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Library Post – What is Sterling Silver?

You’ve heard the term “Sterling Silver”, typically when referring to fine dining flatware, serving pieces or quality jewelry, but what exactly is sterling silver?

Sterling silver is an alloy (a combination of metals) containing 92.5% of pure silver and 7.5% of other metals.  Typically the other metal selected for the alloy is copper.  Fine silver as compared to sterling silver is 99.9% pure silver and considered too soft for large pieces and implements. Sterling silver as it is stronger is the preferred metal for silver jewelry, flatware, and quality silver serving pieces and decorative items.

In recent years, alloys other than copper have appeared being used with silver.  Some of these alloys are being made from zinc, platinum, germanium and include other elements such as silicon or boron. These new alloys have appeared in an effort to find a combination that inhibits tarnish which is the bane of any sterling silver owner. Copper however, continues even to this day, in being the preferred alloy for sterling silver manufacture.

The term sterling silver originated in northern Germany in the 12th century. At this time, the term sterling received its meaning from possibly several sources:  (1) the purity level of 92.5% pure silver, (2) possibly from the term of sterling in regards the common name of coins of the time, or (3) from sterling meaning sturdy, firm, or immovable. Regardless of how the term sterling has come to us through the years, today the term sterling silver simply denotes quality and that a 92.5% purity of silver has been used in a creation of the product.

All sterling silver will tarnish over time when exposed to the air through a simple oxidation process. Sterling silver is still considered the best precious metal for decorative and quality serving products such as coffee sets, decorative bowls, elegant dining flatware, serving pieces, and pitchers.

If you have silver pieces in your cabinet that no longer hold their decorative charm, appear dated, are unusable due to breakage, or sterling silver jewelry that you no longer cherish, now’s the time to consider contacting Cash for Silver for a free appraisal of the silver value. We make it easy to turn your quality silver pieces into cash! Find out how to send your silver to us and get a free quote. We’ll even return your pieces to you at no charge securely if you decide that you have chosen not to sell.

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Scientists Turn Silver Foxes into Pets

The term “silver fox” is often used when referring to senior citizens and it is used in a funny, ironic way. The term silver fox is used to indicate that just because you have reached a certain age, this does not mean that you are ready to throw in the towel. Instead, silver foxes are out there living life to the fullest and enjoying themselves. Silver foxes are not tame at all…or are they?

In contrast to the term silver fox in its use to describe fun and feisty seniors, the tame silver foxes of Russia are just that: tame. It has taken almost fifty years for this to happen, but scientists in Russia have domesticated the silver fox.

The silver foxes, once wild and unafraid to show their teeth, have now taken on the personality traits of your average domesticated dog. Some of the changes that these newly tame silver foxes went through were that they: become increasingly friendlier to human beings, started to wag their tails to indicate happiness, started to bark as dogs are prone to do and they list their musky fox scent.

Some of the funds to keep the project of domesticating silver foxes came from selling the silver foxes as pets, but towards that end of the 1990s the were having some financial difficulty.

Still, it is quite amazing to think that a team of scientists worked for years to take the wild silver fox and turn it into the kind of animal you would welcome into your house as a pet. It must have taken quite a lot of work to take a creature like the silver fox and turn it into an animal that behaves like a dog.

Maybe you know of some other amazing experiments involving not silver foxes, but silver itself…Did you know that a silver refiner can take you silver objects–silver jewelry, sterling silver flatware or silver coins–and turn it into cash for silver? And here is the best part—it will not take fifty years worth of experimenting to make this happen.

You will not have to brave the cold of a Russian winter or even the cold of a winter in your neck of the woods either. You can contact a silver buyer online and they will send you a postage paid envelope. Put your silver objects into the envelope and send your silver in to be evaluated and the silver buyer will give you instant cash for silver.

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A Mysterious Silver Coin

Silver coins and coins made of other metals tend to tell you who they are right away. What do we mean? Well, a silver coin will let you know how much it is worth so you don’t have to guess.  You have probably never given this much thought. Our money has had a set design for years and you know what coins have what value automatically. Perhaps you have never even looked at a coin and realized that its value is written on it somewhere.While it is true that people who are blind or for some reason cannot read a coin, can figure out what it is worth my touch and feel, it is still part of a silver coin’s job to declare itself.

So it is absolutely amazing to hear that the very first dimes in the U.S., our inaugural dimes if you will did not take this responsibility very seriously. The first U.S. dimes were produced with no information about their face value.

This first silver coin was something of a femme fatale. It had a “Draped Bust” design, depicting a woman (Miss Liberty) who has been described as being “buxom” with long hair. Perhaps the coins designers were so distracted by the beauty that they created that they left off telling people how much this early silver coin was actually worth.

How much can you buy with an anonymous silver coin, I wonder? Is it really fair to call this silver coin a dime, if it is not clear that it was worth ten cents? This coin was produced in the 1790s and at that time there were lots of different currencies in use in the still-new United States. Some people were still buying and selling goods with silver coins made in other countries. Surely, people at the time knew quite well how much this mysterious silver coin was worth, but this must have caused some confusion.

You, however, can avoid this kind of confusion when you sell silver coins and other silver objects to a silver buyer. Part of what a silver buyer will do it test your silver to determine its value. An online silver buyer will even send you a postage-paid envelope so you can send your silver for testing at no cost to you. Once they know how much your silver is worth, they will send you cash for silver.

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A Silver Anniversary

Silver is a precious metal that people like to give and receive at various milestones in life. And there is one very special time when silver is actually the designated gift: a 25th wedding anniversary. One some wedding anniversary gift lists, you will see that the designated gifts for certain years have been divided into two columns–one for the “Traditional” gifts that one used to give for that milestone and another for the “Modern” or Contemporary” gift. There are years in which the gift changes completely, but that is not so with silver. The traditional gift to commemorate twenty-five years of life is silver and the modern gift is a slight change: it is sterling silver.

Since silver is associated with 25 years, it is used in reference when various groups reach that mark. So it is not just for wedded couples. Companies, non-profits and other organizations celebrate their silver anniversaries too. For example, the Breeder’s Cup just celebrated its 25th anniversary at the end of last month.

Do you have some silver trinkets, silver cups, silver chains, silver flatware–whatever the case may be–from someone else’s silver celebration? Do they have sentimental value to you? Or are you just holding onto them out of a sense of duty or because you think that you should?

As wonderful as it is to celebrate a silver anniversary, it is just one moment in time. And if it is not your moment and you are looking for ways to get some extra cash, consider the fact that you can sell silver and get instant cash for silver. You may be able celebrate a different kind of milestone once you sell silver to a silver buyer and use the money for silver you get to make sure that your finances are in order.

Instead of worrying that you cannot make ends meet, you can make use of the resource that you already have.  If you are looking for ways to get extra money, you may have missed the potential of the silver right in your own house. Especially if it is silver that you have stored or put away thinking that it must be saved for a special occasion (like an anniversary). If you are not actively using it, then it really isn’t doing you a whole lot of good, however.

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Showering with Silver?

Previously on this blog, we were discussing the differing opinions about the potential medical benefits of silver. Silver has been thought to be an antibiotic since ancient times, but today’s medical professionals warn that it is to be used with caution. It will probably do little harm to buy band-aids that contain silver, although some doctors warn against any use of silver.  One man who has been taking silver for years is a visible example of why doctors have come up with such warnings—after years of taking silver his skin has, with time, taken on a blue and gray hue.

So it may not be a good idea to ingest silver, since there is the possibility that ingesting too much silver may very well turn you blue. Still that does not mean that silver is absolutely free of helpful properties. It just means that you need to take advantage of one of the ways that people have found to use silver besides ingesting it.

One company that is based in England has come up with a shower head that has two amazing actions: it fights bacteria and at the same time it conserves water. The company that created this amazing product boasts that it can cut the water and energy costs associated with showering in half.

As far as the anti-bacterial claim, the shower head contains particles of silver so that it can ward off bacteria that attempt to camp out there. The silver in the product is not only supposed to keep bacteria away, it also finds fungi and viruses, including E. coli and Legionella. The manufacturer  anticipates that hotels and other commercial establishments will be very interested in using this product that has harnessed the power of silver for the benefit of hygiene.

You too can find great ways to use silver without ingesting it, even if you do not decide to get bathroom products that make use of silver. Plus, in your case, it won’t cost you a lot. In fact you’ll end up making money in the deal, rather than spending it. By decided to sell silver to a silver buyer, you can get cash for silver. Receiving money for silver will help you to ward away the “lack of money” blues and that is great for your health.

Sell any silver that you have including: silver coins, silver bars, silver flatware or silver jewelry, and you will find that you feel just fine.

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