Cleaning and Stain Removal - determine silver composition

I want to know if my silver tongs are solid or plated silver.

They will bend fairly easily, but tarnish easily also, is this enough to determine? I can see that it is real silver on the outside, but
is it a solid silver piece, or plated?


Let me know, thanks.

Hi Larry124, and welcome to the forum!
If you have a magnet, see if they stick to it or not. If not, it's solid. There are some variables that make this test not 100%, but it's worth a try.
The other way is the weight. Solid silver is heavy, so if they feel heavy, it's solid.
Since they bend, they're probably solid, since silver and gold are soft metals, they will bend easily.
Hope this helps!

I would not count on the ferrous metal test using a magnet to make any definitive determination. If the tongs are only plated, it would depend on what metal was used to make the tongs as to whether the magnet will attract or not. Pot metal (white metal, zinc based alloy), and aluminum are both non-magnetic and both will bend easily. Caution: they also break easily as well so overstressing either metal will cause it to break.
Stainless steel, depending on the formula used, has a very low to no magnetic attraction as well.


with all of that said, I would look very throughoughly for some marking by the manufacturer that would provide you with the answer. If you know the manufacturer, you can also research the manufacturer to determine what types of products that specific manufacturer made. Websites for antiques (if applicable) would also be a good source for methods to discover what your tongs are made of.