Ignoramus11713 wrote:
In article , Gary Coffman wrote:

On 3 Aug 2003 04:02:46 GMT, Ignoramus11713 wrote:

The set weight about 7 lbs 6 oz, according to my postal scale.

I have no intention of selling the set as it would look great in our
house.

I have two questions:

1. How can I check if it is really silver

Do like Archemedes, measure how much volume it
displaces, and calculate its specific gravity. Pure silver
has a specific gravity of 10.49.


2. How can I clean the dark silver safely and effectively.

Tarn-X

Gary



Thanks, I just cleaned it using the electrolytic method, details at
same site

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/silver_service

i

Whatever you do, don't use tarn-x. It destroys the value of real
silver, if by any chance that was what you actually bought. Sterling
acquires a patina by being rubbed with normal silver cleaner over many
years, it's a pain in the ass to do but it's the only thing that will
really preserve the value of good silver.

If it's plate it's far less important, as most plate has very little
monetary value, and the silver is gradually removed with polish.

For what it's worth, unless it's marked sterling the odds are incredibly
high it's plate. Are there any marks at all?