Testing if something is silver?

[damiani1]

Hi, i found a ring and I though it was gold at first but there was peeling and that ruled out that thought. I then put it in silver cleaner and the "goldish" coating faded off. So this makes me wonder if its silver. If is was silver how could I test if it was? I have looked for the stamping but have not found any sign of one.

 

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[SusanMN]

If it were silver, or gold plated silver, it would typically be marked with 925. If its peeling, and not marked, likely the metal underneath is not silver. When I am in doubt I usually just run my detector over it again. If it ID's in the quarter or dime range, its silver. Other metals will ring up in the penny range.

 

[sasnz]

From Someone who used to be in the scrap precious metal industry. If the top surface is peeling then you can bet your bottom dollar that the metal under neath is going to be Muck metal. There is ZERO chance of someone plating over a precious metal.

 

[damiani1]

Yea its not silver/gold. Almost like a cast iron type metal. I dug it up with a gold/pop tab/bronze reading and when I seen the side of the ring I was happy, then noticed the peeling surface

 

[Silver Worm]

It could be rhodium plating over silver in order to give it that shine.