Making a mistake when buying or selling silver jewelry or utensils can be a costly one. Knowing and spotting the difference between silver-plated jewelry and sterling silver jewelry is intrinsic for shopping estate sales.
Silver-plated items generally consist of bonding a very thin layer of silver to a low-cost base metal such as nickel, copper, or brass. Attempting to melt down the miniscule amount of silver used in silver-plated items is nearly impossible and not cost-effective. In fact, if copper is used as the base metal, the copper is generally worth more than the silver in the piece. Generally, if a silver item is not stamped or marked at all, you can assume it is not sterling silver. Silver-plated items can be identified by the marks EP, EPNS, Silver on Copper, or any other markings that do not designate the piece as sterling silver.
Sterling silver is approximately 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of another metal, generally copper. Because such a high percentage of sterling silver is actual silver, sterling silver items are worth much more than silver-plated items. Sterling silver is always marked, generally with “Sterling” or “925” if it is an American-made silver piece. Other countries mark their sterling silver with hallmarks. For example, British sterling silver (92.5% or higher) is marked by a Lion Passant, and French sterling silver (95% or higher) is stamped with a hallmark of a head of Minerva. “Sterling silver” items from other countries, however, generally contain less than 92.5% silver. Notably, Germany and Russia’s “sterling silver” standards are only 80% and 87.5%, respectively.
Vermeil consists of sterling silver with a thick gold plating. Vermeil is marked just like regular sterling silver in spite of the fact that it is covered in gold. To be considered a quality vermeil, the gold plating must be at least 2.5 micrometers thick and at least 42% (10K).
Fine silver is the highest percentage of silver at 99% and is marked “.999 fine silver”. Fine silver generally comes in bars or rounds. It is this type of silver that sets the trading value.
If you have many silver pieces that you are considering selling at an estate jewelry sale, please keep Heritage Estate Sales in mind. We perform all duties of estate sales including appraisals, pricing and listing your items in your home or online, and even fix broken pieces.