is this silver?

the blade says deluxe stainless but is the handle itself stainless or silver? how do you tell if something is silver?

looks like silver plate over brass or copper. If silver look for marking somewhere on the handle not the blade.

I have heard the odor of the material or lack of one in the case of pure silver will tell if it's silver plate or not. Silver plate is said to have a strong odor.

If it not marked, it aint

ok yeah i also think that silver plate has a strong smell. thanks for the info much thanks.

Just because its not marked, doesn't mean its not silver. BUT in this case it is silver plate. I dabble in jewelry as well.....

Originally Posted by gabrielservices

Just because its not marked, doesn't mean its not silver. BUT in this case it is silver plate. I dabble in jewelry as well.....

your sure of this? i cut it in half with a hacksaw and it looks white all the way through i heard if you put bleach on it it will tarnish fast and you can tell if its silver that way. how much is a test kit? with the acid it will turn green if its not right?

Was the knife handle hollow or filled?

You can buy silver testing solution on Amazon for under $10. Handy to have around, but it does have a shelf life so be aware. 95% of solid/sterling silver will be marked as such. Typically look for 925 somewhere on the object. Not a catch all, but works for most things. If you are going to test an item you think is plated you need to file down a spot before testing. Liquid will turn blood red if silver, green/blue green if not. Obviously you will get a positive result on the surface, but you want to test whats bellow. I found some small goblets that I was sure was sterling. They rang beautiful they looked and felt the part. yet they were plated, so its not always easy to tell. Also make sure it isn't worth more undamaged!! Hope that helps!

If I had a knife that I thought was silver I would find out what it was worth before I cut it in half.

A solid silver knife handle would be a great find!

silver plate is a lot more common than sterling or higher. That doesn't mean you can't find higher value silver out and about but if its out in public for long, people usually find it. Even in my medium-small metro, their are thrift store and rummage sale prowlers of "junk" precious metals. At least in my metro, its very hard ever to find any 1964 and earlier silver content coins in circulation, I think I've found 2 in the last 5 years or so and I look through my change. Right after Christmas or so ago, I bought a $500 box of half dollars to see if I could find any 40% silver between 1965 and 1969 (before the only silver went only into proof-type sets) because maybe someone had emptied out the grand parents coin collection to buy Christmas stuff. And I found zippy-do-da out of a 1,000 coins. I kept about 15+ Philly mint bicentennials I found (because I think they're cool) and one 1992 San Fran mint proof. Nothing else. I think the couple rounds of high silver prices (last one in 2012...??) cleaned out those silver content coins, at least in our fed reserve district...

Originally Posted by hobo finds

A solid silver knife handle would be a great find!

That would be awesome, especially if it was from the year 1790 and wasn't cut in half.

Well, this week at a garage sale I picked up an 80% silver ladle for $2. Took it to my LCS and got $80 for it. I don't find very much as everything is pretty well picked over.

Originally Posted by t00nces2

Well, this week at a garage sale I picked up an 80% silver ladle for $2. Took it to my LCS and got $80 for it. I don't find very much as everything is pretty well picked over.

wow thats great=) i only cut one of the knifes in half lol how else do you remove the blade form the handle you get more if you do right?

Originally Posted by mike1

wow thats great=) i only cut one of the knifes in half lol how else do you remove the blade form the handle you get more if you do right?

If your only goal is to get the value of the silver out of the knives, then buy all means cut the handles off all of them. I would think, but that's just me, that you would try to find out what the knives would be worth before you destroy them. They may be worth 20 dollars or they could possibly be worth 2000 dollars. I doubt it but you'll never know if you don't make an attempt.
I have an aluminum vase that weighs about 20 pounds. It's not much to look at and at one time thought about throwing it in with the rest of my aluminum. Instead I did my homework and found that it's worth about 350 dollars.

I believe that if something is stamped "German Silver" it is silver plated copper.