Determining the purity of silver is a crucial step in ensuring its authenticity and value. Silver purity is measured in units of fineness, which indicate the percentage of pure silver in an alloy. For instance, sterling silver has a fineness of 925, indicating that it contains 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper.
Verifying the purity of silver offers several advantages. It helps in assessing the intrinsic value of silver items, preventing fraud or misrepresentation, preserving historical artifacts, and ensuring that silver is suitable for specific applications, such as jewelry, silverware, or coinage. Historically, methods to check silver purity have evolved over time, from traditional touchstones and acid testing to advanced scientific techniques like X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
