The Federal Trade Commission has established a series of official stamps and markings to represent silver content:

• Only jewelry that is 92.5 % pure silver can be designated silver, solid silver, or sterling silver.
• If an item is stamped 925 or .925, it meets U.S. government standards.
• Coin Silver, though not so common, is hallmarked with the word coin or the numbers 900, .900 or 90, meaning it is at least 90 % pure silver.
• The other hallmarks on an item can represent the date the piece was made, its place of origin, or the silversmith who created it.