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How to Check Silver or Silver Plating

A major headache for any antique collector is trying to distinguish between the real thing and an imitation. A good example of this problem is with solid silver- and silver-plated items. Silver-plated items were first manufactured as a cheaper alternative to solid silver. This means they were designed to fool people into thinking they were the real thing. There are a few telltale signs to look out for and even a scientific way to find out.

Things You'll Need

Magnifying glass
Hallmark encyclopaedia
Digital scales
Container
Water
Calculator

Instructions

Physical Appearances
- 1
  Look for a hallmark or assay mark on the piece. There are hundreds of different manufacturer's signatures from across the world so this will need to be done in conjunction with a hallmark encyclopedia. A lion moving from right to left is a mark of high quality silver made in London, UK, while cockerels are more common on French silver. American makers tended to put the manufactures name rather than a logo on silver.This is a good way to find out the quality of a piece of silver. The problems here are that small silver items are not always marked and the assay can rub off over time.
- 2
  Examine the piece for markings such as "EP" or "EPNS." These stand for electroplating, the method by which a piece is plated in another metal. EP most likely means it is plated in solid silver especially if it is followed by A1, EPNS is nickel silver plating. These markings, along with hallmarks, are legal requirements to ensure the quality of manufactured silver objects.
- 3
  Scrutinize the piece with a magnifying glass. Look out for changes in color where the plate has worn away to reveal the base metal underneath, areas where the silver is starting to thin and areas where the natural luster of the silver has changed to a more grainy texture. If something is solid silver there should be no change in the finish, shine or color of the metal, if there is it is silver plated.
Eureka Method
- 4
  Weigh the piece using an accurate digital scale. Make a note of the measurement in grams.
- 5
  Fill a container to the brim with water and take a measurement of the volume in milliliters.
- 6
  Submerge the item in the container to displace the water. Take a new measurement of how much water is in the container afterwards in milliliters and subtract it from the first reading to get the volume of the piece.
- 7
  Divide the weight in grams by the volume of the piece to get a density rating in grams per millitiers. If it is solid silver it will be a little over 10 g/Ml. Silver's real density rating is 10.5 g/Ml, but there is room for error if doing this a home.

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