Silver Train is a Comin’

What are you getting when you purchase silver jewelry?

Silver in its purist form is 99.99% pure and is known as Fine Silver. Like gold however, it is too soft an element to be useful in jewelry. Often what you will be purchasing is Sterling Silver. Sterling is an alloy that contains at least 92.5% silver and the remaining 7.5% is other metals that contribute to its strength. That other metal is typically copper.

Sterling Silver is also known as “925″ which is nothing more than identifying this fine alloy as having at least 925 parts of silver per 1000. This designation as sterling silver dates back in time to the 1200’s.

If you didn’t purchase sterling silver, perhaps you have purchased Coin Silver. This silver is approximately 90% silver and received its name from people melting down coins which are typically 90% silver and 10% copper.

You may have purchased Mexican Silver. If so, you can expect your jewelry to contain 95% silver and 5% copper. Ironically, most of the decorative silver produced in Mexico is made with sterling silver. Also, their silver coins are not made with Mexican Silver but a lesser quality.

If you purchased Britannia Silver, your fortunate to have a product that contains 95.84% silver. This standard dates back to the late 1600’s. It was introduced to discourage the melting of British coins to produce other silver products. Like Sterling Silver’s “925″ mark, Britannia Silver carries the “958″ mark.

German Silver is just a little more confusing. Standards in Germany varied but, the most common is “800″ silver (80% silver) and “900″ silver (90% silver). While 800 silver is the most common German Silver, German silver objects will typically carry either the 800 or 900 mark to identify its purity.

As any of us that have silver products knows, silver tarnishes. The truth is that the silver does not tarnish, it is the other metals in the silver alloy that will tarnish. As a result, the lower the percentage of silver in an object, the more the item will tarnish.

Silver is a beautiful and precious metal. It should definately be included in your treasure trove of “Bling”