Hi there everyone! as this is my first post a little bit about myself, Im 29 year old male from the UK..I started buying silver a couple of months ago as a long term project and a way to save for the future (i dont trust paper money and there wont be any form of state pension should ever make it to retirement age!) So i thought it would be a good idea to buy a little silver when i can spare the money. I try and buy anything i can with the lowest premium. So today i received my latest item, a silver chain from a well known online auction site. It is marked 925 Italy on one end of the chain (on both sides) has a makers mark OTC on the other and has 925 stamped on the clasp hinge. The first thing i noticed was how shiny it was, Its very very shiny!, that slightly concerned me..I then did a magnet test and its semi magnetic! Now im really concerned. The magnet i used is very powerful, hovering it 1" above a new penny will make the penny jump up to the magnet and stick really hard to it, when using the magnet on the chain it stick to it but not that hard. I understand silver is NOT magnetic and im just about to start trying to get a refund from the private seller. Then i remember the seller stating its been treated to prevent oxidization, so do a little research (well 3 hours lol) and find out about Rhodium plating (and that apparently the process can make the metal magnetic) . So i am now thinking either this is a silver plated base metal ..Or rhodium plater 925 silver. This was this weeks silver buy for me and i dont want to lose out if i can help it!. Anyone have a hunch what i might have here?. If it is Rhodium plated 925 silver is this still worth saving? Im thinking about taking it to a jeweller tommorow and asking them if they would buy it from me..Is Rhodium plated 925 worth more or less than standard 925 silver?. If it does turn out to be just a plated base metal i will chalk this down to experience and try and get a refund. And i have decided a silver testing kit is a must now. I hope to learn more about buying silver here and thank you for taking the time to read this, any help or advice would be much appreciated!
You will probably get some advice from the UK based stackers regarding buying precious metals in the UK but if 1/5 of your potential metal money is going to the government then you might want to try stacking something else. Such as pure gold as I don't think there is VAT on that. You won't get as much but by buying an ounce of gold once instead of 55 seperate ounces of silver you will save 20% of the cost price plus all the associated costs such as postage. As to your actual question, I have no experience with jewellery. One thing you have to consider though is that even if this is legit, when you go to sell it you are going to have to convince your buyer that rhodium plating is a good thing and that slightly magnetic silver is perfectly acceptable. How good a salesman are you?
Thank you for your reply, I must admit I have thought about gold because of the VAT issue here, but the main problem for me is I am doing this on such a shoe-string budget I just feel gold is out of my league for now (Im on minimum wage and have very little spare) Some of my buys are as little as 5! and I occasionally manage to get things for spot price or below so don't always pay VAT (or equivalent) on what I buy. I agree with you about having to try and explain why its slightly magnetic Im not a bad salesman but want legit metal that sells itself, In future I will be careful about any oxidization protection and probably just leave it. Very interested to see what the jeweller's make of it tommorow.!
probably silver =P if you got a mega strong magnet silver is slightly magnetic. One way to test a bar of silver is with a neodymium magnet. The jeweller will tell you straight away tmr if its real or plated. let us know how it goes =)
^ As above. A neodymium magnet should sluggishly slide down a bar of silver not stick to it and not do nothing. There should be a bunch of youtube videos with tags like "silver magnet slide test". Edit: I have no idea RE rhodium plating aspect.
Thanks for the posts guys, i took the chain to the jewelers and they strait away said it was real no question! apparently alot of new silver jewelry is treated to prevent oxidization, and that it was just brand new and probably worn once. It just seems strange because i got it for below spot price..i guess once in a while bargains can happen. They offered me 0.40 per gram on it, no thanks. I have much to learn and much to save! i just love silver and am driving my GF nuts with buying it all the time, my collection is still just in 3 figures (grams) 5 figures is my long tern target for now.
Well done mad hatter.firstly great that you weren't ripped off,plus you've now learnt a valuable lesson about testing for fake. The20%VAT really sucks.Its commendable that your driver to stack is an investment for retirement.clever, as you have 35 years to go.all I can say is keep on stacking and as your wage increases which it eventually will maybe consider the move to gold.
Hi MH, Welcome to stackers. Just for future reference....pure silver .999 is not magnetic. Your item is 925....therefore, there would be other metals in your item that would be magnetic . I would have been more concerned if the magnet didn't work...if item was marked 925. Cheers Argento
I have a chain like that, made in Italy as well. I was wondering why is it so shiny... It's still pretty new, but normally silver jewellery got oxidised pretty fast. If it stay like that I'm stoked. Which leads me to thinking when some mint start rhodium plate (or whatever it is) their coins to make them not to oxidise in the future? I believe the product of this mint would be popular and demand higher premium especially among milk spot "haters".
You just proved my point. The magnet slid off, eventhough there may have been some slight resistance from other metals that make up the .001
Pure silver is diamagnetic. Not magnetic itself But will repel strong magnetic feilds. like that of a neodymium magnet. Hence why the magnet will slide slowly down a bar of silver. Not stick, or fall off. Good to hear u got a bargain MH. =)
Very shiny, not oxidised - sounds like It has been burnished to me. Usually comes out very pretty. Gazza
Hi Welcome to the site and good news on your buy. As you have found out buying silver in this country at a good price will consume many many hours of research, but that is part of the fun. Thankfully commen sense has prevield for me in that a uk forum member pointed me in the direction of gold money which reduces the 20% on spot on silver when you take into account fees. Will still buy silver bullion to hold at right price, but heading into small gold. I think my only advice against buying silver other than in bullion form would be how easy will it be to sell on? One idea which some do is to buy junk silver and melt into bars.
Thanks for the welcome and reply everyone! i am ready the forums alot and trying to learn as i go along A few things draw me to silver, the sheer amount of industrial uses..The fact its low against gold right now, and the fact its much easier to get (for me at least) it just seems the way for me to go, i like to go metal detecting and live near a beach, any PM i find this next year (if at all!) will certainly be saved. I thought id share my little collection that will be laughable to some but it took me a couple of months to get it, 610 grams of 925 and 250 grams of pre 1947 50% silver junk coins. I don't know how easy the chains and bracelets will be to sell on but I read jewellery usually has a higher premium to buy (I can understand why with the workmanship that goes into them..but i see them just as weight and buy accordingly) For some reason I manage to get these at a lower premium than bullion or coins though so have to stick with them until that's not the case. One great thing about this collection is you can wear them all at once and pretend your a cheaper version of "MR T" not that i have ever done that... OK maybe once
I just purchased a heavy 81g Italian Figaro Chain marked 925 & upon close inspection is likely to be Rhodium plated (The original 925 stamping is somewhat obscured) I always check any 925 jewellery that I can get at or below spot before taking delivery & this particular piece is slightly magnetic to a strong rare earth magnet. The spring in the clasp snaps tight against the same magnet. This is a common ID for Rhodium plated jewellery. One of Rhodiums properties is paramagnetism. The simple definition is that it is weakly magnetic in the presence of a magnetic field so that a swinging chain will be drawn to a magnet in close proximity to it. Diamagnetism is the opposite property displayed by pure silver in that it weakly repels a magnet. Because the 925 isn't pure silver this diamagnetic property is weakened so the paramagnetic effect of the pure Rhodium plating becomes the stronger of the two. This isn't always a definitive test however given the manufactures markings etc looks legit. I'm always wary of jewellery that has etched stamping on it. Very likely to be fake Rhodium plated copper or 316 stainless steel.
