So, you are ready to purchase a silver tea set, but you don’t know where to begin. Unless you know that the seller is trustworthy, you should do some research before you buy. You need to know whether the tea set is completely silver or if it is only silver plated. If it is completely silver, then you need to know the quality of the silver.
Silver plated may meet your needs and is less expensive. The tea pot is made from a less expensive metal and then a coating of silver is applied to the outside. If done well, it is difficult to tell the difference between the two. If you think you are buying a solid silver tea set, you should check the markings on the bottom. If the marking is “EPC” or “EPNS” this indicates that it is silver plated. There should be markings unless the piece is very old. In that case you should examine any rough edges to see if the underlying metal shows through. If you are still unsure, you should have a jeweler or silversmith examine it before you purchase it.
Even if the tea pot is solid silver, there are different grades of silver based on the amount of silver in the “mix”. Silver is a very soft metal and must be mixed with other metals in order to retain its shape. The finer silver has a higher percentage of silver to the other metals. You should numbers like 925, 950, or 835 stamped on the bottom of the silver tea pot. These numbers indicate the percentage of silver.
The price you pay should reflect the quality of the silver and whether or not the tea service is silver plated. Armed with some knowledge about how they are made and what to look for should give you the advantage that you need in order to be sure that you are getting the quality you for which you are paying.