry grade purity and will not have this effect.

How to tell if a spoon is silver or plated. Easiest ways I know to tell a sterling spoon from silver plate if you cant find or understand a makers mark. Leave your spoon in a hot beverage or soup for a bit. If you find the handle uncomfortably warm to the touch then what you have is a sterling or coin silver piece since no utensils are made of pure silver.

How can I tell if a spoon is silver or silver plated. It has marks but I dont know what they ar. There is an A1.

Then there are five more boxes the first of which is a B. The Antiques Appraiser can help. You can also send photos once Ive connected you.

Pure silver objects such as spoons will also have a stamp somewhere on it that will say 925 or 9251000 This shows you that the spoon has a silver content of 925 percent. If its not stamped somewhere it is either silver plate or some other fake. My background says that it is about 99 sure that Wm.

Rogers is silver plate. The same is true of most silverware it should have the word Sterling stamped on the back of the handle. Forks spoons and other pieces.

Silver plating was created as an inexpensive way for people who could not afford Sterling to still be able to enjoy the metals beauty. If an item is truly Sterling silver which is commonly referred to as real silver or solid silver it will be stamped with one or more of the following hallmarks somewhere on the item usually on the bottom. Look for wear spots that indicate that silver plate has worn off of a plated piece.

You may see a different color of metal metal on high wear zones such as the bottom of spoons and the tips of fork tines. If you are looking at a set of silver look through several pieces just one wear mark means the whole set is silver plate. Look for marks such as EP or A1 on the back of the stem.

These marks indicate silver plate. This process of applying a thin layer of silver to a base metal body was first widely employed in the 1820s so a silver-plated spoon will be no earlier than this date. Most surviving spoons dating from before this time would have been made of solid silver although the poor might use crude spoons.

Perform the Magnet Test. A strong magnet can be a good tool in determining whether your silver antique is solid silver or plated. Silver exhibits weak magnetic effects so if you hold a magnet up and it sticks to the piece strongly you can feel pretty confident that the piece isnt silver.

The IS merely indicates International Silver which was the company that actually manufactured the set. Because the pieces have no stamping to indicate Sterling they most definitely are NOT sterling. Manufacturers never neglected to mention the word Sterling on their pure silver sets while they always neglected to mention the lack of purity on mere plated material.

If your silverware does not have this marking its most likely not real silver. You can find this marking on the bottom of platters candlesticks cups and bowls. With forks knives and spoons youll see this marking on the back of the handle.

International Silver Silver Co English Silver German Silver Silver-Plate Silver-Plated or any other variation of the word silver indicates that the flatware is not real silver. Drop a drop of silver acid on a silver item to determine whether it is plated or sterling. You can purchase a silver testing kit from a jeweler.

The testing kit contains citric acid which will damage a silver items surface so only use it as a last resort. These markings identify an item as plated silver. Place a drop of acid in an inconspicuous place on the item in question.

If the acid drop changes to any other color other than cream it is a plated material. Thoroughly clean the acid from the item to keep it from further damaging the silver or plating. Wear is a good barometer since silver and silver substitutes show their ages quite differently.

Over time silver-plated items tend to chip exposing the metal beneath. Look out for marred edges and handles. Any difference in color or otherwise between the exterior and interior metals is a dead giveaway that the silverware isnt authentic.

The item is plated with silver but is not sterling silver. You can also take a few of the flakes and put them into acid. The acids color should remain the same if it is pure silver.

Of course this is not a test that you can do while at the store so only do this test on pieces that you own. A few easy test methods to check if its real silver. There are a lot of fakes out there these methods will help you determine what is what.

If it was dubbed international silver or has an IS stamp on it that means that it is silver plated and your plating may have worn off. 925 stamp of authenticity source. Silver that has the 925 stamp in it will be that 925 jewelry grade purity and will not have this effect.

You may also see this designated on jewelry with a mark of ster or sterling so make sure you look for all the. The mark is usually found on the underside of the piece of flatware. One of these marks is a surefire way to tell if your flatware is made of sterling silver.

Put a magnet on the silverware to see if it is attracted to it. A magnet will not be attracted to pure silver flatware only steel and other metals. Nickels resemblance to silver helps disguise any worn spots that develop over time.

This flatware is made of a blend of silver and base metals is solid not plated but has a much lower silver content than either sterling or coin.