Maybe you've bought a piece of silver online from a suspicious site, or your friend gave you a piece of silver. Maybe you just want to check out family silverware because you're not so sure of their authenticity. Whatever your reasons, you should know how to test for silver. Silver is a versatile chemical element. Real silver is made up of 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent other metals, primarily copper. Real silver is harder than pure silver. Pure silver is more refined and is often referred to as “fine silver”. Many items are often mistaken for silver, if they are silver plated (covered only by a thin layer of fine silver). Scroll to step 1 to start silver testing.
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Method 1 of 6: Finding the Stamp on Silver
Step 1. Look for the stamp mark
Items that are promoted as silver and sold internationally must be branded based on their silver content. If there is no stamp, then the goods are suspect. Perhaps the item is still pure silver, but made in a country where stamping is not required.
Step 2. Evaluate the international silver stamp rating
View the silver piece with a magnifying glass. International silver sellers will stamp 925, 900 or 800 silver. These numbers indicate the percentage of fine silver in the piece. 925 means the piece contains 92.5 percent silver. A stamp for 900 or 800 means the piece is 90 or 80 percent silver, and is often called "coin" silver.
Method 2 of 6: Testing the Magnetic Quality of Silver
Step 1. Do a test with a magnet
Usually, the magnets used are quite strong, such as rare-earth magnets made of neodymium. Silver is paramagnetic and thus exhibits a weak magnetic effect. If your magnet is firmly attached to the silver piece, the piece has a ferromagnetic core and is not silver.
Keep in mind that there are some metals that don't stick to magnets and can look like silver. Therefore, it is better to carry out a magnetic test along with other tests to make sure the silver is not a metal
Step 2. Try the test by sliding the magnet
If you are testing silver bars, there is another way you can use a magnet to see if the silver is real or fake. Angle one of your silver bars by 45 degrees. Slide the magnet down. The magnet must be moved slowly. This may seem counterintuitive, but paramagnetic silver and rare-earth magnets induce an electric current in the silver, where it acts as an electromagnetic substance to create a braking effect that slows down the magnetism.
Method 3 of 6: Ice Test
Step 1. Prepare some ice cubes
Store in the refrigerator until you need it for testing. Although it may appear that ice and silver are incompatible, silver has the highest thermal conductivity of any ordinary or alloyed metal, with copper coming close to it.
The ice test works well on silver coins and bars, but can be difficult to use to test silver jewelry
Step 2. Place a piece of ice directly on the silver
Don't take your eyes off the silver and ice. The ice will begin to melt, as if it were placed in a hot place, not at room temperature.
Method 4 of 6: Ring Test
Step 1. Try doing a ring test using any coin
Silver produces a beautiful bell-like sound when tapped, especially when tapped with other metal forms. If you want to try the test before knocking on the silver you're questioning, look for United States silver made before 1965. It was made of 90% silver while late 1964 US silver was made of an alloy of copper and nickel. Old silver will give a clear, high-pitched ring tones, while newer silver will give a fuzzy (indistinct) boom.
Step 2. Drop a coin about 15 cm high on a flat surface
If the coin makes a sound like the ringing of a bell, you have a real silver coin in your hand. If the coin is ringing incoherently, the silver is most likely mixed with other metals.
Method 5 of 6: Chemical Analysis Test
Step 1. Perform chemical test analysis on an object
Use chemical analysis if there is no silver stamp on your item. Use gloves. You will use a corrosive acid to test the purity/authenticity of the piece. Corrosive acids are acids that can burn the skin.
Note: this method has the potential to damage your silverware. If your item is of high value, you may be better off trying the other methods listed in this article to determine the silver content
Step 2. Purchase a silver test acid
You can buy online at sites like Amazon or eBay, or at jewelry stores. Acid-testing silver is suitable for pure silver, but if you feel that your piece of silver is only silver plated, use a small jewelry file to make a mark, showing what might be beneath the silver lining.
Step 3. Find an invisible spot on the object and make a small scratch on the silver part
It is necessary to test the metallic coating with an acid solution. Scratch using a metal file. Scratch the surface just enough so that you can go through the various layers of the silver.
If you don't want to scratch the silver, or leave an acid mark, use black stone. Usually these come with a silver testing kit, or are sold at the same store. Rub the silver on the surface of the black stone so that it leaves a thick and relatively large mark on the stone. It aims to produce a line with a thickness of between 2.5 and 3.75 cm
Step 4. Apply acid only to the scratched surface
If the acid touches the unscratched area, it can affect the polish of the silver piece. If you choose to use a black stone, add a drop of acid to the line you made on the stone.
Step 5. Perform an analysis of the scratched surface that has been dripped with acid
You should analyze the color that appears as the acid enters the piece of silver. Be sure to follow the instructions and your specific silver test color scale. In general, the color scale is as follows::
- Bright Red: Fine Silver
- Dark Red: Silver 925
- Chocolate: Silver 800
- Green: Silver 500
- Yellow: Tin
- Dark Brown: Brass
- Blue: Nickel
Method 6 of 6: Bleach Test
Silver fades very quickly when exposed to strong oxidizing solutions such as ordinary bleach.
Step 1. Put some bleach on the silver
Step 2. Notice whether the silver fades or there is no reaction
If silver fades quickly and turns black, it is silver.
Step 3. Know that silver-coated items will pass this test
Tips
- If carrying out a chemical test to determine the quality of silver, wear gloves, as nitric acid is highly corrosive
- Try to buy your silver from a trusted source such as a quality dealer/jewelry shop.
