Lots of "silver" sold in stores is actually steel.

Chapman article Gold-eagle ^

[BlackJack]

After reading about Brian who checked Wal-Mart, Bells, a pawn store and a Jewelry store and finding that their "sterling" was attracted to a magnet, I went out yesterday and did the same thing. I went to the Richardson Square Mall in Richardson, Texas. I bought a magnet from Sears and went on my journey. First stop was one of those Kiosks called the Silver Mine.

Should have been called the steel mine. Anyway, all of the "sterling" I tested was magnetic except one of the smallest chains. Every heavy piece was magnetic. The vendor insisted it was sterling and said I was wrong.

Next stop, Kay Jewelers (Big chain), They sell a line they claim is sterling and is treated so it will never tarnish. One 18" chain was $160.00. All of it was magnetic. The store manager said that he knows for a FACT that it is sterling. I asked him if he saw it manufactured? He said no. Then I said "You can't then know for a fact." Unless he had it assayed. He still insisted it was sterling and wanted me to go away. Off to Zales. They don't sell silver.

Next to Bellini Jewelers. This is not a chain. The owner was there. I tested his one flat of "sterling" silver chains and all but one were magnetic. He was indignant that I told him his chains were not sterling and was very belligerent. He insisted that he would continue selling the chains as sterling so long as he bought them as sterling silver.

He wanted me to go harass Kay Jewelers because they were bigger than he was. I asked what that had to do with it? He didn't answer. I told him I would contact the authorities. Next to Sears! They had lots of "sterling", about 60% was magnetic. The area manager was very concerned and would bring it to the store manager's attention. I researched this issue on the Web and found lots of stuff.

To summarize, to be called "sterling" in the U.S.A., the piece must be 92.5% silver. However, all references I could find only listed copper as the other alloy. One said zinc but a jeweler friend I talked to told me that zinc would boil off at the temperature it takes to melt silver.

So, there we have it! Massive quantities of "silver" that is NOT SILVER in the stores. It must be tons and tons all across the country. This is unbelievable! What disgusts me the most is that three out of four vendors insisted the chains were silver when the magnetic properties were staring them right in the face!

What a massive fraud! Now we know what is supplying the 110 Million silver deficit, steel! What a huge scandal! Where are the regulators that so many of the sheeple trust? I am going to buy a magnetic sterling chain and have it tested. I'll let you know the results. Send the army out with magnets, let's test the world!

[BlackJack]

Are there any experts out there that can help with this? Should a sterling silver chain be attracted to a magnet? What gives?

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

I understand that silver is NOT magnetic.(I'm not an expert)However, one can usually tell by inspection. Unless of course it is silver plated. HMMM! Smart move on your part.

[HangThemHigh]

No expert here, but silver is definitely not magnetic. Silver is a soft metal, I wonder if the silver chains have a steel core for strength? A solid steel chain would quickly rust and stainless steel is not magnetic.

[anniegetyourgun]

Another reason we girls should insist on only gold!

[Freedom4US]

Absolutely not. What's funny -- is a store manager who will continue to claim "sterling" when it's attracted by a magnet. That's pretty sad, and I applaud the fellow who exposes fraud in this way. The jewelry markup for *genuine* sterling is so absurd as to not even be funny, so to add insult to injury by selling an ersatz substitute, a near worthless one at that, is especially bad.

[Dinsdale]

For the sake of your relationship don't use a magnet on your 'gold'.

If it's happening in silver it's happening in gold. Gold costs more.

[goodieD]

thanks for the heads up!

[Campion]

Keep in mind that iron is not the only magnetic element. Nickel is also magnetic. (The metal in US "nickel" coins has too much copper, but a Canadian nickel will jump nicely to a magnet.)

Nickel is also a nice silvery color, and doesn't tarnish easily. Some of the pieces you looked at were probably either nickel or silver-plated nickel.

[Soren]

This was reported on lemetropolecafe.com about a week or so ago. They do a daily summary on the gold/silver market which includes emails from readers. One reader commented that silver jewelry is often "finished" by applying a coating of rhodium or other metals to smooth out the imperfections. He wasn't sure if these metals are magnetic or not. I'd say the jury is still out on this, but that it would pay to be careful if you are in the market for silver jewelry.

[krb]

The secret is never to date a girl who would settle for silver in the first place :-)

[BlackJack]

Thanks for info everybody. Maybe silver chains have a core of
steel for strength? Maybe that makes it magnetic?

[justsomedude]

What disgusts me the most is that three out of four vendors insisted the chains were silver when the magnetic properties were staring them right in the face!

If you repeat a lie often enough, people will accept it as the truth. Especially if it pays well to do so, or doesn't upset someone's comfort zone.

Sad commentary on human nature.

You really did this? Very cool. Good for you.

[Rocksalt]

I could have expected it at Walmart,but that's interesting that smaller stores that usually pride themselves on better quality jewelry would have the phony stuff too. What is the content on a US Silver Dollar? I'll test one of those,this makes me skeptical.

[Ford Fairlane]

What really gets me is all the chain type jewelry stores in the malls that are selling industrial grade diamonds as high quality.

I went with my buddy when he made the mistake of buying an engagement ring, we could only find one store at the local mall that had good quality diamonds, all of the rest were only fit to be on the end of a drill bit.

We went to K's merchandise mart, (a midwest chain that imports their own stones) and I only found one stone with major flaws.

We showed the manager, who was very embarrased, and immediatley removed it from the showcase.

K's good stones were selling for less than the crap at the mall.

[Willie Green]

and stainless steel is not magnetic.

There are many, many different alloys of stainless steel, both magnetic and non-magnetic. No sense getting into a lengthy metallurgical discussion here, but you can get some further explanation at the link provided.

[HairOfTheDog]

How fun! - Junior Detective Day! - Should have taken a 60 minutes camera with you!

Isn't most "silver" silver plate over something else? - Like steel? - Unless of course the pieces say they are "solid silver" Which I almost never see, except in really fine silverware. Jewelry and necklaces are frequently plated, I think. They aren't advertised as such?

[justsomedude]

Keep in mind that iron is not the only magnetic element. Nickel is also magnetic. (The metal in US "nickel" coins has too much copper, but a Canadian nickel will jump nicely to a magnet.)

Sorry. I beg to differ on that. I think the joke's on you, eh?

[Auntie Mame]

Something smells fishy about this story.

Although you should always take a magnet with you when shopping for jewelry (it is NOT magnetic), I thought one could trust the jewelry stores. Until I actually check for myself, I find it hard to believe that stores would be selling iron for sterling.

The title is wrong too. Steel is made from iron, iron is magnetic. Really good stainless steel is not magnetic.

[jwh_Denver]

Another reason we girls should insist on only gold!

Silver is so goshe! (sp)

I have a certain amount of forgiveness for the retailers not knowing their silver is not all silver but as soon as they know they are they should quit selling it and have it out with their supplier. Ultimately it's the company that makes these items that's defrauding everybody down the line.
And one could take a magnet and check people's chains and let them know they've been ripped.

[justsomedude]

Oops. I see you're right after all. Pardon me.

[justsomedude]

so gauche, peon.

[mamelukesabre]

Actually, it is ferrous material that is magnetic. Ferrous means "containing iron". If it contains iron, it is attracted to a magnet. Otherwise, it is not attracted to a magnet. Steel is largely made of iron.

Historically, what made a metal valuable was it's resistence to corrosion and decay....but mostly, it's value came from it's workability. Before modern technology and state of the art manufacturing methods, only soft ductile metal was useful because only soft ductile metal could be hand formed into useful objects. Copper, silver, and ductile(low carbon) iron were the most useful. Ductile iron had a lower value because it decomposed (rusted) in the presence of oxygen. Gold is inert and very soft and thus became the most valuable.

[jwh_Denver]

Got an attitude pissant?

[justsomedude]

well, in the old days, a remark like yours would give me one. Nowadays, I just pity people who have no sense of humor.

Best wishes.

[savedbygrace]

Which Chapman article at the linked website is this?

[al baby]

IT JUST DEPENDS ON WHAT THE MEANING OF SILVER IS? AS IN "IS IS"

[Politically Correct]

We went to K's merchandise mart, (a midwest chain that imports their own stones) and I only found one stone with major flaws.
We showed the manager, who was very embarrased, and immediatley removed it from the showcase.
K's good stones were selling for less than the crap at the mall.

K's will sell stones with flaws, but unlike the mall stores they will tell you about the flaw or show it to you. You know precisely what you're getting. I've seen stones at K's that looked like frozen spit (yes that bad) but you knew exactly what you were getting (hey a whole karat for $500).

[Dinsdale]

If it contains iron, it is attracted to a magnet.

Not universal. When heated past the Currie point Iron and steal in not magnetic (the atoms go out of alignment).

Generally you are right, but exotic alloys could do strange things. I'm not sure if Titanium-steal is magnetic. It's mostly Titanium.

[Campion]

Hah, another one converted to the truth of the jumping magnetic Canadian nickel hypothesis. A few more like you, and we'll take over the world.

or something like that ...

[mamelukesabre]

Traditionally, silver objects were actually made of "german silver" and then silver plated. German silver is slang for nickel-silver alloy. Nickel-silver alloy also contains copper and zinc(I think).

However, over the years, the actual silver content of nickel-silver alloy has gradually declined untill presently, it contains little or no silver at all. People still call it german silver, or nickel-silver though.

[HairOfTheDog]

Actually, you may be on to something. - If it is shiny and pretty, it does its job. I am not so into jewelry that I would ever really care if it is real. I am a really cheap date that way. If it is real expensive, I would just worry about it.

[Ford Fairlane]

They sell stones with flaws, but they are honest about it.

And they will NEVER sell industrial grade stones, which is what most of the mall stores sell.

[Coeur de Lion]

You should probably compare the item's weight with regards to it's selling price. Those which are light with respect to price are pure sterling silver(also they'll be non-magnetic)whereas the heavier pieces for a similar price are probably sterling silver plate. If the seller isn't advertising the piece as pure sterling silver he can probably get away with that.

[Great Dane]

Just asked my husband, he says silver should not be attracted to a magnet.

[Illbay]

Maybe a lot of it is actually mithril.

[Great Dane]

#5....... Then consider how cheap silver is by the ounce.

[Illbay]

With respect, I do not believe you are correct about nickel being magnetic. You'll have to point me to a source on that.

[tortoise]

Actually, it is ferrous material that is magnetic. Ferrous means "containing iron". If it contains iron, it is attracted to a magnet. Otherwise, it is not attracted to a magnet. Steel is largely made of iron.

Actually, cobalt and nickel are also magnetic metals, though not as commonly known. There are some odd inter-metallic compounds that also show strong magnetism, but that probably isn't an issue here.

Even more confusing is that only specific forms of those metals are actually magnetic. Hence why some stainless steels aren't magnetic. Magnetism is caused by a specific electron structure in atoms (when you have five spin-aligned electrons in the D-shell), and so you only see it in metals and metal alloys that contain a significant quantity of atoms in this state. Of the metals, only cobalt/nickel/iron can have this electron structure in their native state, but it isn't the only state these atoms can have.

[supercat]

My lade wife's necklaces are the first ones I've had that I could wear for extended periods without having an alergic reaction. Does that suggest that they're sterling (instead of the other alloys I'd worn before)?

Also, can anyone ID the dolphin? I found the supplier for the cross (Creed Rosary) and was able to get more as gifts for friends, though their die is showing severe signs of wear. Never seen anything exactly like the dolphin, though.

[upchuck]

Which Chapman article at the linked website is this?

The one at the link! Scroll down to the headline in red that sez, "Is a silver scandal out there brewing?"

Which, by the way is horrible grammar. It should be, "Is there a silver scandal brewing out there?"

[BlackJack]

So...if it is attracted to a magnet, it has steel. Nickel not attracted to magnet, right? Sterling Silver should NOT be attracted to a
magnet correct? Or does it have something in it at a small
percentage, that could cause it to attract a magnet?

[tortoise]

With respect, I do not believe you are correct about nickel being magnetic. You'll have to point me to a source on that.

Not just nickel, but cobalt as well. Magnetism of that type is caused by a very special electron structure in the atom. If you look at a periodic table, you'll see that all three of these metals are next to each other, differing in electron structure by only one electron (which can be easily gained or lost in a metallic compound).

[mamelukesabre]

I see. Now that I have an experts ear...what the heck is that material that they make speaker magnets out of? Its black and shiny and really brittle.

[justsomedude]

I did a google search on 'magnetic nickel.' Sure enough, I came across an experiment that says, 'heated to x degrees, nickel loses its ferro-magnetic properties and will fall from the magnet.'

I was skeptical, if you look at my threads.

[Great Dane]

#17...... If it's silver plated, it has to say silver plate.

[BlackJack]

Just scroll down.

[oldironsides]

Trusting any jewelry bought today is not a good thing.
Gold chain bought in Macy's brought to a Philadelphia jeweler and put on a scale. It was not what it was reported to be in wgt. The person returned it to Macy's for a refund. Diamond bought at department store in Massachusetts for $1800. was found to be worth $300 max
when jewelry was appraised for estate. It was good old Jordan Marsh ( now closed ) They had the nerve to give
much paperwork with the ring and it was all a lie. Check out everything you buy in jewelry. The business is full of lying crooks. Diamonds of poor quality are sold to the unsuspecting public every day as good quality. Check it out folks.

[justsomedude]

but 'silver is so gosh' -- /cheap shot.

[mamelukesabre]

Well, there is a poster on this thread that is claiming nickel will attract a magnet too. I was not aware of this, but if it is true, this could be the reason. See my earlier post about german silver.