How to tell the difference between Sterling Silver and Argentium Silver (if you’ve lost track!) 

I tend to have loooong gaps in between jewelry making sessions which means metals get mixed up and I can’t tell what’s what anymore. Here’s an example of two strips of metal, they ended up oxidizing similarly and I initially thought they were both Argentium Sterling Silver. After torching them, one clearly was NOT Argentium but plain old Sterling Silver. After quenching the Argentium, the residual discoloration came off in a water bath with some light thumb rubbing, the Sterling Silver had to go into the pickle pot for a lengthy bath.