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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;MrNate, post: 377517, member: 5515&quot;]Zeppelin,</p><p><br /></p><p>I just wanted to say thanks for posting the pictures. I found it interesting to research the item and learn more about it. I don&#039;t judge you at all for what you do with your items, they are YOURS! I think if you want to cut them up cut cut cut! I know for me personally, I&#039;m still refining my knowledge of silver items, including testing. I find the testing aspect quite fascinating and I&#039;d be happy to share some of my methods I&#039;ve learned so far, they aren&#039;t perfect but they have served me well so far. One of the best lessons I&#039;ve learned so far in hunting for silver is to understand the language of markings and hallmarks, and in many cases I feel confident enough to not even acid test items at all.</p><p><br /></p><p>If I had found this piece (I would love to find one like it) here&#039;s what I would have done if I had any doubt about the markings:</p><p><br /></p><p>-Ice cube test: Place an ice cube in the center of the item while it is sitting on a flat surface at room temperature. This is a pretty good test as silver is one of the most conductive metals on earth. If the item is real silver, you would expect to observe two reactions: the ice cube will melt quicker compared to something that is stainless steel, and the transfer of cold would transfer quite quickly from where the ice cube is to the edges of the plate. This testing method isn&#039;t foolproof; items plated over copper will have similar results as copper is highly conductive also. But if the item was plated over brass/nickel silver etc. you would see a much slower rate of melting.</p><p><br /></p><p>-Feeling the piece: perhaps this is my own judgement call, but I&#039;ve found that real silver feels softer to the touch compared to plated items. One of the best non destructive tests that I&#039;ve found is to gently bend the piece (not actually bend it, but feel how it flexes). With practice, there&#039;s a big difference between real silver and something plated over copper. So if the item passed the ice cube test, and I bend it, to be real silver I would expect to feel nice flexibility (unless it is very thick). If the item feels like it bends very rigidly, I would suspect it is plated copper. </p><p><br /></p><p>-Magnet test: I honestly think the magnet test is mostly useless. If you had a neodymium magnet, you might actually see a response to magnets since the item is 830 purity. I don&#039;t use the magnet test much.</p><p><br /></p><p>-There&#039;s a great test I&#039;ve never done called a water displacement test. It wouldn&#039;t work for a weighted item, but in this case I suspect it would have worked perfectly. Essentially a water displacement test measures the difference between the dry weight of an item compared to the density (weight) of an item suspended in water. Only requires some basic equipment and math (scale, tub of water) but I&#039;ve heard it&#039;s very reliable. If I get around to it, I&#039;ll test sometime and post the results on here.</p><p><br /></p><p>-Destructive tests: You are definitely correct to assume that a surface level acid test might yield false results. Some folks advocate cutting a notch in an item and testing at the notch. My method: I&#039;ll use a testing stone, pick a corner of the item i&#039;m testing that is inconspicuous, and rub down the edge repeatedly until I feel confident I&#039;ve gotten through any plate (if there&#039;s any doubt you haven&#039;t gotten through the plate, just keep repeating the process), and then apply acid to the rubbing stone with the scrape mark you just made. After you apply the acid, wait 10 seconds, and take a clean kleenex and wipe the acid off the stone. If the kleenex shows a nice dark red spot, I know I have silver, if it shows blue/yellow/clear or gray, I know that the item is plated. I use this test only on items I have doubt or the markings are suspect.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sorry for my long post, but I love sharing the knowledge I&#039;ve learned so far. I&#039;m in no way judging your actions, just offering some other methods that might allow you to keep your future pieces intact. Thanks![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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