What does 825 stamped on sterling silver mean?

Answer 1

The stamp is called a hallmark, and is intended to show how much silver is contained in the item. 825 silver means that the item is made up of 82.5% silver and 17.5% other metals (often nickel or aluminum).

825 silver is a very odd number. Are you sure you are reading it correctly? 925 silver is called "sterling silver." If it is indeed 825, you may have an antique piece that originated in Europe (usually Germany) in the mid-1800s.

Answer 2

The sliver color rubbed off on the frog pin I bought in a tourist shop in SF's China Town when I polished it. The pin is still cute, but it's goldish, not silver. The seller lied. He said it was sterling. I saw it was stamped when I bought it.... but couldn't make it out at the store so I took the seller's word for it...it took a microscope to read it when I got home. It was stamped "825".

I am going to guess that "825" means silver plate. Probably over copper.

Answer 3

No, sterling silver is stamped 925 and composes of 92.5% silver

Answer 4

Technically, sterling is 925/1000 silver. 835 is 835/1000 silver, so it is still a silver alloy, most likely it's a Vintage German piece.

Answer 5

It's probably "825 fine" which means it's 825 parts in 1000 silver; the rest is probably copper. for comparison, US coin silver used to be 900 fine and sterling is 925 fine.