Spring is here i'll see but what do I look for ? how do I tell ? often I find copper with a silver plating probably the German silver[/QUOTE]
The silver that I buy at thrift stores and yard sales is stamped either 925, .925, 925/1000, sterling, ster, coin, (coin silver is .900) .800, 800/1000, almost all Mexican silver pieces that have the Taxco mark on them some of them are better than 925.
Be ware of anything that is marked 925 and china, in my experience a magnet will stick to these pieces.
Things that are not silver are German silver, Mexican items marked Alpaca.
If you see an item marked sterling weighted, that means that there is a big chunk of cement, plaster or epoxy inside that is making up most of the weight.
Invest in a loupe so you can check out marks, the platter that I got the mark which 3 lines of maker mark and purity stamp, was smaller than a pencil eraser, not easy to see with the naked eye.
Math for finding out silver content is: Weight in grams / 31.1 X purity mark of item. 670 / 31.1 X .800 = 17.2347
If you need any other info let me know.
Bookmarks