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Are there any tests to determine if a ring is silver?

pcgs69pcgs69 Posts: 4,324 ✭✭✭✭
in Metal Detecting
It looks like silver and smells like silver... even weighs like silver, but I see no stamp. I can think of three possibities:

1) It's not silver
2) It's handmade (by Joe the Plumber) and the maker had no way to stamp it
3) It's an older ring that was never stamped

It looks a little bit older as the heart on top is a little crude. Found in area where coins from 1912 - today were also found.

(oops, edited to add pics!)

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Added some more pics compared to other rings marked Sterling (.925)... It looks like silver, but it does look slightly different. I'll probably have to try that Silver Black to see. It'll probably cost more than the ring even if it was silver, but I need to know!
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Comments

  • BentForkBentFork Posts: 829
    Go to your local hobby shop and purchase a bottle of Silver Black.. Follow the directions. If it's real silver this will cause it to turn black. The tarnish silver black creates can be removed after testing.

    Info on silver black solution.
    imageimageimage
  • carscars Posts: 1,904
    That does not look like silver to me.
    Its all relative
  • pcgs69pcgs69 Posts: 4,324 ✭✭✭✭
    tossed in a couple extra pics...
  • DUBBADUBBA Posts: 935
    an acid test kit for gold and silver can be bought on ebay pretty cheaply....i got a kit for 17 $ + sh.....easy to use and you'll always know what you have....hh
    "see ya at the beach"
    imageimageimageimage
  • hughesm1hughesm1 Posts: 778 ✭✭
    Looks like sterling, the ring was probably a jr. high/middle school art project made using the lost wax casting method. In which case, it likely wouldn't have a mark/stamp.
    Mark
  • carscars Posts: 1,904
    Looks aluminum to me...
    Its all relative
  • pcgs69pcgs69 Posts: 4,324 ✭✭✭✭
    I just purchased a silver test kit. I'll give an update in a few days when the mailman drops the kit off!
  • pcgs69pcgs69 Posts: 4,324 ✭✭✭✭
    Whelp, unless I botched the test somehow, she comes up as silver!
  • DUBBADUBBA Posts: 935
    cool!....nice silver find....hh
    "see ya at the beach"
    imageimageimageimage
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Great.... super find.... Cheers, RickO
  • laserartlaserart Posts: 2,255 ✭
    Does the test tell you the purity of the silver? Does it know the difference between solid silver and silver plate? Just curious.
    "If I had a nickel for every nickel I ever had, I'd have all my nickels back".
  • gripgrip Posts: 9,962 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Does the test tell you the purity of the silver? Does it know the difference between solid silver and silver plate? Just curious. >>



    Good question.I would like to know myself.
  • pcgs69pcgs69 Posts: 4,324 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>Does the test tell you the purity of the silver? Does it know the difference between solid silver and silver plate? Just curious. >>



    Good question.I would like to know myself. >>



    The test method I used (acid drops) will not tell the difference between plated and solid. It will test what metal is on the surface.

    It will give you an idea of the silver purity. The color the solution turns will indicate the purity of the silver - green means 50%, brown = 80%, dark red = sterling, and bright red = pure silver. It also turns different colors for other metals such as nickel (will turn blue), etc.

    I picked up the kit on ebay for around $20 (silver and gold testing kit). Hopefully this helps!
  • ZriderZrider Posts: 365
    melt it. jkimage
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