Symbols for where it was made include an anchor for Birmingham and a crown for Sheffield (in 1975, it changed to a rose). If you find a lion on your piece, you'll immediately know that it's come from Britain. Laws dating to the 14th century established strict requirements for marking silver the first emblem was a crowned lion's head to certify sterling, which are all stamped in a row.
SILVER BLUE GUY HOW TO
The images below will help guide you through the most common silver marks you'll find-and how to decipher each of them.Īdvertising itself as sterling, this mark for a silver plate piece can be deceptive and misleading.Įngland's system of hallmarks-a variety of official emblems stamped on silver to illustrate its purity-is one of the oldest and most detailed. While a book can be a great aid, the best tool for anyone looking for silver is a compact jeweler's loupe, which is a small magnification device that you can use to inspect miniscule details. These three texts often serve as a good starting point for those who wish to learn more about the history of silver production. Most silver experts refer to three different tomes for guideance: Ralph and Terry Kovel's American Silver Marks ($43, ) Ian Pickford's Antique Collectors' Club ($15 e-text, ) and Tere Hagan's Silverplated Flatware (starting at $8, ). These lower-grade compounds are less expensive than silver-plated items, but don't polish up as easily. Although they're solid metal rather than plated, they contain less silver than sterling pieces. You can dent a sterling sugar bowl very easily-but a similar piece of hotel silver can be dropped without much harm because the underlying base metal is stronger than its silver exterior.Ĭertain alloys, referred to as Venetian silver and Nevada silver, consist of nickel and silver. "Hotel" silver is a form of electroplate that was manufactured for use in trains, on ships, in restaurants, and hotels. Electroplating processes were invented in England in the 1830s and 1840s this method is still used today. Silver plate is a coating of pure silver on a base metal such as copper or nickel silver (an alloy of nickel, copper, and zinc) and was developed later than sterling or coin, but various forms date to the 18th century. Because of its age and beauty, a piece made from coin can sometimes be worth more than American sterling. Many people think of coin as much less valuable than sterling, but it has only about 2 percent less silver and, in some rare cases, may even contain more. Mint after the American Revolution-which rose to 90 percent in the years after 1837. Some of the oldest American silver is "coin," which contains at least 89.2 percent of silver if it was made between 1792 to 1837, an amount set by the U.S. This standard-92.5 parts pure silver to 7.5 parts copper alloy, which strengthens softer silver-was established by the English during the 12th century and later adopted by most of the silver-making world, including the United States in 1868. Sterling must be at least 92.5 percent silver. You can find many different kinds of silver in the marketplace today: Learn How to Make Your Own Silver Polish The Five Most Popular Silver Varieties
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