Sterling, but I think it's plated...

[winstonmin]

I should be very glad of some help. I have an item which has a mark of a bell in which are the letters - large L possibly and smaller A. Underneath it says STERLING, but under that the marks are very indistinct but look like letters which could end in ...TED. This suggests it is plated, but I thought 'sterling' is only ever applied to solid silver? I am confused, and would love to know more.
Regards
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