Can Some One Identify This For Me?

Hahaha I was looking at the coin first, the best place to I.D. silverware is probably this site linked here scroll down and you will see the hallmark of this company, I'm guessing that because the piece says solid it will be solid and not plated. However it doesn't mention silver, so maybe a few test like a magnet test would give a better idea. http://www.silvercollection.it/AMER...KSGKDUE.html There is also another site dedicated to finding silver marks and has loads of markings, here's a link login and upload your picture there http://www.925-1000.com/index.html It is a really useful site for flatware, decorative pieces, watches etc. Hope this helps :).

P.s. I don't think this is the right place for silverware identification lol, I could be wrong. As there are many knowledgeable people on here.

Try bending it. If it's stiff then you know what it ain't. Do an acid test, it'll cost you $10 for a small touchstone and maybe $2 per bottle of acid. (Test it with 18K acid and if it turns a greyish blue you can go woo-hoo.) Saw into the blade to see if it's really solid. If the teeth move like butter you have silver, if it grinds you have some base metal. I also wouldn't recommend a ring test IMO because the thing could be die-struck (super compressed metal).

I will try to bend it and the magnet test. I found keystone on the site, but it was keystone silver co. Not keystone metal. I thought it could he silver because of the "S" for silver and then solid beinh obvious.

I've been told that only the handle would be silver, the cutting edge would be a hardend alloy

cderksen,

That would certainly make a lot of sense. Since I'm just a commoner, I've never actually had a sterling silverware set ;) But come to think of it, I once found a little novelty silver spoon at a yard sale and I also won another small silver spoon shaped like a mermaid for my better half on ebay. But I bet both of them don't weigh nearly as much as your knife, Moichacho.

As an aside, I hate it when jewelry isn't marked sterling. I've been buying a lot of silver, lately, and some of it tests silver but for some reason, the marker does all this- sometimes- intricate work and doesn't bother to take the extra ten minutes to stamp the piece as sterling. I can't think of one good reason for doing this, unless it's somehow taxed more heavily when the maker sells it as sterling. That would be ridiculous, IMO, but the government does ridiculous things for breakfast.

@traevin: I can't speak for any American but let me tell you the low-down in Canada.
http://trademarkscanada.ca/trademar...-trademarks/
This link above lays out Canadian law with respect to trademarks and hallmarks. In Canada, a jeweller may stamp 925 or sterling (or karats if gold) BUT only if they also have a registered trademark to back up that claim. Any fool can buy a 925 stamp and wail away. This trademark (or maker's mark) is registered like a copyright. You need BOTH stamps for it to be legitimate.

If you ever get a surprise audit in Canada as a jeweller they will take this quite seriously and they will want to assay much of your inventory (you don't get compensation as far as I know). I'm sure it has something else to do with tax purposes as well and declaration and whatnot. In the past if someone wanted to cheat the monarch they would get a lower karat stamp so that their bullion wasn't taxed as high.

If the piece already has a stamp on it as it is being imported to Canada, that is okay, as we respect international laws and give the benefit of the doubt. I personally do not have a registered trademark so all of my pieces do not come stamped, but it all comes down to trust in the long run.

Also, silver-plated copper is kind of common for flatware. I personally never deal with flatware because there is so much deception, and it's just not my thing. Few things are more frustrating than trying to melt copper when you think it's silver so I only get metals from refineries and trusted sources - I would advise the same - stick with what you know and exploit your knowledge.

So it's considered fraud/theft if you sell a lemon, basically. Also, if you know about the softness of certain metals you can tell just by the way the impression is left, but it's much harder this way and never 100%. There are so many good fakes out today. Different metals (even sterling vs sterling-plated) have a different color and shine to them. So Traevin, it's not that the maker is lazy, a lot of the time they are just following the law. :)