Sterling silver
Sterling silver is an
alloy of
silver containing 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, usually
copper. The minimum
millesimal fineness is
925.
Fine silver (99.9% pure) is generally too soft for producing large functional objects, and in Sterling the silver is usually alloyed with copper to give strength whilst preserving the
ductility of the silver and a high
precious metal content. Other metals can replace the copper, a recent development being the use of
germanium to reduce
firescale in manufacturing and to give a high resistance to tarnish. However, the germanium-containing alloy has not been widely taken up due to questions over the effectiveness of its tarnish resistance and the difficulty of working with the alloy.
The most recent development is the production of an entirely new sterling silver alloy which has the highest resistance to tarnishing of any sterling alloy yet produced. This has been developed by Sheffield Hallam University [
1] and Carrs of Sheffield [
2], a leading silverware manufacturer. In this new alloy, known as Carrs Lustre Silver, the copper has been replaced by up to 10 other elements designed to give tarnish resistance, eliminate
firescale, and have mechanical properties close to or even better than standard sterling silver.
The term "Sterling Silver", in reference to the .925 grade of silver, emerged in
England by the
13th century.
The terms "
sterling" and "pound sterling", seem to have acquired their meaning over a period of time, and from several convergent sources. The first mention is that of "sterilensis" in
1078, and by the thirteenth century (the 1200s) the term sterling had appeared. "
Sterling" is believed to come from the Old Norman French
esterlin (meaning little star) and Old English
stiere (strong, firm, immovable).
Mint mark theory
The 1971 edition of the
Oxford English Dictionary states that the early Middle English name
sterling was presumably descriptive of small stars that were visible on early Norman pennies. (Old English: steorling.) It also states that the "Easterling" theory (see below) which was put forth by Walter de Pinchebek circa 1300 is unlikely to be true because the stressed first syllable would not have been dropped.
Although marks of birds have been used in some coins of Edward the Confessor, sterling is not likely to have been derived from
starling, as the word for starling at the time was spellt stær; if the coin had been named after the bird, it would have been shortened to starling.
"Easterling" theory
An alternative explanation is that Sterling Silver may have been known first as "
Easterling Silver". The term "Easterling Silver" was used to refer to the grade of silver that had originally been used as the local
currency in an area of
Germany, known as "The Easterling".
This "Easterling" consisted of five towns in the eastern part of Germany which banded together in the
12th century under the name of the
Hanseatic League. The Hanseatic League proceeded to engage in considerable commerce with England. In payment for English
cattle and grain, the League used their local currency. This currency was in the form of 92.5% silver coins. England soon learned that these coins, which they referred to as "the coins of the Easterlings", were of a reliably high quality and hardness.
King
Henry II set about to adopt the
alloy as the standard for English currency. He imported metal refiners from the Easterling and put them to work making silver coins for England. The silver these refiners produced came into usage as currency by
1158 in the form of what are now known as "
Tealby Pennies", and was eventually adopted as a standard alloy throughout England. The original term of "Easterling Silver" was later abbreviated to "Sterling Silver".
Though the coin weights and silver purity changed considerably in the intervening time (reaching a low point before the reign of Elizabeth I, who reinstated Sterling Silver coinage for the first time since the early
14th century), the pound sterling was used as currency in England from the 12th century until the middle of the
20th century. Specifically this was in the silver coins of the
British Empire:
Britain,
British colonies and some former British colonies. This sterling coin silver is not to be confused with the
Coin silver standard.
Sterling silver, while no longer used in circulating currency anywhere in the world, is still used for
flatware,
jewellery and
plate, and is a grade of silver respected for both relatively high purity and sufficient hardness to form durable objects in daily use.
A sterling silver object that is to be sold commercially is, in many countries, taken to an
Assay office for testing of the purity of the metal. The item is then marked, usually via hammer and punch, with the
Hallmark of that particular nation. Because this process leaves sharp edges and spurs of metal, it is generally done before the item is sent for its final wheel polishing.
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Hallmarks on British sterling (L-R): Crown signifying city of Sheffield, lion passant, Letter n of a style dating piece to 1905, maker's insignia for Walker & Hall. |
The
Hallmark for sterling silver varies from nation to nation. The
United Kingdom should be singled out for its excellent hallmarking system. The stamps on
British sterling silver will tell you everything you need to know about a piece. First, a stamp to indicate the purity of the silver was applied. This was usually a
Lion Passant, but there were variations over the years. Next was a letter to indicate the date. The typeface, whether the letter is uppercase or lowercase, and even the shape inside which the letter is stamped, must all be taken together to determine the year. Last to be stamped was a symbol to indicate the city in which the piece was manufactured. For example, a crown of a certain style indicated the city of
Sheffield, while an anchor indicated the city of
Birmingham (both well-known for silver production). This system of hallmarking is still in use today.
The French hallmark for sterling silver was the head of the goddess
Minerva. In fact, the French standard for sterling silver was higher than that of other nations, requiring a silver content of 950 parts per thousand. Silver items with a slightly lower grade of silver, 800 parts per thousand, were also manufactured, and these were marked with the head of
Minerva, next to which was a "2". (Pieces from other nations also were manufactured in this lower grade of silver, but are stamped "800".)
In some countries, such as the
United States, no national hallmark was ever adopted, and the word "STERLING" or "925" was simply stamped into the piece. Because of this, some companies within the U.S., such as
Tiffany and
Gorham, adopted their own hallmarking systems. For example, pieces from the Gorham company can be identified by a Lion Passant (or Lion Rampant, depending on the year), an anchor and the letter "G", and sometimes an accompanying number to indicate the style.
In addition to the hallmarks, silver manufacturers often applied their own specific stamp. For example, the letters "T. and Co." indicates a piece manufactured by Tiffany and Company. As mentioned above, the letter "G" indicated the Gorham Company. These stamps were as unique as today's logos, and disputes often arose when one company copied another's stamp.
The difficulty with hallmarking systems other than that of the
United Kingdom was that in most cases they could not pinpoint the manufacture to a specific year, but instead to a range of years during which the company was in business. Many larger companies did put out yearly catalogs, however, and these can be used as a reference to narrow down the date of a specific piece. In fact, there are people who make a good income doing research on the history of specific sterling pieces.
Fine silver is 99.9% silver or better. This grade of silver is used to make bullion bars for international commodities trading. In the modern world Fine Silver is understood to be too soft for general use.
Britannia silver is purer than sterling, at least 95.84% silver and up to 4.16% copper. Its marks were
Britannia and a lion's head in profile.
The Britannia standard was a standard of plate obligatory in Britain between
1697 and
1720 to try to help prevent British sterling silver coins from being melted to make plate. It became an optional standard thereafter, and in the
United Kingdom and
Ireland is now denoted by the millesimal fineness hallmark "958", with the symbol of Britannia being applied optionally.
Mexican silver is also purer than sterling, usually 95% Silver and 5% Copper.
Mexico is the only country currently using silver in its circulating coinage, but these coins are not minted from 95% "Mexican" Silver.
Coin silver is 90% silver and 10% copper as dictated by
United States FTC guidelines.
Coin Silver is lower grade than sterling. The Coin Silver standard was established in the
US in the
1820s. This grade of silver was used in the silver coinage of the US as well as other countries that used silver currency
minted in the US, such as
Panama and the
Philippines.
For industrial uses, for example in electronics, alloys such as
CuAg are favoured, which contains 72% silver and 28% copper and is known for its
thermal conductivity.
|
19th Century Tiffany & Co. Pitcher. Circa 1871. Pitcher has paneled sides, and repousse design with shells, scrolls and flowers. Top edge is repousse arrowhead leaf design. |
From about
1840 to somewhere around
1940 in the
United States and
Europe, sterling silver flatware became
de rigeur when setting a proper table. In fact, there was a marked increase in the number of silver companies that emerged during that period.
The height of the silver craze was during the 50-year period from
1870 to
1920. Flatware lines during this period sometimes included up to 100 different types of pieces. In conjunction with this, the dinner went from three courses to sometimes ten or more. There was a soup course, a salad course, a fruit course, a cheese course, an antipasto course, a fish course, the main course and a pastry or dessert course.
Individual eating implements often included forks (dinner fork, place fork
[Place-sized flatware was used for meals other than the main dinner. It is sized smaller than the dinner-sized pieces.], salad fork
[Salad did not become a fashionable dining item until late in the 19th century. Therefore, some earlier sets did not include a salad fork. People sometimes substitute a pastry fork for the salad fork in these sets. The pastry fork can be identified by the fact that the tine on the lefthand side is wider than the other tines, since it was designed for cutting.], pastry fork
[ ], shrimp or cocktail fork, terrepin fork
[The ultimate in sumptuous dining was to include a fork for eating endangered turtle species!]), spoons (teaspoon, coffee spoon, demitasse spoon, bouillon spoon, gumbo soup spoon, iced tea spoon) and knives (dinner knife
[Many dinner knives were made with steel blades, as sterling silver is too soft to do the work of hard cutting. Many of these blades have, over the years, rusted away from improper storage, making them in short supply. Handles from these pieces are often used to create 'fake' pieces that never existed in the manufacturer's catalogs.], place knife, butter spreader, fruit knife, cheese knife). This was especially true during the Victorian time period, when etiquette dictated that nothing should be touched with one's fingers.
Serving pieces were often elaborately decorated and pierced and embellished with ivory, and could include any or all of the following: carving knife and fork, salad knife and fork
[ ], cold meat fork, punch ladle, soup ladle, gravy ladle, casserole serving spoon, berry spoon, lasagna server, macaroni server, asparagus server, cucumber server, tomato server, olive spoon, cheese scoop, fish knife and fork, pastry server, petit four server, cake knife, bon bon spoon, sugar sifter or caster and crumb remover with brush.
Flatware sets were often accompanied by tea services, hot water pots, chocolate pots, trays and salvers, goblets, demitasse cups and saucers, liqueur cups, bouillon cups, egg cups, sterling plates, napkin rings, water and wine pitchers and coasters, candelabra and even elaborate centerpieces.
In fact, the craze with sterling even extended to business (sterling page clips, mechanical pencils, calling card boxes, cigarette cases), to the boudoir (sterling dresser trays, mirrors, hair and suit brushes, pill bottles, manicure sets, shoe horns, perfume bottles, powder bottles, hair clips) and even to children (cups, flatware, rattles, christening sets).
A number of factors converged to make sterling fall out of favor around the time of
World War II. The cost of labor rose (sterling pieces were all still mostly man-made, with only the basics being done by machine). Only the wealthy could afford the large number of servants required for fancy dining with ten courses. And changes in aesthetics resulted in people desiring simpler dinnerware that was easier to clean. (The latter was especially important as more became known about disease.)
As the purity of the silver increases, the problem of
corrosion or
tarnishing lessens.
Chemically, silver is not very active — it does not react with
oxygen or water at ordinary temperatures, so does not easily form a silver oxide. However, the other metal in the alloy, usually copper, may react with oxygen in the air.
The black
silver sulfide (Ag
2S) is among the most
insoluble salts in
aqueous solution, a property that is exploited for separating silver
ions from other
positive ions.
Sodium Chloride (NaCl) or common table salt is known to corrode silver-copper alloy, typically seen in silver salt shakers where corrosion appears around the holes in the top.
A number of products have been developed for the purpose of polishing silver, such as Twinkle Silver Cream and Wright's Silver Cream, which serve to remove
sulphur from the metal without damaging or warping the metal. As harsh polishing and buffing can permanently damage and devalue an antique piece of silver, valuable silver is typically hand-polished to preserve the unique
patina of an older piece. Techniques such as
wheel polishing, which are typically performed by professional jeweler or silver repair company, are reserved for extreme tarnish or corrosion.
*
Polishing Silver on Wikibooks
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Cleaning Silver FAQ's on DoItYourself
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Storage and Care of Silver on JBSilverware
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Scientific Information about Sterling Silver on 123SterlingSilver
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How to Understand Sterling Silver British Hallmarks on Buzzle
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A good sterling silver jewelry commercial collection place.
