Determine if a piece is sterling silver

Supplies of Fashion Jewelry Store are quickly depleting while the worldwide market demands more silver. The United States was once the leading silver stockpiler in the world with billions and billions of ounces of silver. This in turn led the U.S. to dump the silver in the world market causing a depression in silver prices. Because of this, the U.S. now has to buy silver for high-tech advancements at the world silver prices. Investing in anything can be risky. Unfortunately, we cannot predict what will happen in the future. Some of the best advice to heed would be to only invest what you feel you can afford to lose.

Benefits
Buying into silver at this time is a very wise investment because of the high return rate. Silver is much like its counterpart gold in that it will only increase in value. The great thing about silver is that almost anyone can get their hands on a piece of it because of its cost and ease of handling. It's easy to invest in silver and, considering its high return rate, fairly inexpensive to invest in it.

Determine if a piece is sterling silver or silver plate by checking the back. Sterling silver pieces are almost always stamped sterling while silver plate pieces may or may not have stamp. Silver is popular with collectors in part because it retains a certain degree of value as a precious metal. Sterling silver is .925 percent pure silver. Silver plate is is made from another base metal, often copper, and then dipped in a sterling silver finish. Silver plate is worth a fraction of what genuine sterling silver is worth.

Weigh a piece of sterling silver on a scale that measures weight in grams. Like other precious metals, silver is bought and sold in Troy ounces which are 32 grams per ounce rather than the standard 28 grams per ounce. Determine the weight of a piece in Troy ounces and then check the price of an ounce of silver.There are several Web sites that track the price of silver which, like gold, fluctuates on a daily basis. Multiply the price of an ounce of silver by number of Troy ounces a piece weighs. That is the bottom line price of a piece of sterling silver. Individual pieces may be worth much more, but they will never be worth less.MORE:Silver Jewelry