I've been picking up a few antique silver bits n pieces lately, i was wondering if anyone on here is familiar with the silver content of "colonial indian silver", often described as "solid silver"? British silver with the lion hallmark is sterling, but i've seen a few items with the hallmark "SILVER" in capital letters, such as seen down the bottom of this listing.. http://www.metalminnie.co.uk/shop/s...ARETTE_CASE_1898_COLONIAL-S1190903293328.html i acquired a similar style cigarette case recently, just wondering what the deal with indian silver is..
according to this description "solid silver" is described as minimum 925 purity. http://popular.ebay.co.uk/collectables/solid-silver.htm "Solid silver, more appropriately sterling silver, is an alloy of silver having minimum millesimal fineness of 925. Solid silver contains 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. As pure silver (99.9% purity) is too soft for making large resourceful and utilitarian objects, silver is usually alloyed with copper (in the above mentioned percentage) so as to give it added strength whilst preserving silver's ductility and preciousness. Copper is primarily chosen in solid silver as it offers better resistance to tarnish. Solid silver is used in the making of many ornamental pieces and jewellery like brooches, earrings, cigarette cases, stamp boxes, mustard pots, medallions, napkin rings, corkscrews, etc. One of the more utilitarian uses of solid silver is in the making of tableware. High quality solid silver tableware is often ornately highlighted and pierced and embellished with exotic substances like ivory, and could include any or all of the following: salad knife and fork, carving knife and fork, cold meat fork, soup ladle, dishes, bowls, punch ladle, gravy ladle, lasagna server, casserole serving spoon, berry spoon, macaroni server, asparagus server, fish knife and fork, pastry server, cucumber server, tomato server, olive spoon, cheese scoop, petit four server, bon bon spoon, cake knife, crumb remover with brush and sugar sifter or caster. " in which case i scored a bunch of antique items at close-to or below spot.
i'll try and get around to it, i've only got my mobile phone camera and it's hard to get close up shots of stuff, PLUS i'm about to embark on a work odyssey over the weekend. check back around monday or tuesday and i'll see what i can do..
