I'm looking for info on the difference between silver and silver plate.

Question

I have some pieces of silver or silver plate and need to know how to tell the difference between the two.

Answer 1

If something is just pain silver (i take this to mean that it is made only of silver, with no other metals included) then i will be hallmarked, this is like a stamp indented into the item with the hallmark o the manufacturer on it, (the hallmark usually includes the year it was made.)

If something is silver plated it means that it only has a thin layer of silver around some other (usually cheaper) metal. This should not be hallmarked,