Silver Serving dishes

[Mister_Pennyweather]

So I'm running across several silver serving trays, cups, pots, silverware in my travels and am wondering if there is an easy way to tell which is silver and which is a silver plated.

This past weekend I found a few cups that had what looked like old English writing on them. It was difficult to recognize what it said. I should have taken a picture, but my camera phone sucks so I didn't. On one of the other ones I noticed the bottom had swashes of silver that looked like weld marks I assume that was leftover from the plating process.

So any suggestions about determining silver from silver plate? I know 90%, coin, sterling should be snatched immediately, but I'm curious about silver with only makers marks or other marks I'm not familiar with.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Libertarian_Guard]

On the flip side it should say either sterling or 925, which is the silver content. But French sterling flatware has no indication. Anyhow, you'll know by the price and feel. Silver plated stuff is reasonably priced, heavy and tarnished. Sterling is expensive, lighter much less tarnished.

If it's a bargan, it is likely plated.

http://www.sipler-sterling.com/

[Glass]

you can get books or there are even web sites with some pretty good hallmark lists you might use. Could be worth carrying a reference around so you can check any hallmarks you find on them.

[carpathian]

http://www.925-1000.com/

[madfranks]

Not every sterling silver piece is marked "sterling" or ".925". I've been researching silver flasks and found that a lot of the old ones rely primarily on hallmarks. Look for the lion stamp, that means it's sterling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_hallmarks

http://www.silverhallmarks.org.uk/category/english-silver-hallmarks

[Mister_Pennyweather]

Thanks for the replys.