mark inside case

[allynn]

I have a silver case marked ore silver. Can someone please tell me what this means. Thank you very much.

Allynn

[allynn]

I have a silver case marked ore silver. Can someone please tell me what this means. Thank you very much.

Allynn

[doug sinclair]

allyn,

Welcome to the NAWCC Forum!

You might find old ref::this earlier thread helpful in answering your question. There is no silver in the case you asked about. If you wish to peruse this question further, you can use the FIND function at the top of the page. Click on it and type in ORESILVER, then GO, for numerous threads on this same subject.

[Wes]

Welcome to the NAWCC Message Board!

Oresilver is a trade name for nickel.
Silverine, Silverode, Alaska Silver, and Silveroid are also trade names from various case makers for nickel. I believe these came out in the late 1870's, and appear to have been widely used in the 1880's and after. The nickel can take more abuse and wear than silver and gold watch cases, and many are still around today.

[Tom McIntyre]

There are a very wide range of alloys that fall into the general nickel silver or German silver class. Here is an encyclopedia quote on the ratios:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">the percentage of the three elements ranging approximately as follows: copper, from 50% to 61.6%; zinc, from 19% to 17.2%; nickel, from 30% to 21.1%. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I am pretty sure that all of them are more copper than anything else. It may be useful to think of them as white bronze. Zinc and Copper are both a bit less expensive than nickel also.

The current spot prices are: <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Copper Apr 07, 14:11
Bid/Ask 2.6067 - 2.6157
Change 0.0000 0.00%
Low/High 2.6067 - 2.6157

Nickel Apr 07, 14:11
Bid/Ask 7.5947 - 7.6401
Change 0.0000 0.00%
Low/High 7.5947 - 7.6401

Zinc Apr 07, 14:11
Bid/Ask 1.2930 - 1.2975
Change 0.0000 0.00%
Low/High 1.2930 - 1.2975 </div></BLOCKQUOTE>