How to test silver at home

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Each of us has a certain amount of jewelry at home. It doesn’t matter if you bought them yourself, received them as a gift, or inherited them, but there are definitely those where you are not completely sure of their authenticity. In this article, we will tell you how to check the authenticity of silver while being at home. It will be especially useful to read this for those who bought silver items not in certified stores.

The first thing you should pay attention to is the brand or sample. Your product may have both at the same time, but even this does not guarantee you the certainty that it is the original.

So, how to check the authenticity of silver?

Silver is considered an excellent conductor of heat. If you take a cup of very hot water and drop your precious item into it (preferably holding it with tweezers, for example, and not with your hands), it should instantly become the same temperature as the water. Do this carefully so as not to burn yourself.

Take your silver item and simply rub it with your fingers. Then take a close look to see if it’s clean. If it really has become lighter, then this is at least low-quality silver. The secret is that scammers have got the hang of mixing pure silver with zinc in a percentage of about 65 to 35. After such a procedure, you will have a dark zinc coating on your hands.

If you have a keen ear, try throwing your silver item from a certain height onto a flat, hard surface. The sound will be loud and sonorous, which cannot be said about fakes.

Another way is to hold the metal with a magnet. If silver is real, it will never be attracted to it, since this metal is from the category of diamagnetics.

All that you read about above does not require any additional accessories and will be convenient for you if you are not at home.

Below we give a number of examples of how to check silver while at home.

The easiest way is to check the precious metal with chalk. Just rub the silver item with chalk. If it darkens, then it is a precious metal.

You can also do it with a lapis pencil. After you rub the product with it, after a while your silver will darken in the place where they touched.

If, after making a couple of scratches with a needle on the inside of the jewelry, you notice a metal of a different shade, then this is definitely not the original silver.

The easiest way is to go to a pharmacy and buy a “silver test” there. Following the instructions on the package, you will one hundred percent understand the noble metal in front of you or a fake.

If you have sulfuric ointment at home, you can smear it on a silver item. If the metal is precious, it is in this place that a blue stain will remain, which you can easily clean off later.

Another way is to check the silver product with iodine. So, if your metal is not a fake, then after you drop iodine on it, a yellow spot will remain on the product, which is not always easily erased. To do this, you will need ammonia or soda. But look, do not overdo it, soda can leave small scratches and if it is a silver coin, it is better to avoid this. Try simply making a soapy solution and scrub the area with a toothbrush. Well, if a light coating appears, this indicates that iodine has reacted with the metal and you have an obvious fake in your hands.

We have told you a considerable number of ways to determine the authenticity of silver. And, nevertheless, the surest way is to buy jewelry in a certified store. Then you will be 100% sure of the quality of the item you have purchased.