help with garage sale silver

jonhls

Full Member
Nov 10, 2006
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I am struggling on some of the items i run accross.Is there anything i can look for other than sterling or 925 on things to determine if they are silver.I struggle with flatware and some trays.Like today i found a very tarninhed tray that looked silver it was stamped onieda silversmith but didnt have sterling or 925 on it....i guess my question is what halmarks should i be looking for,and how much sterling is not marked with sterling or 925...thanx for any ideas jon
 

jb7487

Sr. Member
Apr 16, 2009
354
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Great question! I'd like to know the answer too. Surely there are some tips that the experts can impart on us without pointing us to some site that is simply a list of all the possible silver marks. I'm not looking for a way to unconditionally judge silver content. Just ways to increase the likelihood that what I'm about to buy is likely silver.

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated.
 

goldgrubber

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As far as I know, most all American silver that you'll find is marked sterling or .925. There are other silver standard marks .500, .800, .900 and fineness' in between. But for the most part, if its American flatware that looks modern it will be marked sterling. No other wording. If it says nickel silver,German silver there is no silver in it. Epns, A1, X11, 4, 6, 8, 9, or 12 are all plated.
I agree though about the silver forum. If the silver looks old and has 3 or 4 hallmarks ( lions, shields, crowns etc.) and its cheap, buy it. My wife did that at an estate sale without knowing what the hallmarks meant. She bought me two 1790 tablespoons for a buck each. They appraised at $200 - $300 each. Ya never know. Hope that helps a little.
 

diggummup

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jb7487 said:
Great question! I'd like to know the answer too. Surely there are some tips that the experts can impart on us without pointing us to some site that is simply a list of all the possible silver marks. I'm not looking for a way to unconditionally judge silver content. Just ways to increase the likelihood that what I'm about to buy is likely silver.

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated.
I may be reading you wrong but there seems to be a bit of sarcasm in your reply. Sorry if the site I listed for the original poster in this thread was not to your liking. It was not posted for you. He asked for hallmarks and for how much sterling is not marked with sterling or 925 and also stresses that he "struggles with flatware and some trays". Many of these pieces are English or European made. This in turn means it probably has hallmarks. Not that i'm an expert or anything nor would I ever claim to be.


Here is a little more info. for you jb7487 to help identify the silver content of "jewelry" based on the silver marks present on the jewelry-

It will be helpful for you to have a jeweler's 10X magnification loupe on hand. These can actually be purchased right here on eBay and are very helpful for identifying jewelry marks.

First, look on the back of your jewelry for any silver stamps.

1.STERLING SILVER:
What is sterling silver? Sterling silver is silver that is 925/1000 parts silver. Pure silver is too soft for jewelry making so the highest silver content usually (but not always) found in silver jewelry is .925.

Since the early 1900s, American sterling jewelry has been required to have a sterling mark if it is truly sterling silver. In my experience, older sterling is stamped "STERLING" usually on the back of the piece of jewelry. Sometimes you might see a portion of the word, such as "STER". This might be because the jewelry was stamped this way or it might have worn away over years of wear.
Newer sterling silver jewelry is often stamped "925". Again, this stamp is meant to convey the silver content of the jewelry. I've also seen "SS" stamped on a few pieces, but this is rare.

2. 950 STERLING MARK:
I've seen a 950 mark on vintage jewelry once in a while. Usually, it's been on Mexican sterling before WWII era. 950 silver does have a higher silver content than sterling but is not seen too often.

3. 900 SILVER AKA COIN SILVER
On older and antique jewelry, you might see a 900 stamp. This is meant to show that the jewelry is 900/1000 parts silver. Not quite as high a silver content as sterling. Coin silver can literally mean silver made from melted down coins.
Vintage Native American jewelry may often not have a silver content mark on it. Often this jewelry may have a silver content in the range of coin silver.

4. 800 SILVER
Sometimes, you'll see an 800 stamp on a piece of vintage silver jewelry. This means that the content of the jewelry is 4/5 silver.
Many times, based on the style of the piece and the 800 stamp, this will point my jewelry research toward European jewelry or other foreign makers. I've seen vintage silver filigree jewelry with an 800 mark.

5. SILVER TESTS
Commercial silver test kits are available for silver (and gold) jewelry. These are probably available on eBay. I personally do not use these. If I have a question about my jewelry after I've exhausted my own research, I take a trip down to see my favorite jeweler for his advice.
 

jb7487

Sr. Member
Apr 16, 2009
354
19
Thanks diggummup! That is a great bit of information. I really appreciate you taking the time to post it. Yes, there is a hint of sarcasm in some of my replies. I apologize for that. Sometimes it gets under my skin when people take questions very literally and brush you off with a "that question is too vast to answer" reply. The reality is that you can usually give a more general answer that will cover 90% of the cases. Being pedantic about the original question and saying that it is unanswerable doesn't help. I'm not saying that's what happened in this case. But I've seen it a lot on this forum. Don't get me wrong. The people here are great and one can get an awful lot of great information here. So for that I am truly grateful. I try to do my part to return the favor whenever possible.

Again, I apologize if I came off as being unappreciative. Thanks for taking the time to post such great information!
 

PBK

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May 25, 2005
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:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :coffee2:

Outstanding post, Digg! Thanks for the wealth of info, insight, and expertise that you bring to TNet!
 

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