Featured Help me to learn on napkin ring.

See this napkin ring for sale. In the unpolished state, what do you see to confirm or rule out sterling? Will post the polished later, just want to see how to know if buying it was a good idea based on this initial look. Thanks in advance. Has a bit of weight in the hand. And has a smell when rubbed. Using this to learn more how to spot things in the wild/unpolished. Is early 1900s correct?

 

Did you look inside the rim?

@MrNate @DragonflyWink @Bakersgma

 

Now I see you added another photo....Is that the only mark?

 

Sorry, yes, the attachment shows the mark, 2 ovals with what appears to be a line slightly above and in the middle of them. No other marks, checked thoroughly (I think, haha).

 

So based on just that info, would you guess sterling or not worth buying at all?

 

Wait for those I tagged to respond..............They are the experts here.

 

Hi @Happy!

Great question, I'll do my absolute best to answer it as you continue to refine your eye for good purchases:

#1: Smell: I have heard this as an indicator for real silver, but I personally haven't found validity to this claim, or my nose isn't attuned enough to tell the difference. In general, I would say that the smell of an item would not typically be a reliable indicator.

#2: Form of the piece: The positive thing that I see with your piece to suggest that it could potentially be real silver is the way the napkin ring band is formed to add some structural integrity. This isn't very conclusive, but one sign there's potential. You see, since silver is a relatively pliable metal, a maker would consider forming the piece with a rounded band to add strength to the piece.

#3: Tone: the outside of the piece is a bit inconclusive to me....It would lead me to probably rule out electro-plated brass or copper, but nickel silver is still very much a possibility. I see slight tone variations where the piece was engraved that are usually present with plated nickel pieces. I would also hope to see the crevices of the piece to be dark, and the upper relief of the metal to be shiny/light. It appears at face value that the opposite is occurring, suggesting that the base metal is not tarnishing in the method I would expect for silver.

#4: Inside of band: the tone of the inside of the band to me suggests some of the same observations noted in #3 above. I will say that the tone of the inside of the band looks good, but given the observation I made in #3 above, I would personally say it's a 75% chance this would be Nickel Silver, and a 25% chance this item would be 800, 900, or 925 silver.

 

If you've followed any of Mr. Nate's silver purchases, you will feel confident in his response.

TY Mr. Nate.

 

Glad Mr. Nate took a look. I'll add a thought, too.

"Has a bit of weight in the hand" means different things to different people, but could suggest that this is silverplate. Sterling items feel lighter than silverplated items compared to their relative size. But it takes a while to get a feel for the difference.

My best tip for "finding silver in the wild" as you asked, is to get a feel for the weight of sterling. I was at a garage sale this summer and there was a stack of silverplated plates. I looked quickly through and there was one that felt a bit thinner and lighter, and I quickly extracted it thinking sterling. Sure enough, almost impossible to see, was the word "sterling" on the back.

Whenever I see a silver item at the thrift, if I pick it up and it's heavy for it's size, (not including weighted sterling of course) dollars to donuts it's a plated piece.

 

I agree with Nate that it is likely plated. Mostly on dark color of the tarnish and thickness of the ring.

 

Good advice from "those in the Know"!

 

So helpful all of you, thank you. Now I can hunt with a little more knowledge. At the same time I bought a small piece of sterling, so in comparing the 2, it is weird, the sterling has a stronger smell than the napkin ring. Could this be due to silver polish?

Lucille, would be beyond excited to find a sterling plate as you described. SCORE! All the stacks I go through are silver plated, loads of them. I keep hoping for that *ONE* plate.

Bakers, by "thickness of the ring", are you saying it is too bulky- looking, i.e., not delicate enough to be sterling?

How often do you guys find sterling items that are not marked "Sterling" or "925"?

 

I don't know whether "delicate" is the right word, but I have both sterling and plated napkin rings and the plated ones are thicker than the solid ones - likely accounting for the base metal inside the ring.

 

How often do you guys find sterling items that are not marked "Sterling" or "925"?[/QUOTE]

I would estimate that 98.5%...quite a specific number ....of all the items I've purchased/found have some appropriate mark for sterling/925/800 etc. But let me elaborate further:

1. Coin silver items are typically stamped by the maker, and therefore I consider those "marked"
2. Sterling/coin/800/900/925 etc all count as "marked" in my book
3. Many many many foreign pieces are marked to indicate silver purity, I consider those marked.

With those out of the way, to find a piece that is truly completely unmarked occurs far less frequently, but it's not impossible. All else being equal, I have found completely unmarked pieces in the following circumstances:

1. Very old pieces whose mark has completely been worn off or removed
2. Very old U.S. pieces before silver marking standards
3. Foreign pieces from countries that don't or didn't previously have silver marking standards

Now...a real question you may be asking, is how often do we purchase something that doesn't appear to have marks. And the answer for me is very frequently. I would guess that about 15-20% of the time I'm making a purchase without seeing the marks; a calculated risk I am willing to take after years of observation and practice. I do still get it wrong, and I don't advise this for anyone except the highly experienced. But going back to my first sentence, most of the time these pieces do have marks, I just don't always have the luxury of clear photos showing every inch of a piece I'm purchasing.

 

Eh, with the information available, despite no size and weight given, and the deeply tarnished surface, would probably take a chance on it being American coin silver, circa 1870s (give or take a few years either way) - the weight of napkin rings vary considerably, and they're often quite sturdy. It's form, the engine-turning and engraving, even having just the numeric mark (I read '010'), are pretty typical - my eyesight isn't what it used to be, but I'm not really seeing plating loss, so curious to see it polished. If you're planning to sell, and believe it to be silver, would suggest having it tested...

~Cheryl

 

There's no question of that napkin ring being anything but silver-plated white metal. How do I know? I'm old. Been there done this. The shape and color are all wrong for sterling and dead on for late Victorian quadruple plated white metal.

 

On the smell thing. In my experience it's the non silver that has the strongest smell and it's a very metallic one. I can distinguish it, but can't quite describe it.

 

Nice to be so sure.

I've a bit of age, experience, and some hard-earned knowledge under my belt as well, and while not stating anything as fact, especially from a few online images, will stick to my opinion...


"Coin silver napkin rings":

https://www.google.com/search?q="coin+silver+napkin+ring"&rlz=1C1ONGR_enUS956US956&sxsrf=APq-WBsk7uEQfG-WRi26mI4tf6XK-3_8FA:1644189335786&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwji5LXKmuz1AhUWRTABHa8TA3kQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1536&bih=722&dpr=1.25


"Engine turned coin silver napkin rings":

https://www.google.com/search?q="engine+turned+coin+silver+napkin+ring"&rlz=1C1ONGR_enUS956US956&sxsrf=APq-WBvQYPgKm5sqIz_2SdTiQ13QJ39Qow:1644188327922&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjg2Orpluz1AhVjSzABHfFMAh8Q_AUoAnoECAIQBA&biw=1536&bih=722&dpr=1.25


~Cheryl

 

Can I weigh in on why you should have purchased this even if it's not sterling? Depending upon the price, I would have bought this regardless. Antique silver napkin rings are very collectible and very pretty (IMO). Certainly, if you resell, the sterling ring is better, but you can still sell the plated variety and make a decent profit.

Before I stopped reselling, I bought a lot of plated items and did very well with them. So I guess it depends on why you buy and where you sell. (P.S. I did especially well on silver plated trays. Most people can't afford the sterling ones anyway.)

That said, I would still encourage you to learn to tell the difference between sterling and plate until it becomes second nature, like Mr Nate can do. I've scored many sterling items that way myself. It's a great feeling.

 

Here is the inside band before polishing (used the wrong pic above):

Bought this as a learning piece, if it has value, will sell. I know just enough to be dangerous, and find myself guessing on too many pieces, hence this learning thread. This one just felt different to me.

Outside seemed like plated, but the inner looked like sterling, wondered if the mark was ()|() and wondered if it was early. The outside script made me think 1800s and I was wondering if this was the mythical coin silver...was hoping someone might say that.

I am also wondering, is the person's name Green Harlan or Harlan Green? Haven't seen another online with one name up above the other, in the manner of this one.

Here it is hand-polished. Could work on it more or use a polishing wheel, but maybe this gives you a better idea: