I bought a 6 pound silver bar with no markings on ebay. How do I know its real?

Question

The bar is 6 pounds, over 100 years old and dark brown, grey and black. It is rough and feels like silver. Is there a way to test this bar and know for sure.

Answer 1

Anyone who deals with gold and silver coins, jewlers, those sort of folks.  

However be aware of the laws.  The Government is "funny" about people privately owning large quantities of precious metals.

I also wouldn't have it tested anywhere near where I resided, or did buisness.  You don't need people knowing you own a silver bar that large.

This may sound odd, but silver has a distinctive taste.  If you have a true pure silver coin, you can give it a taste, and then the bar.

It's good that you described "black" as one of it's colors.  That's probably athentic patina.

There are also acid tests you can purchase yourself to test precious metals, such as gold, silver, and platinum.  I believe those are also sold on Ebay.

~Garnet

Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years

Answer 2

how much do you want to spend?

a jeweler could probably tell you.

you could also measure and weigh it, and see if it seems correct.