silver case?

i purchased a elgin pocket watch 18 s on ebay and it stated it was coin silver.. the swing out case is marked inside back with a moon and a star with trademark printed on it, and the sereal number. is this silver or nickle type case... ? the sterling acid test come out alight green which is somewhat like a silver dollar will do, but so do some other non silver aloys.. thanks again.. dave .

i purchased a elgin pocket watch 18 s on ebay and it stated it was coin silver.. the swing out case is marked inside back with a moon and a star with trademark printed on it, and the sereal number. is this silver or nickle type case... ? the sterling acid test come out alight green which is somewhat like a silver dollar will do, but so do some other non silver aloys.. thanks again.. dave .

[MikeB]

Hi -

The moon and star trademark represents the Crescent Watch Case Co., which made watches in both silver and silverode (nickel). The silver cases I have seen are marked as such (they made some nice sterling cases), and there are plenty of the nickel alloy cases around that are not marked as to composition. (I am assuming that your case has no markings other than the moon and star).

If you trust that your silver test is accurate, then I would say that the case is silver. Otherwise, there is a good chance that it is not.

Mike.

[Tom McIntyre]

The other possibility is that it is "silver filled." These cases were made with silveroid or base metal centers with silver plates roll welded to the outside just like the gold filled cases. They are nice cases and unless they are worn through, indistinguishable from solid silver except for the missing marks. I personally would not cut one to find out.

I managed to pick up my first marked "Silver Filled" case last year.


[This message has been edited by Tom McIntyre (edited 06-25-2002).]