Sterling Silver- 925/1000 (92.5%) fine silver and 75/1000 (7.5%) copper. Material stamped Sterling signifies material is Solid Sterling and must be stamped with the manufacturers name or trademark.

Silver Overlay- has thin sheet of silver material ( usually 1/8 the thickness of the material being used) bonded to the front side of the material usually nickel silver or another base metal.

Nickel Silver– made of a composition of nickel, copper and zinc (Contains no Silver)

German Silver- This is a misleading term, Same as nickel silver (contains no Silver)

Silver plated Wares- Manufactured by electroplating  a very thin coating approximately .0001”  (about 1/30th thickness of a sheet of paper) of fine silver to a base metal usually nickel silver or brass. The term “sterling” should never be applied in any manner to a silver plated item.