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Determination of the authenticity of silver products

Silver is not just a chemical element from the periodic table, but a noble metal with unique antiseptic and chemical properties. It has been known and widely used by man since the dawn of civilization. Thanks to their natural properties aroused interest among shamans, healers and alchemists, who attributed metal magical abilities. Only a silver bullet can kill a vampire and a werewolf. Products from precious metal can protect from evil spirits, restore youth and cure all diseases. Today, silver is widely used both in household needs and in industry, technology and medicine. From it they prepare: rings, earrings, dishes, cutlery and contacts of electrical products.

Due to the extreme popularity of the metal, it is often counterfeited. How to define silver? The first thing you should pay attention to even during the purchase, in order to prevent the possibility of being deceived, is the brand of the factory manufacturer or, in other words, the test. It must be of high quality and well visible. It cannot be faked with your own hands; this requires special technical equipment. The sample is a small rectangle of factory origin, inside of which there is a three-digit number indicating the proportion of silver in this product. To determine the authenticity of silver, it is not necessary to have deep knowledge of jewelry business, have technical equipment and special conditions.

The most common samples of silver

The quality of silver depends on the degree of impurities in it. The most common samples are , 800, 875, 916, 925 and 960, and 720 samples are also found in Russia. An alloy of 750 and 800 tests, due to the high content of copper, has acquired a slightly yellowish tint and is quite easily oxidized upon contact with oxygen. It is often used to make cutlery. - an indicator of the low quality of silver, but, due to its low cost, it is quite widespread. The alloy is used in the production of enameled cutlery. The most common is . It is of the highest quality and is widely used both in the manufacture of jewelry and cutlery. The highest breakdown is 960.

If you become the owner without a factory brand, then there are many ways to check it for authenticity.

One of the most faithful and reliable is to contact a jewelry workshop, where an experienced employee, after conducting a professional test, will determine the authenticity of the product. But you can try and independently check the quality of silver.

How to determine the authenticity of silver at home?

To find out if silver is real, you can use a magnet - the precious metal is not attracted.

1. Silver is determined at home and with the help of sulfuric ointment, which is quite affordable, it can be purchased at any pharmacy. After applying the ointment to the product, you should wait a couple of hours. After time, the genuine metal should change its color, turn black.
2. To find out at home whether silver is real, you can experiment with iodine. If you put a drop of iodine on a cutlery or decoration, then it should also turn black, and the richer the color, the higher. Although manipulations with iodine can lead to damage to your favorite product.
3. You can try to make a small scratch in an inconspicuous place. If a reddish stripe appears in this place, then this product is not made of silver, but of brass. In small layouts and spontaneous markets, you can often buy silver-plated brass or copper.
4. it can be like that too. Contact with skin should not leave traces. If, after removing the jewelry, you notice at the places of contact with the skin dark footprints, then most likely you are wearing a fake.
5. With real silver high degree thermal conductivity. When lowering such a product into hot water it instantly becomes the same temperature.
6. The definition of silver is also possible with the help of chalk. To do this, apply ordinary school chalk to the product. If the silver is real, then it will turn black.

Of course, none of the above methods verification will not give a 100% guarantee and confidence in the authenticity and quality of the product. Therefore, it is better to buy the so-called "silver test". This is a common reagent, simple and safe to use. It is on open sale, so there will be no problems with its acquisition. With this test, you can easily and with high accuracy determine not only the authenticity and quality of silver, but also the approximate fineness of the product. In addition, such a check is considered the safest.

IN Lately cases of counterfeiting of precious metals, both in the domestic and international markets, have increased. Because the technology is getting better and better. Therefore, if you decide to purchase silver jewelry, try to approach very seriously and responsibly this issue. Try to buy valuable jewellery, cutlery, cutlery, dishes and other silverware in trusted stores, and not in kiosks and layouts in the markets.

Also, to determine the authenticity of the jewelry, the brand of the manufacturer is a test. Such simple measures precautions can protect you from scammers, save your money, nerves and time.

How to check silver at home? There are quite a few ways to verify the authenticity of silver, both standardized and homemade. It doesn’t matter for what purpose it is necessary, but you can always find out if the item is made of real silver or silver plated. The 999 material itself is very soft, so the maximum fineness that can be found on sale is 925. Such ingots consist of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper.

Also, confusion often arises around similar terms - silver and silvering (silver-plated material). Silver is actually a precious metal, while silvering means that a very thin layer of it has been applied to a certain material.

If we take standard checks, then there are two of them:

• brand;
• magnetic quality test.

But besides them, there are still opportunities to check, and it is at home:

• vinegar;
• iodine.

How to check silver at home, and will be discussed further.

Brand check

Products that are intended for sale on the international markets of precious metals must be marked, that is, have a stamp that indicates the metal grade. If there is no stamp, this does not mean at all that you have a fake in front of you - it is quite possible that the product itself is not certified or was made in a country that does not require stamping.

Magnetic quality test

If you take a magnet that is equal in size to a silver ingot, then there should be no interaction between them due to the fact that silver is a paramagnetic. Only a very strong and large magnet can make silver interact with it, and even then such an interaction will be barely noticeable. It is worth taking into account the following information: in the world there are quite a few materials similar to silver in their properties, including magnetic ones, so it would be better if you combine the magnetic test with others. The advantage of this manipulation is that you can take a small magnet with you to a store / shop and test it on the spot.

Check at home

How to check a sample of silver at home? You can determine it with a chrompic. It is required to drop a drop of reagent on silver and observe its reaction. If the silver sample is above 600, then it acquires a brownish-red hue, and the higher the sample, the lighter the chromic peak becomes. Around the 800th sample, the color will be orange. If the 875th sample is higher, then it will already be red; passing the 900th test, it becomes already blood-red. This method allows you to find out the sample of the product with an error of up to 20 units.

Vinegar test

How to check silver at home with vinegar? Vinegar does not react to silver, so if there is any doubt what metal it is made of cutlery or a jewel, you can dip them into the vinegar itself. True, here it is necessary to be careful if you omit an object that is considered family value. After all, the reaction can be very violent, and the thing will literally evaporate.

Iodine test

How to check silver at home with iodine? More gentle is the test with iodine. If a drop is dropped on silver, and a black spot appears, then this confirms that the silver is real. Since this stain will be very difficult to remove, it is better to do the check in an inconspicuous place so that you do not have to pore over cleaning it later. In such and similar checks, care must be taken due to the fact that another metal may be silvered, in its own way. physical properties similar to silver.

Thermal conductivity test

How to check the authenticity of silver at home? Silver is one of best metals in terms of heat conduction. Thanks to this property, there were once ideas to make power lines from silver, but because of possible attempts on them, such an undertaking was abandoned. But you can check silver for thermal conductivity. You need to take it in your hand and hold it well, it will instantly take the temperature human body. If the metal is immersed in water, it does not matter if it is warm or cold, then it will immediately take on its temperature, which can also be used to verify authenticity.

Definition by quality

How to check silver at home? There is one more, so to speak, household way checks. It is necessary to take a thing made of silver or a silver ingot and turn it in your hands, and not once or twice, but well. If the hands remain clean, then this indicates good quality material. But if they are dirty, then the silver is diluted, most likely with zinc. A negative property of such zinc alloys, in addition to soiled hands, is also the fragility of the jewelry. Many may argue that real silver items can also turn black, but their blackening does not happen quickly. In addition, blackness can be removed by wiping the product with a special cream.

Features when verifying the authenticity of silver

How to check silver at home? As mentioned above, the metal can be silver plated, which will not allow us to call the above methods those that work 100 percent. In such cases, you can try to remove the silver with a needle. If it comes off, it means that you have a metal that has been silver plated, while real silver has too strong a molecular bond within itself to be broken with a needle.

Use of special chemical mixtures

IN jewelry stores, and sometimes in ordinary stores, you can find special chemical mixtures with which you can determine the authenticity of silver even at home. To do this, just follow the instructions and compare with what happens.

As you can see, there are different ways to check if the silver is real in front of you, and it is not at all necessary to go to the jeweler for this. Eat various ways: easy, difficult, almost instantaneous, and there are those that will take time. But after conducting several checks, it will be possible to safely say that the authenticity or forgery of the metal has been established.

The present silver item it is easy to distinguish from a fake and the article will help us deal with all the nuances. Let's get acquainted with the most effective ways determining the authenticity of silver.

Stamp and test

Each product with a high content of precious metal has 2 hallmarks - the name of the manufacturer and hallmark. Their presence indicates that the product is sold legally in the country.

The hallmark is placed on:

The state stamp consists of several elements:

• Right profile of a lady in a kokoshnik;
• Letter cipher of the state inspection assay supervision in the lower left corner;
• Try;
• Standard frame.

Pay attention to the shape of the frame, it is an oval with cut sides. Let's say that the image is circled, and the sample is printed side by side in a rectangular frame or an oval frame with cut edges.

Foreign-made jewelry may have other marking methods adopted by the laws of the country of manufacture. For example, the traditional English brand is a walking lion, French products were stamped with the head of Minerva, a wild boar, a crab.

In order for the soft noble metal to gain strength, impurities of other metals are added to the alloy, usually copper, tin, nickel. Therefore, a sample is necessarily put on the finished product - a number that reflects the percentage of the content of the noble metal. The most common silver samples are 750, 800, 875, 916, 925, 960 and 999.

To create jewelry, 960 and 925 tests are most often used:

• 925 silver is called sterling, it does not lose its original appearance for a long time, does not darken even with prolonged wear.
• The 800th test is considered a coin alloy, used in the production of coins, cutlery, quickly loses its presentation.

A personal name is an abbreviation that allows you to find out the manufacturer, place, year of manufacture. May contain letters and numbers. Antique items are decorated with the initials of the master.

If there was no sample, this does not mean that you are faced with a fake. Perhaps in front of you is 800 sterling silver. Products from it are allowed to be produced without an imprint. Some silver imitations are stamped with the MNTs stamp, which means "magnesium-nickel-zinc". The fake sample is applied unevenly, it is easy to recognize if you have a sample.

Thermal conductivity

Among all metals, silver has the highest thermal conductivity, that is, it quickly changes temperature under the influence of the environment:

• Put a cool ring on your skin, it will instantly take its temperature.
• Lower the chain or necklace into a container with hot water and then take it out immediately. Jewelry will not have time to change the temperature.
• An ice cube will do the trick. If the item is large enough, place ice from the freezer on top.

Put the cool ring on your skin, it will instantly take its temperature

Physical properties

• Consider the quality of the coverage.
• Sterling silver should be white color , with a bright polished sheen.
• Blackened stylized antique and it doesn't shine as brightly.
• Antique jewelry becomes covered with a black and gray coating over time. If the plaque is red or brown, you have another alloy in front of you, for example, brass or cupronickel.
• Silver can be matte, but it shouldn't have any tint. Reddish tint - a sign a large number copper in the alloy.
• Throw a ring, earring or coin on the table.
• When falling, a sonorous sound should be heard melodic, clear sound.
• Silver spoons you can knock on each other.
• Copper fakes knock dully, cheap alloys make a metallic sound, like small coins.
• Rub the object with your palm.
• Counterfeits with an admixture of zinc leave dark marks.
• Silver plating can be rubbed gently to see the background color.
• Put the jewelry in a glass of water for a few days. Genuine silver will remain pristine, but fake will rust.
• Smell. This method requires you to have a sample.
• Those who had silverware , remember their special, specific smell.
• If there is a coating, scrape it off. Melchior, like other copper alloys, smells like copper.
• Taste it.
• At brass, cupronickel, uncoated nickel silver will have a metallic aftertaste.
• Noble metals are tasteless.
• Weigh. There are reference manuals for numismatists that contain data on ancient and modern coins. Weigh your sample, compare the resulting weight with the indicated one.

Antique jewelry becomes covered with a black and gray coating over time.

Checking with improvised means

If after examining the product there are doubts, you can conduct several tests using improvised means:

Be careful, traces of iodine are very difficult to wash off the surface of the jewelry. Most likely, the stain will remain forever.

Sulfuric ointment:

• Apply ointment.
• After 30 seconds, wipe off with a cloth or tissue. The place of application should darken.

Sulfur ointment is one of the most proven and safe ways checks. It is applied against skin inflammation so it can be applied without gloves. Sold in any pharmacy.

Lapis pencil:

• Wet the tip of the pencil.
• Put in a small drop.
• If the drop turns black, this is a fake. Lapis is composed of silver nitrate and does not react with either silver or gold.

Once lapis was widely distributed, but now it is not sold in all pharmacies. This is an outdated remedy for cauterizing warts and papillomas, if it gets on open skin, a black spot will remain for a long time.

• Take stationery chalk, rub the decoration with it.
• Postpone.
• Check the result after a few minutes. If the chalk turns gray, you have a real noble metal.

Bleach:

It is believed that if you pour a small drop of bleach and wait a few minutes, the product will react with acid and darken. But a lot depends on the composition of the bleach. Silver is a low-active metal, so household chemicals may not have any effect. Imitation can be irrevocably spoiled, especially with chlorine.

Vinegar:

Silver is a low reactive metal, so household chemicals may not have any effect.

According to the electrochemical activity series of metals, silver is an inactive metal, therefore it does not react with 9% vinegar. Most alloys will not react with such a weak acid without heating.

Copper is also a low-active metal, so vinegar will not damage products with a high copper content. Cupronickel cutlery is even recommended to be soaked in acid if a plaque has formed.

Needle:

• Make a deep scratch with a needle.
• Take a close look at whether the color of the core differs from the coating.
• A yellow or red tint indicates that a coating has been applied.

Magnet:

• Take a strong magnet and pass it over the surface of the object.
• Silver has almost no magnetic properties, but a fake made of steel or nickel will immediately attract.
• It should be noted that metals with a high copper content are also non-magnetic.

Nitric acid:

This option is only suitable for those who are familiar with chemistry.

• Under the action of nitric acid, a violent reaction occurs with the release of gas, silver dissolves, forms water solution silver nitrate and nitric oxide.
• Such an experiment should not be carried out at home.

• The most reliable way to determine whether your jewelry has jewelry value, you can call it checks with iodine, sulfuric ointment, lapis pencil, needle, chalk.
• Iodine is not safe for the product stains remain for a long time, they are almost impossible to wash.
• The lapis pencil is very handy, the reaction comes quickly, but it will have to be specially ordered, since it is not sold in all pharmacies.
• Using a needle, you can find out if a spray has been applied, but the scratch can no longer be reduced.
• Chalk does not damage the product.
• The blackouts remaining after the sulfuric ointment can be wiped ammonia or put in soda solution. Another option is to boil it with a piece of ordinary aluminum foil.
• Not everyone can determine the taste, sound or weight of silver. In addition, this requires a large sample, such as a ring or a coin.
• A magnet test won't work. desired result if the base material of the alloy is copper. So, cupronickel, brass will not be attracted to a magnet.
• Bleach and vinegar were useless, nitric acid is not suitable for home use.

The most reliable chemical test is a professional probe. The easiest set to test noble metals costs less than 1000 rubles. It can be purchased at jewelry workshops, some pharmacies, online stores.

Reacting with silver, the substance becomes blood-red, blackens or turns green on a fake. The reagents are convenient, they penetrate through the coating of any thickness. Be careful, the probe is very caustic and may irritate the skin.

Silver is a very popular metal, which is used not only Jewelry, but also cutlery, crockery, coins and various decorative items. If you want to buy something made of silver, it is worth knowing how to check the silver or not. Unfortunately, there is no way to verify the authenticity of a product by 100%, but you can conduct several tests yourself and with a high degree of probability determine a fake in your hands.

You will need:

I. hot water;

II. latex gloves;

III. jewelry magnifier;

IV. magnet;

V. nitric acid;

VI. electric lamp.

What you need to pay attention to

Look at the product label first. On products manufactured by modern jewelry factories in without fail there should be a test. It should be noted that if the decoration is designer, then it may not have a sample - not all designers put it on. Products Russian production are designated as samples 960, 925, 803, 800, 875. These indicators indicate the percentage of silver content in the alloy. For example, a piece marked 875 contains 87.5% silver. An alloy of 80% is used for the production of cutlery, and 952 sterling silver is considered sterling, i.e. most valuable.

Foreign-made products may have other sample designations. In some countries, the markings Ster, Sterling, S/S, Silver are used. Do not forget about hallmarks: those who are well versed in silver easily distinguish hallmarks, because they are well aware of the designations of famous craftsmen and firms. The marking of Soviet silverware was marked with a hallmark in the form five pointed star. On silver items made in England, there was a mark in the form of a leopard with a raised paw - when buying an antique silver item from your hands, you should definitely check for the presence of a mark and identify it on specialized sites. In general, depending on the master, the country of production and the era, there are a lot of samples, combinations of materials and brands. Soviet silverware was usually produced in 916 and 960 samples - we recommend using a jeweler's magnifier to better see all the designations.

Among all metals, silver has the highest coefficient of thermal conductivity. This suggests that the higher the sample of the product, the purer the alloy and the faster the product heats up.

You can put silver and cupronickel spoon. Silver will heat up faster. Jewelry made of sterling silver get hot as quickly as possible: it is recommended to remove them before taking a shower and before going to the bath, so as not to get burned.

The reflectivity of pure silver is very high - put the product under the bright light of an electric lamp: it should reflect light better than a metal product.

Pure silver is diamagnetic and is not attracted to a magnet, so you can check the authenticity of the item using a magnet. Silver is non-magnetic technical (it has a high content of pure silver) and magnetic silver, in which there is little silver and due to this it is attracted to magnets.

Nitric acid is the most accurate way to authenticate silver. On an inconspicuous place of the product, scratch it slightly and drop a little acid on the scratch. Poor-quality silver will turn into green light because it contains a lot of copper. Sterling silver will cream color and practical pure silver will turn black.

As it turned out, my Dear Granny knows everything. Today she decided to tell how to distinguish silverware from a fake. It turns out that we can easily take silver spoon cupronickel product or even of stainless steel. Often they have nice shape and chased pattern, silver color and heavy weight. But all these are not the main signs of table silver.

Silver cutlery appeared a very long time ago and have always been considered items that indicate the viability of their owners. Silver items are of particular value, they are passed down from generation to generation by inheritance. The main thing is to be able to clean, keep in the proper place and they will serve you and delight you with their beauty for many years.

There are times when you saw a set of silverware of rare beauty in a thrift store.

You are fascinated by it and want to buy it. But how do you know if it is real silver or a skillfully made fake. How to distinguish silverware? This is where the knowledge that my grandmother generously shared with me comes in handy.

But if neither one nor the other could be identified, and the owner ardently convinces of the authenticity of the product, then there are still many ways to determine the authenticity of silver.

• Hold an object in your hands and if it is really silver, in just a few seconds it will become warm, if it remains the same cold, then it is made of an alloy. And if you rub the metal a little more and there will appear on your hands dark spots- so it's definitely an alloy, not silver. Pure silver does not stain hands.
• If there is a magnet in the house, then you need to bring it to the product. A spoon made of silver will remain cold and indifferent to it, but cupronickel or stainless steel will immediately be attracted to the magnet. Magnet test gives more likely proof that the thing is silver. However, there are some metals that also do not react to a magnet. So testing needs to be continued.
• Ordinary chalk will help us. Let's take a piece of chalk and rub our spoon. If the chalk itself has become dark in color, then the spoon is really silver. You can also scratch quite a bit with a needle, and if it is a fake, then reddish metal will be visible.

For a professional assessment of the silverware, it will have to be taken to a jeweler, - said the grandmother.

- And let's check the coin that my grandfather gave me. I hid it in my hiding place, - I asked my grandmother.

Well, bring your coin. Then I'll tell you another way.

You see, it means that this is real silver - now let's rub it again with a sandpaper to remove the speck.

So now I am a real expert in how to distinguish silverware from a fake.