Are they real silver bars?

Went to the flea market and found a guy selling jewelry and a couple or bars of metal some market 999 others unmarket. He didn't know what the bars were and i bought them. Are they silver??? They are relatively heavy. They are small and about 650 grams in total. I bought an acid test kit and when i put the acid on them it didn't turn red it turned black or dark gray. What does this mean??? When I scratch them and then put acid on the mark the mark disappears. on one bar the black develops a creamy white on top. HELPAre they real silver bars?
If they are silver bars they will have a series of hallmarks on them somewhere - usually on the base. These are your guarantee that the bars have met a standard for production.



Typically each item will carry a Sterling Guarantee (such as a Lion if it British silver), a Town mark from where it was assayed (Anchor, Crown, Castle etc.) a Date Letter (normally in a shield, circle or square) to identify the year of Assay (A-Z or a-z) and a Makers Mark (Typically some initials such as HP%26amp;S, R.B etc.) They should also be stamped with a number, British silver for example will say 925 which means that it is 92.5% silver - the rest is a base metal. Pure 100% silver ingots do not exist as they need small quantities of another metal to allow them to harden at the smelting stage. Older silver items might say 900 i.e. 90% silver, so the silver quantity is lower, but then you are buying an antique item, 900 marked silver is most common for antique German and European silver.



You can buy 800 mark silver, but that is low quality silver.



However the abscence of these marks doesn't mean that the bars are not silver.



First get a magnet - silver is not magnetic, if it shows signs of being magnetic then you own white metal. The second test is malleability - silver (like gold) is soft and will easily (relatively) bend. If it's hard to the touch and won't bend then it's likely to be fake. Try and scrape the surface off slightly with a file or knife, if it scratches the surface then you have some kind of iron. Try the test too on an iron item so you have something to compare it with.



Also the price - silver is currently $45/ounce, so if you are offered something markedly cheaper per once than that you either have a bargain or have bought a fake item.



Lastly, if you still are unsure you will need to buy some special acid - which you will have to apply on a scratched surface area - fake gold/silver items are usually gold or silver plated so to the inexperienced eye they will look genuine. The acid then tests the metal and is the dead giveaway. As you have acid tested the metal and it hasn't turned the right colour it would seem that you have bought silver plated iron or something that looks like silver but is most likely iron. But make sure that you have scraped the surface coating off and tested the actual metal.



If after all that you still aren't sure...then find a high street jeweller - he will tell you straight away what you have bought. If it is fake, then you can try and get your money back but that might not be possible.Are they real silver bars?
it's supposed to turn black for silver.

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