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The Identification of Silver
Whether as a metal currency or an ornament, silver has always been loved by people. Even today, when only paper money is in circulation, people are still accustomed to using "real money and silver" as money. The enthusiasm for silver purchases has never waned. However, when buying silver, you must pay attention to identifying the authenticity of silver, so as not to be deceived.
There are many kinds of silver jewelry, and the color is complex. Silver jewelry is generally mixed with other metals to varying degrees, so how to identify silver jewelry?
1: Check the hardness:
The higher the color of the silver jewelry, the softer the texture and the whiter and smoother the surface. Take a silver bracelet of about 60 grams as an example, if you pull it open with your hand, there is no elasticity, and its color is about 95%; if it is a little elastic, the color is about 80%-90%; if the elasticity is larger, the color is below 70%.
2: Color identification:
There are two ways to judge color. One is the fire method, if it is real silver, the silver is unchanged after burning with a musket (but the temperature must reach hundreds of degrees or more) If it is fake silver or inferior, it will turn black after burning.
Another method is the nitric acid test. On the surface of silver jewelry, a few drops of nitric acid are dropped, and after a while, it is wiped off, if the surface of the jewelry is still silvery-white, it means that the silver content is quite high; if it is a low silver content, it will be gray-black.
3: Bending method:
Pinch the bend with your fingers, the color is soft and flexible, easy to bend and not easy to break; the quality of the bend is harder, or barely folded, some even can not be folded with the fingers; the silver-clad warp bend or with a hammer will crack; the false can not withstand bending, easy to break.
4: Throwing method:
Silver jewelry with high color is heavy, and it is not high to jump on the tableboard, and there is a "popping" sound; the false or low color is light, and it bounces up very high on the platform, and the sound is relatively crisp. (Because silver is softer, the sound it makes is weak if it is thrown on a hard object; if it is other metals, it makes a crisp sound.) ）
5: Nitric acid identification method:
A glass rod is used to drop nitric acid at the file of silver jewelry, and the high color is brown beige, dark green or slightly green; the low color is dark green, or even black.
6. Specific gravity judgment:
Silver has a specific gravity of 10.5, which is much larger than other metals or alloys.
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