The fastest way to tell if silver is real is to read the mark. Solid silver is usually stamped with its fineness, such as 925, STERLING, 900, 830 or 800, or carries a hallmark such as the British lion passant or the Mexican eagle. Plated pieces carry different words: EPNS, silverplate, EP, A1, or the word "silver" on its own. After the mark, three home checks help: real silver is not magnetic, it melts ice unusually fast, and it leaves a black smudge on a white cloth. None of these is proof. Plate passes most of them, and only an acid test or an XRF reading at a jeweler settles the metal. Once you know it is solid, its floor value is simple weight math, and some pieces sell far above that floor because of who made them.
Quick answer
- Look for 925, STERLING, 900, 830, 800, a lion passant or a Mexican eagle. EPNS, EP, A1 or "silverplate" means plated.
- Magnet, ice and cloth tests rule things out but cannot prove solid silver. Acid or XRF at a jeweler can.
- Solid sterling holds approximately $1.19 of silver per gram at an assumed $40 per troy ounce. Signed makers and antique patterns sell for more.
How to check yours, step by step
- Find the mark. On flatware, look on the back of the handle near the top. On hollowware such as bowls, trays and teapots, look on the underside of the base. On jewelry, look inside ring bands, on the tag beside a clasp or on the bail of a pendant. You are looking for a number, a word or a small group of stamped symbols in a row.
- Read every symbol in the row. A number (925, 900, 830, 800) is a fineness mark. A word such as STERLING is the same. A row of small pictures, such as a lion, a leopard's head, an anchor and a letter, is a British hallmark set. An eagle with a number is Mexican. A maker's name or initials sit beside these.
- Look for plating words. EPNS, EPBM, EP, Silverplate, Silver Plated, Quadruple Plate, Triple Plate, A1, Sheffield Reproduction, Nickel Silver and German Silver all mean the piece is not solid silver. "Silver" on its own with no number almost always means plate.
- Check the wear points. Tips of spoons, edges of trays, the base rim of a bowl and the inside of a ring band wear first. Solid silver stays white all the way through. Yellow, copper or grey base metal showing at those points means plate.
- Try a strong magnet. Hold a neodymium magnet against the body of the piece, not a clasp or spring. Silver does not attract. A piece that grabs the magnet is not solid silver.
- Try the ice and cloth tests. Put an ice cube on the flat part of the piece and watch it melt. Rub a hidden spot with a white cloth and check for a black mark. Both point to silver or plate rather than base metal.
- Weigh it. A kitchen scale reading in grams is enough. Note anything that is not silver: stones, wooden handles, steel knife blades and weighted bases.
Marks that mean solid silver
| Mark | Silver content | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| 925, .925, STERLING, STER | 92.5 percent | Worldwide modern standard, US sterling after about 1860 |
| Lion passant (walking lion) | 92.5 percent | Britain, with a town mark and a date letter |
| Britannia figure | 95.8 percent | Britain, higher standard, less common |
| 950 | 95 percent | Mexico, France and some Japanese silver |
| 900, COIN, PURE COIN | 90 percent | Older American coin silver, Mexican and Latin American pieces |
| 830, 830S | 83 percent | Scandinavia, especially Danish, Norwegian and Swedish spoons |
| 835 | 83.5 percent | Dutch and German pieces |
| 800 | 80 percent | Germany, Italy and much of continental Europe, often with a crescent and crown |
| Eagle with a number | Usually 92.5 percent or better | Mexican assay mark, about 1948 to 1979 |
| 999, FINE | 99.9 percent | Bullion bars and rounds, some artisan work |
The Mexican eagle and British hallmarks are harder to fake convincingly than a plain 925, which anyone can stamp on brass. Our guide on what 925 means on jewelry goes deeper on the modern marks you see beside it.
Marks that mean plated or no silver at all
| Mark | What it means | Typical value |
|---|---|---|
| EPNS | Electroplated nickel silver: a thin silver layer on a nickel alloy | $1-10 per piece, sets $20-100 |
| EPBM, EPC | Electroplate on Britannia metal or copper | $1-10 per piece |
| A1, AA, Triple, Quadruple Plate | Plating grades used by US and British makers | Same as other plate |
| Silverplate, Silver Plated, SP | Plated over base metal | $1-10 per piece, sets $20-100 |
| "1847 Rogers Bros.", "Community", "Wm. Rogers" with no 925 | Well-known American plate brands | $1-5 per piece |
| Nickel Silver, German Silver, Alpaca | Copper, nickel and zinc alloy with no silver | Close to nothing as metal |
| "Silver" alone, or a number such as 90 or 100 | Usually a plating weight or a trade name, not fineness | Plate value |
| Sheffield Plate or Sheffield Reproduction | Sheffield plate is fused or plated copper | Mostly plate value |
The confusion between these and sterling is behind most disappointing appraisals. Our guide on sterling silver vs silver plate covers the big flatware brands in more detail.
Home tests and their limits
The magnet test. Silver is not magnetic, so a piece that snaps to a strong magnet is not solid silver. The limit is that copper, brass, nickel silver, aluminum and most plated items are also non-magnetic. Passing the magnet test rules out steel and iron, nothing more.
The ice test. Silver conducts heat better than any other common metal. An ice cube placed on a silver tray or a large coin starts to melt almost at once, as if the metal were warm. On stainless steel or plastic it sits much longer. The limit is that copper conducts heat nearly as well, and a silver plated copper tray behaves almost like solid silver. The test works best on thick, flat pieces at room temperature.
The tarnish and polishing cloth test. Silver oxidizes to grey, brown and black. Rub a hidden spot with a soft white cloth and a black mark often appears. Solid silver and silver plate both do this, so it separates silver surfaces from chrome, steel and nickel, not sterling from plate. Green crusts or a red tint point to copper or brass underneath.
The sound test. Silver rings with a clear, long note when tapped gently. It is a hint only, and not worth risking a dent.
Acid testing. A jeweler scratches a tiny line on a test stone and applies silver testing acid. The color reaction reads the metal underneath a plated surface if the scratch goes deep enough. Doing it at home risks visible damage and a wrong reading on thick plate.
XRF testing. An X-ray fluorescence analyzer reads the surface alloy in seconds without marking the piece. Many jewelers, coin shops and precious metals buyers have one. It reads the surface, so very thick plate can still fool it, but combined with the marks it is the closest thing to a definite answer.
| Test | Rules out | Cannot tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Magnet | Steel, iron | Plate vs sterling, brass, copper |
| Ice | Steel, plastic, most base alloys | Plate on copper vs sterling |
| White cloth | Chrome, steel, nickel finishes | Plate vs sterling |
| Acid at a jeweler | Most plated pieces | Exact fineness on some alloys |
| XRF at a jeweler | Most plated pieces, wrong fineness | Very thick plate or filled objects |
Why a photo reads marks, not metal
A photograph cannot show what a piece is made of. Bright plate and polished sterling look the same under a phone camera, and warm indoor light makes silver look yellow. What a photo does well is read marks: the fineness number, a lion passant, an eagle, a maker's name, a pattern on a fork handle. That is why the mark is the most useful thing to photograph. WorthPic reads those marks and estimates value from them, but a jeweler's test is what confirms the metal.
What solid silver is worth by weight
The melt value is the floor for any genuine silver piece. Weight in grams, times the fineness, times the price of pure silver per gram. Silver is priced per troy ounce of 31.1 grams. Assume silver at $40 per troy ounce, about $1.29 per gram of pure silver. Silver moves every day, so check the current price before selling.
| Item | Typical weight | Silver content | Melt at $40 per ounce |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling teaspoon | 20-35 g | 92.5 percent | $24-42 |
| Sterling dinner fork | 40-70 g | 92.5 percent | $48-83 |
| Hollow handled knife | 70-90 g total, roughly 15-25 g silver | Handle only | $18-30 |
| 800 silver dessert spoon | 25-40 g | 80 percent | $26-41 |
| Sterling chain or bracelet | 10-60 g | 92.5 percent | $12-71 |
| Sterling bowl or small tray | 200-500 g | 92.5 percent | $238-595 |
| Sterling tea service | 2,000-4,000 g | 92.5 percent | $2,380-4,760 |
Candlesticks, compotes and some bowls are marked "weighted" or "reinforced". They are filled with pitch, plaster or a metal rod, and the silver is often only a thin shell, sometimes a tenth of the total weight. Scrap buyers usually pay 70 to 90 percent of melt.
When silver is worth more than melt
| Type | What to look for | Typical resale |
|---|---|---|
| Georg Jensen | Dotted oval or crowned mark, design number, "Sterling Denmark" | $150-1,000 for jewelry, much more for some hollowware |
| Tiffany & Co. | "Tiffany & Co. Sterling" with pattern or order numbers | Above melt for flatware, well above for named designs such as Audubon or Chrysanthemum |
| Popular American flatware patterns | Gorham Chantilly, Reed & Barton Francis I, Towle Old Master, Wallace Grande Baroque | Melt to about 2 times melt, more for serving pieces |
| Native American silver | Artist hallmark, older hand stamping, natural turquoise | $50-300 typical, far more for known artists and early pieces |
| Mexican Taxco silver | Eagle mark, Spratling, Los Castillo, Antonio Pineda | $50-500, master pieces in the thousands |
| Georgian and Victorian British silver | Full hallmarks with an identifiable maker and date | Melt to several times melt depending on maker and form |
| Unsigned modern sterling | 925 only | Close to melt |
Pattern matters because people replace missing pieces from a service. An unusual serving piece in a popular pattern, such as a pie server or a pierced berry spoon, can outsell the same weight of dinner forks several times over. Silver coins are a separate market with their own rules. Our guide to silver quarters covers the pre-1965 US coins.
Common mistakes
- Reading "silver" as solid silver. On its own, without a number or the word sterling, it almost always means plate.
- Trusting the magnet test. Passing it only rules out steel and iron.
- Melting a whole weighted candlestick at the gross weight. Most of that weight is filler.
- Polishing hard before selling. It can soften marks and remove the old patina collectors of Georgian and Native American silver prefer.
- Scrapping a signed or patterned piece. Jensen, Tiffany and good Taxco pieces often sell for several times melt.
- Assuming European 800 or 830 is plate because it is not 925. It is solid silver, just a lower standard.
- Scratching a piece at home with acid. It leaves a mark and can misread thick plate.
What to photograph
- Every mark in sharp macro, lit from the side so the stamped letters cast shadows.
- The full row of hallmarks, not just one symbol, since the town and date letter matter.
- The whole piece, front and back, on a plain background.
- Wear points: spoon tips, the rim of the base, the edges of a tray.
- The piece on a kitchen scale with the weight in grams visible.
- For flatware, one fork and one spoon showing the handle pattern clearly.
When to get it looked at in person
- A jeweler or precious metals buyer can run an acid or XRF test in a few minutes, often at no charge if you are thinking of selling. This is the right step for unmarked pieces or marks you are unsure of.
- A silver dealer or replacement service knows flatware patterns and will price a service by the piece rather than the gram. Worth it for any complete or near complete sterling set.
- An appraiser charges roughly $50-150 per item or $100-300 an hour for an estate. Worth it for signed pieces, tea services and anything needed for insurance or dividing an estate.
- An auction house with a silver department gives estimates on strong pieces at no upfront cost, which suits Georgian silver, Jensen and important Native American work.