How to check silver at home - the main ways

Counterfeiting silver is considered a rarer occurrence compared to other precious metals, but counterfeit products can even be purchased at a jewelry store. Finding out the quality of the purchased product is easy on its own, without resorting to the services of expert jewelers. There are several ways to check silver at home, which are highly likely to establish its authenticity.

Hallmark and brand

Silver is a ductile metal. In its pure form, it is very beautiful, but it is easily deformed, loses its luster, and the existing image is smoothed over time. To give strength to it add other metals. Most often it is copper. The ratio of metals in the alloy is determined by the sample:

Try	Copper (g)	Silver (g)
800	200	800
830	170	830
875	125	875
925	75	925
960	40	960

The sample indicates the content of pure silver in the alloy. It is applied to the product in the form of a print, called a stamp, on the inside of any thing, which the masters do not have the right to install. The State Assay Office deals with this after checking the product for quality.

Any silver ring, spoon, coin, or chain purchased must have a stigma with a breakdown. These are 3 digits showing the pure silver content of 1 kilogram of alloy. For example, sample 875 shows that 1 kg contains 125 grams of impurities and 875 grams of pure substance.

Purpose of samples of silver products:

Try	a brief description of
720	Contains copper, is considered the most durable alloy, is used for industrial purposes. Jewelry is not made from it. Not subject to verification by assay inspection.
800 and 830	Designed for the manufacture of cutlery.
875	It is considered white gold, which does not exist in the composition. The alloy consists of silver and copper.
925	Designed for the release of jewelry.
960	Very soft and easy to deform alloy. It is used to perform relief compositions.
999	Pure silver. It is used in the medical industry; collectible coins and ingots are created from it.

The first silver mine in Russia was discovered in Transbaikalia in 1704.

When choosing a product from a noble metal, one must take into account the type of item purchased. 925 jewelry is suitable for jewelry. This alloy has sufficient strength and has a clean white tint, does not darken with time. For cutlery, experts recommend household wear-resistant silver 830 or 875.

Methods for checking the quality of silver

Using modern technology, any precious metal is easy to fake. For fake alloy use zinc, aluminum. You can determine the quality of the purchased product at home. The main rapid tests are the following:

1. Magnet. If you present a small piece of it to a jewel, then high-quality silver will not be magnetized. It is important to know that not all ligature metals (alloys) give a reaction to the strength of a magnet. These include nickel silver and aluminum, but the iron will attract instantly. This is a sign of low-quality products.
2. Iodine. It reacts with silver, changing color at the site of exposure. It is required to put a drop of the solution on the product in an inconspicuous place and immediately wash off the applied composition. A fake of white color will be noticeable on the fake, and on the original a cloudy grayish spot will remain. Iodine does not react with other metals; the surface remains unchanged.The test must be carried out carefully, removing the trace of iodine will be possible only by grinding, in which you can damage the thing. By the intensity of the color, you can find out the sample of metal: the darker the spot, the higher it is.
3. A piece of chalk. It has a property similar to iodine, but more sparing. If you rub a small part of a precious thing with a breed, then a dark mark will speak of its authenticity. There will be no stain on the fake product.
4. Vinegar. The naturalness of the noble metal at home can be quickly checked using table vinegar. In a scratch made with a thin needle, you need to drop a little liquid. If the metal is false, a hissing foam of green color will appear. In the absence of such a reaction, we can talk about the naturalness of the metal. You can lower the object into a container with vinegar for 2-3 seconds, so as not to spoil it with a scratch. Real silver will not give any reaction.
5. Lapis pencil. Verification by this method is considered quite reliable. It can be purchased at any pharmacy. The tool is intended for the treatment of skin diseases, contains silver ions in the composition, which have a regenerating effect. It is required, having put on gloves, to grease the tested product with a pencil. A black bar will be noticeable on the surrogate, the script will not respond.

Silver metal is able to absorb the temperature of air, water and objects in contact with it. It heats well in the hand to body temperature, if you hold the ring in your fist for several minutes, it cools quickly in cold air or water. If you drop a jewelry without a stone in boiling water for 10-12 seconds, then it will be problematic to hold it in your hands, but it will cool off very quickly. The fake will heat up very slightly.

Silver - the metal is soft, it is able to bend (brass - spring) and even smell, the rings are often deformed. Only an experienced jeweler can distinguish fake and original by smell, since the manufacturer can add chemical flavors in the production of the alloy.

To check the product for softness and composition, cutting it, melting and bending is not recommended. Such a test can only harm him.

Recognize the quality of the product and determine its sample can be using a touchstone. It is sold in jewelry stores. The algorithm of actions is as follows:

1. A small and shallow scratch is performed on the tested item.
2. The reagent is applied to the recess.
3. The result is determined by the table.

Sample determination is carried out by color. Each signals a difference in the content of impurities in the composition of the investigated jewelry:

• red - silver does not contain impurities;
• beige - the product has 800 samples;
• green - a hue indicates 500 samples.

If tin or lead is added, then you can find out about this by the yellowing that appears. A dark brown hue will help to distinguish metal with an admixture of brass, and nickel will help blue.

Determining the authenticity of a coin

If a silver ruble arouses a suspicion of authenticity, then its authenticity can be verified using improvised household means. The coin must be rubbed with chalk. If a dark trace appears, it means that the ruble is real.

Sulfur ointment will help to understand whether a genuine coin or not. Its small volume should be distributed over the place processed with fine sandpaper. Leave on for 12-16 minutes and remove with a dry cloth. Stains should appear, their presence indicates the authenticity of the ruble. In their absence, we can say that silver is replaced by nickel, cupronickel or stainless steel.

You can apply any household bleach, which is always an oxidizing agent. The precious thing will respond by darkening.

When applying a few drops of nitric acid on a low-quality alloy, a greenish foam will appear. On the original it will not be. For greater certainty, the acid is combined with potassium dichromate in equal parts. The composition will leave spots of red-brown color, if the alloy contains more than 1/3 of silver.

In souvenir shops and markets they can offer silver plated brass under the guise of a precious alloy.It’s easy to check the quality with a needle, the coating is very weak. In a scratched place, a reddish brass will appear.

If zinc is contained, then you can find out about this by rubbing the product on the skin for 40-50 seconds, dark marks will appear on it. A dark strip will remain on the finger under such a ring if it has not been removed for a long time.

Silver is a very clear metal. If you throw the product from a height of 80–90 cm onto the floor, it is better to laminate or parquet, then you will hear a loud and vibrating sound.

Technical silver

This type of alloy may contain up to 20 impurities. Numerous additives improve its performance. Differs from jewelry in variety and purpose. Scrap is used to produce radio components, high-precision medical equipment. Knowing the exact composition, it can be easily cleaned.

At home, you can determine the technical metal by the absence of a characteristic impeccable natural jewelry luster of the jewelry. You can use the simplest techniques:

• if you rub the item with a soft cloth, cupronickel will take on a pink tint, chrome - pale blue, nickel - pale yellow, and silver will not change color;
• technical silver heats up very quickly in a clasped palm, possessing high thermal conductivity, and if there is no sensation of coolness from a compressed object, then this is an alloy, not a pure metal;
• if you put a small piece of metal in the crumb of brown bread, then after 1-2 days it should not darken.

Pure metal is an absolute diamagnet. If the product is magnetized, then it contains impurities and alloys.

No homemade way to test jewelry can give a one hundred percent guarantee. If this is fundamentally important, then specialists will answer this question with maximum accuracy.