# Silver Coating Weight ?



## snail (Jul 19, 2011)

I just purchased several boxes of silver plated spoons marked 5oz coating weight. Would anyone know 5ounces per what.

Thanks, Dale


----------



## Anonymous (Jul 19, 2011)

A quick google search showed this http://forum.onlineconversion.com/showthread.php?t=7005
But I do not think that is what you are looking for.I did find quite a few hits for that term being used in the fabric industry,though I can't imagine how that would relate to the precious metal industry.


----------



## goldsilverpro (Jul 19, 2011)

Most of the specs on silver plated flatware I have seen relates to so many troy oz of silver per gross (144 pieces).

The only chart I have (from Butts & Coxe) is for teaspoons and the quality ranges from 1 to 9 troy oz of silver per gross. It also says that the silver thicknesses for these qualities ranges between .00015" and .00125". The latter figure (.00125") is equivalent to 1 tr.oz./sq.ft. of surface area.

Therefore, if your flatware is indeed based on 5 tr.oz./gross of teaspoons, I would say the silver weight is 5/9, or 0.55 tr.oz./sq.ft. of surface area. I would also assume that it would be this same tr.oz./sq.ft. figure whether it were teaspoons, tablespoons, small spoons, forks, plated knife handles, or solid serving pieces


----------



## snail (Jul 19, 2011)

Thanks for the information, that is very helpful.


----------



## manneke_pis (Apr 5, 2012)

Hi all,

In German and French silver plated wares are generally plated on 'METAL ALLIAGE BLANC' (nickel-copper-zinc alloy; like _''German silver'_ ) the specification of silver plate quantity is clearly marked.

German specifies .. 120 100 80 90 etc grams of silver used to plate TWO DOZEN (12 forks + 12 spoons) pieces, this is generally carried though to French silver plate.. but with less silver ..
All in all, a very generous coating here in Europe. A piece marked 100 contains +- 4 recoverable grams per piece.

French Plate silver can also be marked with GRAMS per item .. e.g.: 4G or 4GR i.e.: 4 - GRAMS used to coat the SINGLE item.

A decent service 24 pieces can give 100g (3.21 Troy Ounces) of silver. 

.. all you need of course is an efficient recovery method and good chemistry.. until then just put all the 'junk' in a huge dry barrel and leave for a later day.

My 2 cents..

George

Sources : http://www.925-1000.com/a_platenumbers.html

edited : corrected English grammar. :0
edited : corrected +-8 to +-4 (as pointed out)


----------



## Harold_V (Apr 5, 2012)

manneke_pis said:


> So a decent service 24 pieces can give 100g (3.21 Troy Ounces) of silver.


It should be noted that if the flatware has been used, that will no longer be the case. It is the silver that is lost in use, not the base metal. One should expect a lesser recovery, and, if there's wear spots where base metal is enclosed, a large loss should be expected. 

Harold


----------



## MMFJ (Apr 9, 2012)

manneke_pis said:


> Hi all,
> 
> German specifies .. 120 100 80 90 etc grams of silver used to plate TWO DOZEN (12 forks + 12 spoons) pieces, this is generally carried though to French silver plate.. but with less silver ..
> All in all, a very generous coating here in Europe. A piece marked 100 contains +- 8 recoverable grams per piece.



Don't you mean +-FOUR grams per piece? 
100 [grams per TWO DOZEN pieces]
/ 24 [pieces]
= 4.17 grams per piece

I just bought some spoons and forks marked WMF PATENT 90, several are unused (or appear to be anyway), which would have me expecting 
90 [grams per TWO DOZEN pieces]
/ 24 [pieces]
= 3.75 grams per piece
or somewhere around 3.5g per piece overall (taking into account processing, prior use, etc.)

of course, these are fleabayable for much more than their silver value, so they will go there for a time before going into the dry barrel!


----------



## manneke_pis (May 1, 2012)

MMFJ said:


> Don't you mean +-FOUR grams per piece?
> 100 [grams per TWO DOZEN pieces]
> / 24 [pieces]
> = 4.17 grams per piece



I stand corrected .. thanks for pointing that out!


----------

