High Ho Silver

Second only to gold as a precious metal, silver has always been appreciated. Shiny and elegant, silver is always a stylish addition to any home. Sterling, Sheffield Plate, silverplate, German Silver, hallmarks – there’s a lot to take in. This is what you should know.

Sterling silver
Sterling is the highest quality of silver. Pure silver is too soft for practical use, so it must be mixed (alloyed) with another metal. Sterling silver is 925 parts silver to 75 parts copper per 1,000 parts. Since it is easy to melt down silver into currency, a system was put in place to test – assay – the silver and mark it. This system is called hallmarking and the English system is the oldest. Contrast is a series of symbols and letters that indicate the place of origin, the year an item was made, and the manufacturer. Most European countries follow distinctive procedures similar to the English system. It was developed to ensure that consumers get what they pay for. The US pound sterling is stamped “Sterling”.

There are a huge number of stamps and very few people are able to tell who made any item just by looking at a stamp. Even silver connoisseurs consult their hallmark guides to identify hallmarks. Following a 1975 treaty, a new sterling standard was adopted to denote sterling with the “.925” stamp. It was implemented to eliminate language confusion.

sheffield plate
Sheffield Plate, named after the city of Sheffield, England, is less expensive than the British pound. Sheffield Plate was made by placing copper between silver and rolling it into thin sheets and turning it into silverware. In the mid-1880s, electroplating, an even more profitable procedure, replaced Sheffield Plate as the low-cost alternative to sterling.

silverware
Electroplating is a process by which a less valuable base metal (copper, nickel) is plated with silver. It is indicated by “EPNS” – Electroplated Nickel Silver, “EPC” – Electroplated Copper, or you will see an item marked “Silver”.

German and Alpaca
Neither is silver, rather they are a mixture of nickel, copper and zinc. The terms nickel and German silver are used interchangeably and will be marked G. Silver or German Silver.

Detect counterfeits
Any candle holder can be used to make a mold to make an exact replica, stamps and all. But seeing two candlesticks that are exactly the same can be the sign of a fake. Royal stamps are applied individually, by hand, and it is impossible to place them in exactly the same place in two pieces. So be wary when a couple of candlesticks have seals in exactly the same place.

Forging hallmarks are applied to new pieces so that they can be passed off as old, or to silver plated so that it can be passed off as sterling silver. Counterfeit marks often have smooth contours.

Be on the lookout for transposed hallmarks – when a hallmark is cut from a smaller sterling silver item and placed on something that is not sterling silver. This royal stamp is sold in the new item. A trick to check this is to breathe on the piece. Since silver is generally cooler than breath, condensation will reveal the demarcation line of the solder. Trademarks were transposed in the 18th and 19th centuries to avoid paying taxes.

Prices
Value is determined by age, rarity, and quality.

purchase advice

• Look for stamps, “sterling” or “.925” stamps. If it does not have these marks, it is not sterling. And it’s important because the British pound is worth about twice as much as other types of silver.
• Remember that items stamped “.925” were probably made after 1975.
• Get a book on silver hallmarks and don’t be shy about pulling it out and using it when buying silver. A good one to use is Miller’s Silver & Sheffield Plate Marks.
• Don’t let anyone try to convince you that EPNS or G. Silver is sterling.