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Help on This Silver Mark Please

Discussion in 'Silver' started by tie.dye.cat, Jul 6, 2014.

  1. tie.dye.cat

    tie.dye.cat Well-Known Member

    My mom gave me this clamshell dish to sell, and since I assumed it was silverplate, it's been sitting in a pile for quite a while. Much to my surprise, it tested as sterling.

    The mark to me doesn't even look like a "real" mark, but WDIK? Thanks for any help.

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    silver2.jpg
    View attachment 1507
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2014
  2. Ladybranch

    Ladybranch Well-Known Member

    tie.dye.cat likes this.
  3. Ladybranch

    Ladybranch Well-Known Member

    tie.dye.cat likes this.
  4. tie.dye.cat

    tie.dye.cat Well-Known Member

    Thank you Susan!

    Hmm, both of those say silverplate, but testing gave me an unmistakably sterling result. I made sure to scratch on the edge a few times to be sure I got below any silverplate.
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2014
  5. tie.dye.cat

    tie.dye.cat Well-Known Member

    Wow, the more I look at those marks, the more I wonder how you found those given that quite a bit of the mark on mine is worn. That is amazing!

    Thank you again. :)
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2014
  6. silverthwait

    silverthwait Well-Known Member

    Scallop.

    :rage: How dare you call me a clam!
     
    tie.dye.cat likes this.
  7. tie.dye.cat

    tie.dye.cat Well-Known Member

    Oh my gosh, that gave me a good laugh! Thank you so much, I needed one!

    (unless you're the head of the Scallop Union 305, then I beg your forgiveness)

    :p
     
  8. terry5732

    terry5732 Well-Known Member

    90+% of the time I judge by the looks

    I can tell most from a distance

    That screams plate

    Go to a flat area of the backside, make a scratch with a needle, apply a drop and watch the green bubbles come from the scratch

    You should not be doing anything on an edge
     
  9. tie.dye.cat

    tie.dye.cat Well-Known Member

    Ok, I took a knife to the back of this thing (silverettes, please forgive me), and I'm wondering what's up with this reaction? Is it just from the silverplate? Because I scratched it quite deeply with a knife, and I didn't see any green bubbling, just the reddish-brown reaction.

    I usually use 18k gold acid for testing silver jewelry, but if I recall correctly, doesn't the reddish brown indicate silver? (and this is why I use gold acid to test silver because I can never get the color indicators right!)

    DSCF4360.JPG

    DSCF4362.JPG
     
  10. terry5732

    terry5732 Well-Known Member

    If the piece seems to bend easily it may be silverplate on tin (pewter). Tin doesn't react as much as the copper-nickel alloys do.

    Rather than transferring your result, you should be looking at the difference between the scratch and surrounding. In a solid piece there would be no difference.
     
    tie.dye.cat likes this.
  11. 707susang

    707susang Active Member

  12. tie.dye.cat

    tie.dye.cat Well-Known Member

    Okay, gotcha. I should have known that. The area that I put acid on turned pale which I've seen before on non-silver tested items.
     
  13. tie.dye.cat

    tie.dye.cat Well-Known Member

    Oh, I wasn't questioning the "diagnosis" of silverplate - though I probably didn't convey it, I was questioning what I was doing wrong in my testing rather than whether the item actually was silverplate or not. :)
     
  14. 707susang

    707susang Active Member

    I understand that. I ran out of testing acid long ago and haven't replaced it. I never trusted my own testing on something that was questionable. In this case, the piece is marked for silverplate. I see so many listings where the seller says.....tested for solid silver and it is clearly plated by the marks.

    I wish quality silverplate was given it's due aside from a few famous makers. Perhaps someday it will..
     
    tie.dye.cat likes this.
  15. silverthwait

    silverthwait Well-Known Member

    Second the motion! Much as I Love sterling, (Gee, who would have guessed) there are numerous flatware patterns of which I'd like to have a whole boxfull. Every time Sue brings in one of those long pictures from some site, I go mad over designs I have never seen before.
     
    tie.dye.cat likes this.
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