Silver being one of the first metals used by humans, it was the first metal to be melted from ore. Its use dates back to the ancient Egyptian empire and was forged into household utensils, buttons, horse traps, boxes, jewelry, etc. Pure silver is as soft as gold, which is why it is often alloyed with copper to straighten its strength and can be used to make utensils and other items. Without the addition of alloy, it would melt due to its smoothness. Fine silver is nearly 999/1000 percent pure, but it is too soft for jewelry making, so a metal is added to the silver. But anything called silver or sterling silver (which is 92.5 percent pure silver and 7.5 percent metal) is pure silver.
Tips for determining the purity of silver
Stamps in silver
Recently, the seals have been placed on the purity level of silver. T100 means 100 percent purity, B1 means 70 percent purity, and B2 means 50 percent purity. The purity of the silver is as important as checking the purity of the gold. Below are the simplest ways to determine the purity of silver.
Black stone method:
One of the most popular methods for determining the purity of silver is the black stone method, which is not a scientific method, but is still used to check purity. According to this method of rubbing a piece of silver under examination on a stone, the change in the degree of color of a silver gives an idea of its purity.
Lab test
Labor is equipped with instruments that test the purity of jewelry, but silver alloyed with metal can give an incorrect result. Therefore, laboratory tests should not be the first option.
Acidity test
The acid test is the best scientific method to test the purity of silver because all metals will melt into acid, but silver is acid-proof. Therefore, if a silver jewel does not melt, it indicates its purity.
Brown level in acid
Another way is to check the brown level of the acid that the silver is immersed in. But this method is not suitable for all consumers, so it can be used in laboratories. But the best way is the acid test method.
Apart from these, there are also many purity detection laboratories, these laboratories are equipped with all modern devices and instruments, the main problem with these laboratories is that it is quite difficult to measure the purity of jewelry samples with intricate craftsmen. and many alloys. Therefore, labs are a second preference in most cases. In case of such difficulties, the acid test is supposed to be the best aid, mainly because although all other materials in an alloy will melt into acid, silver will not. Another very popular way to test the purity of silver is an analysis of the level of brown in the acid in which the silver has been immersed. However, fraud is not detectable by this method, because obviously, this method cannot be used by customers at all times.
The world’s leading standard of fineness for silver products is sterling or standard silver. The term sterling owes its origin to the standard of British currency, which in turn comes from the term ‘Osterling silver’, as originally produced by the Osterlings of Germany. Sterling silver has a specific gravity of 10.3. Sterling silver is not pure enough to take vitreous enamels well and the highest quality Britannia silver of 95.84% is often used for this. Some other countries have lower silver standards of 80% and 83%.