SilverBuggy wrote:I have something similar. Except the bottom mark says that "it is made of 1st degree silver and it weighs 55 baht". Could you enlighten me on the purity of the so-called "1st degree silver"? I have not found much info about it in English. Thanks!
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The Thai silver content designations are often not reliable. The piece could be a lower grade silver or even nickel silver (no silver content). You would need to test it with a silver test kit, but even then you can't likely differentiate between 90%, 95%, and 100%.
Here's my translations of the four most common designations stamped on the bottom of Thai silver bowls and other objects, starting with approx. 90% and going to 100%:
เงินดี (ngern dee) “good silver”
เงินที่ 1 (ngern ti nung) “#1 silver”
เงินที่ 1 พิเศษ (ngern ti nung piset) “#1 silver special“
เงินบริสุทธิ์ (ngern borisoot) “pure silver”
Those
should range from about 90% silver to 100%, but like I said, they usually, or often, don't.
If your test (using the stone scratch method) shows red for high grade silver content, you can expect it to be between 90% and 100%.
55 baht weight would be approx. 27.5 reg. ounces.
Hope this helps.
