Not everything that shines at the estate sale is sterling. Bring a magnet.
With silver prices well above where they were a few years ago, sterling is getting a lot of attention at estate sales, thrift stores and flea markets. Here's how to tell sterling from silver plate when you're standing at the table with a piece in your hand.
Our antique sterling teaspoon with a winged figure handle, marked STERLING, is in the shop now for $68, and it's the only one we have.
See the spoon →
What sterling silver is
Sterling is 92.5% pure silver mixed with 7.5% other metal, usually copper, to make it strong enough to wear and use. That's what the number 925 means: 925 parts silver out of 1,000.
Marks that mean sterling
- Sterling, sometimes shortened to Ster
- 925 or .925
- A walking lion on British pieces
- 925 with Mexico or Taxco on Mexican silver
Where to look: inside ring bands, on clasps and the little tags beside them, on the backs of brooches and pendants, on earring posts and clips, on the back of flatware handles and on the underside of bowls and trays. Marks can be tiny and worn, so carry a small magnifier.
Marks that are real silver, but not sterling
Numbers like 800, 830, 835 and 900 are real silver at a lower purity, common on European pieces. Coin, stamped on some older American silver, means about 90% silver.
Marks that are not solid silver
- EPNS, EP, Silver Plate, Silverplated, Quadruple Plate, Triple Plate and A1 all mean plated.
- 1847 Rogers Bros, Wm Rogers and Community are silver plate brands.
- German Silver, Nickel Silver and Alpaca contain no silver at all, despite the names.
- Sterling Inlaid is plated, with a small sterling patch at the wear points.
- Weighted or Reinforced means a thin sterling skin over a filler. It's real sterling, but most of the weight isn't silver.
See it in person: sterling and silver plate in the shop
Real sterling next to marked silver plate. Each one is a single piece, so when it's gone, it's gone.
Simple checks you can do on the spot
- Use a magnet. Silver isn't magnetic, so if a magnet grabs the piece, it isn't sterling. If it doesn't stick, that only rules some things out, because brass and copper aren't magnetic either. The tiny spring inside a clasp can be steel even on a sterling chain.
- Check the wear spots. Plated pieces show yellow or pinkish metal where the plating has rubbed through on edges and high points. Sterling is silver all the way through.
- Look at the tarnish. Sterling tarnishes gray to black and polishes off clean. Flaking, bubbling or green corrosion points to plate.
- Read the whole mark. Words like plate, EP or inlaid near the word sterling change the meaning completely.
Watch for fake 925 stamps
A stamp can be put on anything. Fake 925 marks turn up most on chains and newer fashion jewelry. If a piece is stamped 925 but sticks to a magnet, shows yellow metal at the wear spots or seems far too cheap, trust the piece over the stamp.
When you need to be sure
A jeweler can test a piece for you. Acid testing leaves a small mark, so it's not something to try at home on a piece you care about.
Quick field checklist
- Find the mark and read all of it.
- Run a magnet over it.
- Check the edges and high points for a different color of metal.
- Look at how it has tarnished.
Shop sterling at Oddly Darling
When a piece in our shop is sterling, the listing says so. We currently have an antique sterling silver spoon with a winged figure handle, stamped STERLING on the back of the stem, plus a sterling silver 925 floral ring with purple CZ stones and a sterling silver ring with a large citrine-style stone. You can also browse our vintage rings and the full vintage jewelry collection.
Keep browsing:
Vintage rings →All vintage jewelry →Vintage kitchen & dining →
Keep reading: Silver Plate vs. Sterling · Solid Brass or Brass-Plated? · How to Clean and Care for Vintage Finds
What's the best piece of sterling you've ever found for a song? Tell us where you found it.