I have heard that a sure way of checking whether an item has silver in it is by seeing if it will stick to a magnet when you touch the item. Is this true?
By Kathy from Tempe, AZ
There are over 800 metals out there that a magnet will not stick to, so this is NOT the way to go. The law of the .925 stamp wasnt around when silver was popular from the 1860's to 1940's. Tarnishing is a sure fire method but not everyone has what they need on hand to test this method. Anything that has the words "plated" or "community" isnt real silver. Also markings like "xxs" "IS" or "co." Are not real.
Anything worth checking will have the word "sterling" but still not always real. Also really old silver will usually have random capatilized letters engraved in squares, standing for the country, year and ect the silver originated from. But a lion on its hind legs facing to the right is your best chances at "pure" silver. Even though "pure" silver is actually only .999%
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I was hoping some kind person could help me. I have this tray, it probably is not worth much, but I can only hope lol. I have used a magnet on it and it does not stick.
I have taken a picture of the stamp and the tray.
The silver content will be low as the marking shows:
Plateado - which means silver-plate in Spanish.
Nice looking tray - hope it is valuable.
How can I tell? There are no marks.
Silver doesnt stick to a magnet. It also has a bit of a sweet taste.
I take my jewelry to Treasure Hunt and they have a machine that tells the metal composition of the item. They do not charge for this service and will tell you what it is worth if they purchase.
I have learned the hard way that even items that are marked (usually 925. sterling, 95, etc.) sometimes are not real and some unmarked items are real.
There are also kits you can buy on Amazon or other sites to do at home acid tests. I don't like that method because it can damage the piece if you don't do it right.
real silver gets tarnished, or black. If it has this it may well be silver
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