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 Posted - 09/05/2008 : 18:09:20
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I like to go poke around antique stores, garage sales and such, and would like a way to identify silver things besides the hallmarks. I've got a magnet, but a lot of stainless is also non-magnetic. I don't think I'd get a very good reaction if i started scratching merchandise and dripping nitric acid on it either. It occured to me that conductivity might work. Multimeters are only 10 or 20 bucks. Although I think I might have to factor in the dimensions of what I was testing...anyone heard of/done anything like that?
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fb101
Administrator
USA
2856 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2008 : 18:54:11
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| I have a familiarity with multimeters. Silver is a better conductor than all base metals, inclufing copper, so the resistance will be lower (ohms _()_ ).. But you'll never be able to tell the difference between silver and plate, and I do not know how the Silver sulfate will conduct if tarnished. |
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Posted - 09/05/2008 : 19:43:27
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| Word. I was wondering about plate. |
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magnasort
Penny Pincher Member
USA
174 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2008 : 20:30:38
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| IMHO only buy stuff that is marked sterling. Ive bought hundreds of oz marked as such, when you get into iffy stuff the result is not worth your time. Buy only marked stuff. The stuff from Rogers etc silverplate makes nice windchimes but not dollars. |
Magnetic sorters, no moving parts except the coins |
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Robarons
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
522 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2008 : 20:33:03
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I agree with PennyWhoreDer. There have been times when I bought things that I thought were silver and got burned everytime. Most things will silver plate or nickel/German/alaska/etc. silver which is just nickel. I figure if any jeweler/silversmith worth their salt that is going to spend their time and money to make sterling things that they will infact mark them sterling it in some way.
Light, thin things are a good bet and using .925, Sterling, lion british, etc. markings are the best way to go.Just be sure to scan the whole piece because sometimes they hide markings that cant be found easily! |
Robber Baron= Robarons |
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Ways to identify silver besides hallmarks
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