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Jewellery Guides - Silver
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Silver is an element with the symbol Ag, taken from the Ancient Greek word ‘argentos’ and Latin ‘argentum’. Silver has long been valued as a precious metal and is often produced as a by-product of gold, lead, zinc and copper mining.
Being a soft metal in its pure state, (solid) sterling silver (standard silver) is typically alloyed with another (harder) metal. Sterling silver usually comprises 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. Britannia silver, used in silver tableware, is also of hallmark standard and contains 95.8% silver.
In the UK, as of 1 January 1999, sterling silver weighing 7.78 grams or over must bear a hallmark or stamp of purity, which is measured in parts per 1000, such as 925. A hallmark now comprises 3 symbols: a purity (fineness) mark, an assay office mark and a sponsor’s or maker’s mark. UK hallmarks are applied by 1 of 4 Assay Offices that test (and guarantee) the purity of the silver, and provide an assurance that the item conforms to legal standards. The 4 UK Assay offices are: Birmingham, Edinburgh, London and Sheffield.
Other silver coloured metals that fall into the non-precious (non-sterling silver) category include: Tibetan silver, alpaca silver, silver plated (SP) metals, electroplated silver (EP or EPNS) and any white metal labelled ‘silver tone’. Genuine Tibetan silver can be of sterling silver quality, but is often a white metal alloy that may comprise core metals such as tin or antimony. Alpaca (Peruvian) silver is an alloy made from zinc, iron, nickel and copper. Electroplated silver / silver plate, can often be identified by the letters ‘epns’ (electroplated nickle silver) and is the process whereby a fine layer of silver is bonded to a base metal, such as brass, with nickel added for strength.
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