This is not a coin made by the US mint. It was made by a private mint. It is only worth the value of the metal the coin contains. If the coin is truly silver it is probably worth 5-20 dollars depending on the amount of silver.
what does the initals spco for on sterling silver as a marking on the bottom of a piece with the 638
It is an abbreviation of the word "sterling," meaning that the piece of jewelery is made from sterling silver.
how do you tell?
Look on the inside, edges or clasp of the piece for the number 925. If it has that number then it is sterling silver.
FB Rodgers was a manufacturer of silver plated products and did not produce any sterling. To tell if a piece of silver is sterling or plate, the word sterling or .925 or 925/1000 must be stamped somewhere on the piece. If it is not, it is plate or some other material.
The most common metal with which silver is combined to create sterling silver is copper. The mix rate is 92.5% silver to 7.5% copper. This is why sterling silver is often stamped with "925" somewhere on the piece
Sterling stamped on any item is .925 silver and .075 other base metal.
A 925 stamp (aka a . 925 or S925 stamp) signifies that 92.5% of your jewelry is sterling silver, and the remaining 7.5% is made of alloy metals. If you see 925 stamped on a piece of jewelry, this means the jewelry meets the quality standards of silver.
The EP on Gorham silver means "electro plating". It is not a sterling silver piece.
It is an abbreviation of the word "sterling," meaning that the piece of jewelery is made from sterling silver.
Not necessarily.Firstly, it doesn't say "sterling", it says "silver," if they meant "sterling", they presumably would have stamped it "sterling."Secondly, there's no absolute guarantee that what it says is necessarily true.
Most likely that the piece of jewelry is gold plated with 24 karat gold, and the metal beneath is sterling silver.