Sterling Beer/Wine Mug???

I agree that's true when dealing with items plated in copper. But for other base metals, the ice cube test should produce noticeable differences. See the chart below that shows the thermal conductivity of metals (think of thermal conductivity as the ability to move heat/cold through the metal and the rate of transfer). Notice the similarity between copper and silver, but the much lower numbers for Brass, Nickel, and Stainless. Based on the images, I would rule out copper as the base metal based on how it looks. If the base metal is nickel, you would see a much slower melt of the cube, and a much slower transfer of cold to the farther points of the cup. I've found that the ice cube test can be pretty helpful as a potential indicator of silver.

 

Positively determining whether an unmarked piece is silver or not from images online can only be an educated guess, but will offer some thoughts:

Regarding the form, though not necessarily what it is, it looks very much like a fairly plain English pint tankard, and would more typically be silverplate or pewter, but they were also produced in silver - quick search doesn't find any with a reinforced lip like yours (kind of reminds of the brass lip sometimes found on pewter tankards).

Regarding the 'ice test', have used it and silver does chill very fast, but I've only used it for spoons, with a known silver and/or silverplate spoon of very similar thickness and length for comparison (a friend calls it the 'ice cream test', and just sticks the spoons in ice cream) - the silver will chill much faster, but should be kept in mind that nickel silver is not just nickel, it is typically at least 60% copper, and it will conduct the temperature fairly well too, though at a slower rate. Not going to take the time to search for a chart like Nate's that includes nickel silver, but this page mentions that it "possesses high thermal and electrical conductivity": http://www.nealloys.com/cupro_nickel.php I'm no scientist, and honestly don't know the effectiveness of an ice cube test without a comparison object.

The pics are not particularly clear on my screen - does the bottom show soldering, could it have been replaced?

This page linked below shows a number of sterling pint tankards, similar in style, size, and even weight in some (you might also measure its capacity, keeping in mind that Imperial pints differ from American) - I'm not stating an opinion on the origin or material, but if mine, an XRF test would be in order...

https://www.bryandouglas.co.uk/silverware/tankards/tankards.htm

~Cheryl

 

Lovely response Cheryl, you always manage to educate me. I wasn’t thinking (or even aware) of copper in nickel silver. Hey do you have a spare XRF scanner I can borrow?

 

Well I think it's safe to say that I should bring it in to examined haha! My gut tells me I lucked out and found an unstamped silver piece but there is always a chance it is not. You have all been great and I will definitely post my results to this thread when I know a little more about this. If it's worth big money, Free BBQ and Pints at my place in Niagara, Ontario when the borders open back up!

All the best my friends and I'll be back with my next mystery item lol!

Thanks for everything,

Jon

 

The look, the feel, the creamy white

 

You're hilarious! Good work my friend. The only thing is that I didn't dump a soda can full of acid on the piece and I'm speaking of the reaction period, not the aftermath we see here. Unless I'm taking this all wrong? I'm not great at encrypted messages these days. All the best @terry5732