Sterling Silver Flatware & Tableware VS. Silver Plated Flatware & Tableware

How do you know if that set of flatware inherited from Grandma is Sterling Silver?  What about that Tea Set inherited?  Fancy Dinnerware was a really big deal in decades past!  Not so much in today's fast pace world, but many people are starting to inherit it and are looking to turn these items into CASH. But what many people don't know is that most companies that produced these kind of items made two different models.  They would make a Sterling Silver model, and also a Silver Plated model.  Both models to an untrained eye look identical.  Both models will tarnish just the same.  Neither will attract to a magnet.   Now how to see if that "Silver" Grandma was so proud of is actually Sterling Silver, or Silver plated.

Nine times out of ten, where you see any markings such as Manufacturer, Model #, etc. if you do not see the markings "Sterling" or "925" the items are going to be Silver Plated over Copper.  These items unfortunately do not have any Precious Metal Value.   There are very few exceptions to this rule and are as follows:

1.  English Hallmarks are present (these are small squares with very small pictures such as a Lion, etc

2. Items that are made overseas and may be .950 Silver, .830 or .80o Silver.  These items will be marked accordingly (950, 830, or 800)

3.  Items that are "coin silver" These items will typically be older, and often times have no markings or are marked 900 or .900

If you see a name brand such as "Wallace", "Rogers" "Oneida" "Reed and Barton" "Community" and there is not the word "Sterling" or "925" these items are most definitely Silver Plated.   Also do not confuse Sterling Silver with Stainless Steel.  Many models are not even Silver Plated and are just Stainless Steel. 

In summary the basic rule to this is if the items are not marked Sterling or 925, odds are your items are Silver Plated.  Many models will tell you they are Silver Plated by saying "Plate," "Extra Plate," "Quadruple," "Triple," "AA," "A1," "Silver over Copper," etc. 

We do purchase ALL Sterling Silver items in San Antonio, but do not deal with the Silver Plated items.  Silver Plated items do have very small amounts of Silver content, but the chemical cost to recover that silver far outweighs the Silver value.   At Texas Gold and Silver Buyers of San Antonio, we deal with ALL Precious Metals including Gold, Silver, Sterling Silver, Platinum and Palladium.  We give HASSLE-FREE, NO PRESSURE quotes each and every day.  If you are still unsure if your items are Sterling Silver or Silver Plated, feel free to stop by and let us check your items out.  Of course if they are Sterling Silver, we can also give you a TOP DOLLAR CASH QUOTE on purchasing these items.  We deal with ALL Precious Metals such as Flatware, Tableware, Jewelry, Coins, Bullion, and Dental Gold.  

Examples of Sterling Hallmarks