Pure Silver Or Fools?

What Is Pure Silver?

Pure silver, also referred to as fine silver, has actual silver content of 99.9%. Because of its high purity, fine silver is too soft to use in jewelry making and is often mixed with other metals to make it harder.


What Is Sterling Silver?

Sterling silver is an alloy created when copper is added to pure silver in order to make the resulting compound more durable and less soft.

Usually, sterling silver has a purity of 92.5%, meaning that 7.5% of the alloy is made of copper or another metal (usually nickel or zinc).

There is also the so-called coin silver, which is an alloy of lower purity: It usually contains 90% or less silver.

In England you might look up the Trial of the Pyx. It's like something out of Harry Potter as they determine whether heads should roll if there have been irregularities with coin of the realm. Questioning the fineness of silver is what the trial is all about.