Posted 05/19/2016 9:36 pm
Best bet is to check the specific gravity, especially for such a large object. Silver doesn't just flake off like that or discolor in splotches. Plating rubs off. Look at the solder; silver solder doesn't look like that all splattery. Instead, it moves quickly and leaves only a slight discoloration that may turn yellow. The whole brown-ness of the piece should have told you right away what it was.
Now that you've positively destroyed the piece already, why not take a drill to it (feel the metal as it's being worked, listen to the metal for overly grinding; silver cuts like butter and copper is "gummy") and look at the filings' colors? Or gouge it with something sharp to get underneath the plate. Think about this: you spent money in the hopes of finding silver, but now you just have a fugly candlestick. Learn to test things without destroying them.
Now that you've positively destroyed the piece already, why not take a drill to it (feel the metal as it's being worked, listen to the metal for overly grinding; silver cuts like butter and copper is "gummy") and look at the filings' colors? Or gouge it with something sharp to get underneath the plate. Think about this: you spent money in the hopes of finding silver, but now you just have a fugly candlestick. Learn to test things without destroying them.
