Featured 58 q-tips, 3 hours of polishing, worth every minute

silverthwait · Mar 18, 2019

Marie Forjan · Mar 18, 2019

We used to have a sugar bowl but I got tired of finding lumps in it made when DH used his wet spoon to take more sugar. Next I went to a diner type sugar jar with a metal lid, but then I started finding sugar all over the kitchen counters. Finally I opted for sugar cubes, they saved my sanity

Houseful · Mar 18, 2019

MrNate said: ↑

Great question, and I think I have a good answer. Regarding the marking, it's definitely stamped in, but the marks weren't available to other buyers. One detail to add to the story; there was only one photo on the listing just showing the set, and not the bottom of the items. Even though the listing clearly states they are sterling silver, many hunters likely passed up on even inquiring about them because there wasn't any proof in the photo. I have NO DOUBT that if the seller had included a photo of the bottom of the set, they would have been bought by someone else quickly (probably in the first 20 minutes it went up).

I've done WAYYY more online browsing for silver than I should admit, and I've noticed countless listings where someone calls something "sterling silver" when almost all of it is actually silver plated. I don't think most of these people are intentionally trying to deceive others, but rather I think most people don't know much about silver marks (I was formerly one of those). So they just assume everything is called sterling silver.

Another factor to consider that komokwa alluded to: there's lots of people hunting for silver, both collectors and scrappers. If a scrapper figured out these were actually sterling, they would have bought it on the spot. It's the equivalent of the person selling the items saying "hey if you give me $100 I'll give you $300+ dollars right now." Anyone would take that deal, so I'm just lucky that no one else sniffed it out even though the signs were pretty obvious to me.

Here's a couple signs I've observed when hunting online:

Many times, smaller and lighter is an indication it may be real. Manufacturers of sterling silver are trying to max out on their profits, so they want to conserve the amount of silver they use. I'm always looking closely at the mouth of teapots/coffee pots because generally if it has a thick edge of metal at the mouth, it's going to be plated. I'd say thickness of this mouth is about half the thickness of the plated ones. The other area I focus in on is the handles. The connection between the handle is a good indicator of quality of production, and the size matters too. The handles of the two smaller items stood out to me immediately as the correct thickness for sterling rigidity without using too much silver in the production process.

The other indicator that stood out to me on this set was all the residual polish from the last time someone cleaned it. This is a stretch, but my logic was if someone is slabbing on that much polish to clean the items, you would expect to see worn plate on the items after doing that for many years (imagine this was 100 year old quadruple plate it would start wearing down) and I didn't see any wear of the plate which suggested it could be real.

One more tiny detail I saw. Notice in the first photo at the top of the handle the little pin is pushed too much to one side? This clued me in that the handle was likely hollow rather than base metal or cement filled. You can see the little hole. I carefully hammered them all back to a good position because the handle was pretty unstable. So I think the little details form the bigger story with some of these items.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, something I will take on board.
I mainly buy from markets and charity shops here in uk and often have found modern silver picture frames when they have the newer fainter lasered hallmarks that people haven't picked up on as they are looking for the older type hallmarks.

evelyb30 · Mar 18, 2019

(rubs hands) Laser marks he says ... Most of the silver frames I see are Chinese-made silverplate, but ... laser marks....

Houseful · Mar 18, 2019

evelyb30 said: ↑

(rubs hands) Laser marks he says ... Most of the silver frames I see are Chinese-made silverplate, but ... laser marks....
Click to expand...

I’ve had several of these U.K. Carr’s ones, all from c shops, this one from last week. I’ve seen the hallmarks even smaller than this. Easily missed in hurry.
(I’m female btw).
~

evelyb30 · Mar 18, 2019

Sorry. Hard to tell some days.

kyratango · Mar 19, 2019

MrNate said: ↑

Great question, and I think I have a good answer. Regarding the marking, it's definitely stamped in, but the marks weren't available to other buyers. One detail to add to the story; there was only one photo on the listing just showing the set, and not the bottom of the items. Even though the listing clearly states they are sterling silver, many hunters likely passed up on even inquiring about them because there wasn't any proof in the photo. I have NO DOUBT that if the seller had included a photo of the bottom of the set, they would have been bought by someone else quickly (probably in the first 20 minutes it went up).

I've done WAYYY more online browsing for silver than I should admit, and I've noticed countless listings where someone calls something "sterling silver" when almost all of it is actually silver plated. I don't think most of these people are intentionally trying to deceive others, but rather I think most people don't know much about silver marks (I was formerly one of those). So they just assume everything is called sterling silver.

Another factor to consider that komokwa alluded to: there's lots of people hunting for silver, both collectors and scrappers. If a scrapper figured out these were actually sterling, they would have bought it on the spot. It's the equivalent of the person selling the items saying "hey if you give me $100 I'll give you $300+ dollars right now." Anyone would take that deal, so I'm just lucky that no one else sniffed it out even though the signs were pretty obvious to me.

Here's a couple signs I've observed when hunting online:

Many times, smaller and lighter is an indication it may be real. Manufacturers of sterling silver are trying to max out on their profits, so they want to conserve the amount of silver they use. I'm always looking closely at the mouth of teapots/coffee pots because generally if it has a thick edge of metal at the mouth, it's going to be plated. I'd say thickness of this mouth is about half the thickness of the plated ones. The other area I focus in on is the handles. The connection between the handle is a good indicator of quality of production, and the size matters too. The handles of the two smaller items stood out to me immediately as the correct thickness for sterling rigidity without using too much silver in the production process.

The other indicator that stood out to me on this set was all the residual polish from the last time someone cleaned it. This is a stretch, but my logic was if someone is slabbing on that much polish to clean the items, you would expect to see worn plate on the items after doing that for many years (imagine this was 100 year old quadruple plate it would start wearing down) and I didn't see any wear of the plate which suggested it could be real.

One more tiny detail I saw. Notice in the first photo at the top of the handle the little pin is pushed too much to one side? This clued me in that the handle was likely hollow rather than base metal or cement filled. You can see the little hole. I carefully hammered them all back to a good position because the handle was pretty unstable. So I think the little details form the bigger story with some of these items.
Click to expand...

Absolute clues when buying online
For someone who began your collection knowing nothing, as you said, you GOT THE KNOWLEDGE AND FEELING for getting the good pieces
BRAVO!!!

Aquitaine · Mar 19, 2019

MRN8.....YOU DONE SO GREAT!!!!!!!

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Featured 58 q-tips, 3 hours of polishing, worth every minute

silverthwait Well-Known Member

Marie Forjan Well-Known Member

Houseful Well-Known Member

evelyb30 Well-Known Member

Houseful Well-Known Member

evelyb30 Well-Known Member

kyratango Bug jewellery addiction!

Aquitaine Is What It IS! But NEVER BORED!

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Featured 58 q-tips, 3 hours of polishing, worth every minute

silverthwait Well-Known Member

Marie Forjan Well-Known Member

Houseful Well-Known Member

evelyb30 Well-Known Member

Houseful Well-Known Member

evelyb30 Well-Known Member

kyratango Bug jewellery addiction!

Aquitaine Is What It IS! But NEVER BORED!

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