Silver, being one of the first metals used by humans, was the first metal smelted from ore. Its use dates back to the ancient Egyptian empire and was forged into household utensils, buttons, horse traps, boxes, jewelry, etc. Pure silver is as soft as gold, so it is usually alloyed with copper to straighten its strength and can be used to make utensils and other items. Without the addition of alloy it would melt due to its softness. Fine silver is almost 999/1000 percent pure, but it’s too soft to make jewelry with, so a metal is added to the silver. But anything called silver or sterling silver (which is 92.5 percent pure silver and 7.5 percent metal) is pure silver.
Tips for Determining Silver Purity
silver stamps
Seals have recently been placed on the purity level of silver. T100 means 100 percent purity, B1 means 70 percent purity, and B2 means 50 percent purity. The purity of the silver is just as important as checking the purity of the gold. The following are the easiest ways to determine the purity of silver.
Black stone method:
One of the most popular methods for determining the purity of silver is the black stone method, which is not a scientific method but is still used to verify purity. According to this method of rubbing a piece of silver under examination on a piece of stone, the change in the degree of color of a silver gives an idea of its purity.
Lab test
Laborites are equipped with instruments that check the purity of jewelry, but silver is alloyed with metal and can give erroneous results. Therefore, laboratory testing should not be the first option.
acid test
Acid testing is the best scientific method to test the purity of silver because all metals will melt in acid, but silver is acid-proof. Thus, if a silver jewel does not melt, it indicates its purity.
Level of brown-ness in acid
Another way is to check the brown level of the acid the silver is dipped in. But this method is not suitable for all consumers, so it can be used in laboratories. But the best way is the acid test method.
In addition to these, there are also many purity detection laboratories, these laboratories are equipped with all modern devices and instruments, the main problem of these laboratories is that it is quite difficult to measure the purity of jewelry samples with intricate craftsmanship. and many alloys. Laboratories are therefore a second preference in most cases. In case of such difficulties, the acid test is supposed to be the best help, mainly because although all other materials in an alloy will melt in the acid, silver will not. Another very popular way to test the purity of silver is an analysis of the level of brown color in the acid in which the silver has been immersed. However, fraud is not detectable by this method, because obviously, this method cannot be used by customers at all times.
The main world standard of fineness for silver products is sterling or standard silver. The term sterling owes its origin to the British monetary standard, which in turn comes from the term ‘Osterling silver’, as originally produced by the Osterling of Germany. Sterling silver has a specific gravity of 10.3. Sterling silver is not pure enough to take on vitreous enamels well, and the top grade of 95.84% Britannia silver is often used. Some other countries have lower silver standards of 80% and 83%.