The senses as part of your silver identification arsenal

[kerangoumar]

It has happened to everyone: you see a piece of white metal identified as "sterling" or "continental silver" and at that moment you haven't got anything - not even a loupe - with which to assure yourself of its veracity . . . . yes you do.

You have a nose, thumbs, and eyes and ears.

The eyes are the most unreliable because when one wants to find a tempting piece of silver one's eyes see what we wish to see. However, if you can approach the item objectively, the eyes will tell you a few things.

Be suspicious of any white metal object that is bright and shiny everywhere. As you know, silver tarnishes and that oxide will be a major aid in your identification. If you see no oxidation anywhere, you don't want the item because if it should be silver, after all, the seller probably has dipped it in a chemical cleaner and that will ruin the metal surface.

If you see small patches of "tarnish" you can at least reliably test the surface for silver.

Let's say that you have found what appears to be tarnish. This is where your thumb and your nose come in.

Wipe your thumb over an area of the metal (it doesn't have to be tarnished tho that area will have more oxide). Look at the smudge on your thumb.

-What, there isn't one? then it is not silver. What appears to be tarnish is discoloured metal.

But wait - is the smudge a sort of sticky blackish/greenish/greyish colour?
That is what you want to see. Now you need to determine whether it is silver oxide.

Smell it.

Silver oxide has a distinct odour. If you have silver at home you can actually practice smelling the silver oxide via the smudge test. After smelling three or four good dark smudges you should be able to recognize the odour in your sleep.

If the smudge has no odour, it is not silver oxide but likely some sort of surface dirt. If it has a pungent, slightly sour, metallic odour - you have silver oxide on your thumb and up your nose. The odour is so distinctive that it is a reliable test. Once you have had some practice you don't even need to get a smudge, simply smelling the metal will identify silver.

Now, that does not tell you whether you have solid silver, only that the surface is silver.

Your ears can be trained to identify solid silver. Lightly strike it (unless it is fragile, or otherwise contraindicated) against something hard and resistant - wood is not the best, stone or marble is much better. Solid silver sounds different from silverplate; it is clearer and brighter in tone. Again, if you have both at home, teach yourself to differentiate between the two sounds. But realize that this test is not definitive.

Another aid in distinguishing between silver and plated objects is to eyeball them - again, practice will help enormously. The appearance of solid silver is whiter than plate, which has a more metallic look. Another interesting point is in the way the two oxidize. But to try to distinguish between the two by way of oxidation patterns is not, in most instances, reliable.

The best aspect of this sensory exercise is that you take your tools with you. You can quickly establish whether the item that has caught your eye is worth pursuing. Beyond this preliminary identification, you have to use other methods to determine whether the composition, stylistic indicators and marks are of a piece or thrown together. Remember that even antique dealers have been fooled, and that you shouldn't take the description at face value.

And no matter how much you like the look of it, if the item fails more than one test, leave it. Something better is waiting for you.
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[kerangoumar]

LOL

By now anyone having read my article will be shaking their head about the part dealing with tarnish. That's what I get for talking to someone about an unrelated subject while writing.

Of course tarnish is composed of silver sulphide, not oxide. I don't know how to edit my post to correct it, so please keep this in mind: read silver sulphide instead of oxide. Everything else is apropos.[/b]
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