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Silver question

z118

z118

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Will silver break? I found a ring this morning that looks like silver but has no stamp. It was all mangled to heck. When I looked at it closely it looked "cracked" in the spots where it was badly bent. When I tried to bend it back into shape, it snapped. Will silver do this? Seems to me like it should be pretty malleable and unlikely to break. I will post pics later but I was curious to ask. I'm headed out now for more swing time!
 
I don't recall finding any silver rings that were cracked.

Several were corroded though, where they were soldered together and snapped.

If there isn't a stamp on the inside, you have a 10% chance that it's silver.
 
Z - I taught silversmithing a long time and very rarely found silver to break like that. Gold & copper doesn't either but most other metals will. However, if you stress any metal enough bad things can happen. Steve in so az
 
Carol K said:
If there isn't a stamp on the inside, you have a 10% chance that it's silver.
Click to expand...

I guess that makes sense, as I've found about 30 stamped silver rings and 3 that are not stamped but I'm pretty sure are silver.

I posted a pic of this recent unstamped and broken ring at:

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=19665

What other metals will look and feel like silver and not corrode in the ground?

Also, how does it work with Midwest Refineries when you send items in? Do they test every item? If an item turns out to not be silver, do they send it back to you?

EDIT: Okay, here's a pic, it appears there is some kind of stamp/inscription... and ideas?
 

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Pull_Tab_ Factory said:
Does it say STER that would probably be sterling for sterling silver.
Click to expand...


How weird that "STER" never occured to me... Has anyone ever seen a "STER" stamp before? Any thoughts on the cracks and break in this ring?
 
It probably is sterling silver. I have found many silver rings and have "broken" many of them trying to get them round again. Don't know why, but they seem to become brittle and it doesn't take much for them to break. At least that's been my experience.:yes:
 
It's not uncommon for makers to stamp things "ster" when they are sterling. Congrats !

As to midwest = they give you 94% of the spot price the day they do your order. Much better than jewelers & scrap prices. I have dealt with them many times and am always satisfied. Any things that are not gold or silver they will send a xerox of when they send the check. Also an easy way to get things tested for free :) Steve in so az
 
Thanks Steve!

So does Midwest return the non-silver items, or just let you know what they were?

Also, any thoughts on the cracks and break in the ring? I wonder if I'd waited until I got home to try to straighten it and been more careful, maybe it wouldn't have broken... I need to get one of those metal deals that gradually increase in width. Not sure what they're called or where to get one.
 
Midwest doesn't return things unless asked to. The few things Ihave sent that turned out to be not silver were things I wasn't sure of and had them test it.

Silver will harden with working on it plus wear and needs to be softened to work it withoput breaking. This is done by heating it to almost red wityh a propane torch or larger.

What you are referring to I believe is a mandrel - to round or enlarge a ring. Dont buy one , just get a broken pool cue or round hammer handle to use. Here's mine plus a metal store bought one. steve

3ringmandrels.jpg
 
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