Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;MrNate, post: 4406001, member: 5515&quot;]How often do you guys find sterling items that are not marked &quot;Sterling&quot; or &quot;925&quot;?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p><p>I would estimate that 98.5%...quite a specific number <img src="styles/default/xenforo/smilies/wink.png" class="mceSmilie" alt=";)" unselectable="on" /> ....of all the items I&#039;ve purchased/found have some appropriate mark for sterling/925/800 etc. But let me elaborate further:</p><p><br /></p><p>1. Coin silver items are typically stamped by the maker, and therefore I consider those &quot;marked&quot;</p><p>2. Sterling/coin/800/900/925 etc all count as &quot;marked&quot; in my book</p><p>3. Many many many foreign pieces are marked to indicate silver purity, I consider those marked.</p><p><br /></p><p>With those out of the way, to find a piece that is truly completely unmarked occurs <u>far less frequently, but it&#039;s not impossible</u>. All else being equal, I have found completely unmarked pieces in the following circumstances:</p><p><br /></p><p>1. Very old pieces whose mark has completely been worn off or removed</p><p>2. Very old U.S. pieces before silver marking standards</p><p>3. Foreign pieces from countries that don&#039;t or didn&#039;t previously have silver marking standards</p><p><br /></p><p>Now...a real question you may be asking, is <u>how often do we purchase something that doesn&#039;t appear to have marks</u>. And the answer for me is <u>very frequently</u>. I would guess that about 15-20% of the time I&#039;m making a purchase without seeing the marks; a calculated risk I am willing to take after years of observation and practice. I do still get it wrong, and I don&#039;t advise this for anyone except the highly experienced. But going back to my first sentence, most of the time these pieces do have marks, I just don&#039;t always have the luxury of clear photos showing every inch of a piece I&#039;m purchasing.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in