Looks Like Silver

Written by Stephen Outram Saturday, 29 October 2011 08:31

You managed to find six or seven items and take them up to the counter where a blue-haired, bespectacled and elderly lady charges you the huge sum of 50 cents... for the lot. You can't believe your luck.

At home, you clean and polish them and happily, find they weigh around 9 ounces.  “Wahoo! In the comfort of your armchair you have another look using a high magnification loop. Yes! It's still there... silver. But this time you notice another word, “Bengal.” In fact, it's a phrase, “Bengal Silver” and on another piece, “Nevada Silver.” Hmm.

Names of this type often refer to a non-silver alloy, based in copper and nickel, that is designed to look like silver. It’s not quite as bright as real silver but manages to express a convincing silver-grey metallic sparkle.

Your 50 cents was, actually, well spent - an inexpensive lesson in the art of buying silver.