By By Ron Pringle, Beau Nash Antique Silver
People bring silver heirlooms to be valued expecting one answer and often leave with the opposite. A tea set handed down through three generations turns out to be silver plate, not solid silver. Just as often, something dismissed for years as “only plate” turns out to be sterling. It is one of the questions I am asked most during a valuation, so I thought I’d give a bit more information about the two.
Sterling silver is 92.5% silver alloyed with a small amount of other metal for strength, hallmarked throughout as proof. Silver plate is a base metal, usually copper or nickel, with a thin layer of silver applied over the top. Wear it down sufficiently and the base metal shows through.
A few checks help tell them apart. Weight is one, though it is not foolproof on its own. Sterling is often lighter for its size than plate, since plate carries the added density of the copper or nickel beneath. A magnet is a more reliable test. Sterling silver is not magnetic at all, so if a magnet is drawn to any part of a piece, you are likely looking at a magnetic base metal under a silver skin. Wear is the third clue: check the edges and handles, the spots rubbed most over decades of use, for a duller grey or coppery tone showing through.
Marks matter too, though both carry them. Sterling silver bears a full hallmark set, including the lion passant on English pieces, alongside a maker’s mark, assay mark and date letter. Continental and American silver is marked differently, often stamped 925 or STERLING. Plate usually carries initials only, such as EPNS, or simply a manufacturer’s stamp.
Not all plate is equal either. Old Sheffield Plate, made from the mid-1700s by fusing silver to copper before the piece was shaped, is genuine craftsmanship and holds real value as a category. Electroplated nickel silver, or EPNS, arrived later once electroplating made the process quicker and cheaper, and it sits well below both sterling and Old Sheffield Plate.
If you would like to know what is sitting in your cabinet, I offer free silver valuations by appointment, and I am always glad to see British or foreign pieces alike. We only buy sterling, but knowing what you have is worth it regardless of what we can offer. More on how it works is on our website on the Silver Valuation page. I have been doing this a fair while now, and I still enjoy the moment someone’s face changes when I tell them what they have actually got.
Whatever you find, use it. Sterling was made for daily life, and looking after it is easier than most people think. If what you hold is silver plate, its worth to your family was likely never really about resale.
Beau Nash Antiques
Antique Shop in Bath
28 and 31 Brock St, BA1 2
beaunashbath.com; info@beaunashbath.com; www.antiquesilver.shop
07535137808 @beaunashbath
