It’s easy to test. There’s a machine called a Sigma Pro that can test the purity of silver. It costs around a thousand dollars and every pawnbroker and coin dealer has one. If it isn’t pure, they’ll get busted immediately.
You can determine density using a scale, string, and some water, but this wouldn’t be reliable enough to determine silver purity beyond 1-1½ significant figures. 950‰-970‰ pure silver would probably be within the margin of error you’d expect for 999‰ pure silver. That silver is basically “contaminated” from a dealer’s perspective because it’s unsellable due to being a strange purity and would have to be refined into 999 silver at a significant cost.
Dealers don’t do this. A Sigma Pro machine is easier, more reliable, and faster.
For that reason, if you only had 1 ozt of it (or even 10 ozt), a dealer would maybe generously offer you half or two-thirds of melt value.
It’s easy to test. There’s a machine called a Sigma Pro that can test the purity of silver. It costs around a thousand dollars and every pawnbroker and coin dealer has one. If it isn’t pure, they’ll get busted immediately.
Can you not use Archimedes’ principle to determine silver purity? A decent kitchen scale and something to measure volume?
You can determine density using a scale, string, and some water, but this wouldn’t be reliable enough to determine silver purity beyond 1-1½ significant figures. 950‰-970‰ pure silver would probably be within the margin of error you’d expect for 999‰ pure silver. That silver is basically “contaminated” from a dealer’s perspective because it’s unsellable due to being a strange purity and would have to be refined into 999 silver at a significant cost.
Dealers don’t do this. A Sigma Pro machine is easier, more reliable, and faster.
For that reason, if you only had 1 ozt of it (or even 10 ozt), a dealer would maybe generously offer you half or two-thirds of melt value.
Lol Sigma Pro
Lmao appraised’em’