Last week I posted about the metals I usually use for my silversmithing projects. As a followup I'd like to talk a little about the other metals containing silver that are sometimes used in silversmithing. Metals that I seldom use for reasons I'll explain in this post.
The first metal I'd like to discuss is silver plate. Silver plate is composed of a base metal with a very thin layer of silver on the surface. A common base metal is brass but other metals are sometimes used such as nickle, copper, or German Silver. The base metal is immersed in a solution containing silver ions. An electrical charge is introduced and a thin layer of silver metal is deposited on the surface of the base metal. Sometimes this layer of silver is as thin as 1/1000 of an inch. Heavy silver plate is considered to be any silver deposition of 4/1000 of an inch or greater.
The most common problem with silver plate is that it can wear away leaving the base metal visible. I recently was asked to estimate the value of a plated cup that had the brass base metal exposed on the handle. And I won a silver plated belt buckle at a horse show that showed the base metal after a few months of wear. Even under moderate use the silver plate can be worn away. For this reason I never use silver plate in any of my projects.The hallmark for silver plate is "silver plate", "quadruple silver plate", or "silver on copper" among others, but most plated items are not hallmarked.
Another metal used in silversmithing is silver overlay. In this process, a layer of base metal is bonded to a thin layer of sterling silver. The sterling is usually between 10% to 20% of the entire thickness of the metal. This layer is much thicker than silver plate and is resistant to wear. Overlay is tough enough to be used in horse gear such as buckles and conchos. It is used because it is quite a bit cheaper than solid sterling.
When using silver overlay the edge needs to be covered up as the base metal is visible. Also, when engraving, I have cut through the silver layer, exposing the brass in the engraving. I believe solid sterling makes a higher quality product and seldom use overlay. I do use it to match a lost or damaged part of a set or when the customer requests it. "Sterling Silver Overlay" is the hallmark for this product.
German Silver is another metal used by silversmiths. It is also known as nickle silver. However, German Silver contains no silver. The silver color comes from 20% nickle and 20% zinc with the remaining 60% being copper. It is increasingly being used as base metal for silver plate since the color is similar and doesn't show as bad as brass or copper when the silver wears off. There are many registered hallmarks for German Silver. Most are designed to try to confuse the buyer into thinking this product is actual silver. They include "German Silver", Nickle Silver", "Afgan Silver", "Alpaca", "Mexican Silver", and many others. The hallmark for German silver plated by silver is "EPNS" (ElectroPlated Nickle Silver).
German Silver is cheap and easy to form and engrave. I used it a lot for practice when I was first learning. I rarely use it anymore because German Silver has no residual value. Even though I form it and engrave it the resulting item is basically worthless.
I hope these posts have given you a little information with which you can use if you are wanting to buy silver or silver containing items. Or have something custom made.
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