[Problem] silver - nickel silver

Jewelry Discussion
1

Greetings All:

Recently I received a good number of square inches of heavy
gauge silver sheets and Nickel silver (merlin Silver?) sheets.
My problem is to identify which is silver and which is nickel
silver - the sheets do looks alike. Is there a chemical or
physical way to determine the difference? Your help is
appreciated, since I cannot use use either until I know which is
which.

Regards,

Joe Bokor
@Joe_Bokor

2

The nickel silver sheet and sterling silver sheet do appear to
look alike, but if you observe closely there is definately a
color difference.

Pattie

3

Joe, a drop of nitric acid on each should do the trick. the
silver will turn black and the nickel silver will bubble up
green. easy but just use a drop of acid. salt water will also
work but may take a couple of days to develope the patina.

Frank

4

When you place a sheet of nickel silver next to a sheet of
sterling or fine silver, the nickel sheet will have a distinctly
grey color. Sterling, or fine silver is very white. If the
surfaces are tarnished or discolored, a bit of fine sand paper or
steel wool will clean it enough to tell the difference.

Steven Brixner - Jewelry Designer - San Diego
mailto:brixner@compuserve.com
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/brixner

5 
    Recently I received a good number of silver sheets and
Nickel silver (merlin Silver?) sheets. My problem is to
identify which is silver and which is nickel silver - the
sheets do looks alike.  Is there a chemical or physical way to
determine the difference? Your help is appreciated, since I
cannot use use either until I know which is which.

G’day; to my knowledge, nickel silver or German silver contains
no silver.

Test for the presence of silver: dissolve a few crystals of
potassium dichromate in nitric acid and place a drop on the
metal to be tested. A deep crimson spot is evidence for the
presence of silver. Dissolve a little of the metal in nitric acid
(if it doesn’t dissolve it isn’t silver) Add a little salt
solution to the liquid. A white precipitate shows the possible
presence of silver. Add a little ammonia solution. (CARE;it might
get hot) If the precipitate dissolves to a clear-ish liquid,The
presence of silver is indicated positively. Q.E.D.

Cheers
John Burgess,
@John_Burgess2

6

Dear Joe:

You wanted to know how to tell nickel from silver. First off I
think silver looks brighter than nickle. Also silver is much,
much easier to saw than nickel. Also if you throw them both in
pickel that is meant for silver and gold- the nickel will turn a
very nasty shade of brownish green. YOu need a special pickely
for nickel so please keep that in mind.

\I hope this helps!!

7

Hi Folks,

Dede’s comment about pickle brings up a memory. Bill Seeley, of
Reactive Metals, wrote a paper about a hydrogen peroxide based
pickle especially for nickle silver. If it’s not on the Orchid
Web site, I know it can be found on ArtMetal
(http://www.artmetal.com).

Dave

Dave Sebaste
Sebaste Studio
Charlotte, NC (USA)
dave@sebaste.com
http://www.sebaste.com

8

John, again thanks for the info, you really are a wonderful
font of info.

John and Cynthia/MidLife Crisis Enterprises
Maiden Metals/C. T. Designs/ Bloomin’ Wax Works. etc.

PO Bx 44, Philo
CA 95466
Ph 707-895-2635 FAX 707-895-9332

If your’re headed in the right direction,
each step, no matter how small, is getting you closer to your goal.