[TheForge] a precious metal storage question

[terry l. ridder]

hello;

i assume that there is a way to store sterling silver in such a way to
prevent the tarnishing of the silver by air pollution mostably hydrogen
sulfide and other sulfur containing materials. one silversmith just
suggested wrapping the items in a material that contains an element that
has a greater affinity for sulfur than the silver. he did not offer any
suggestions as to what that may be. another silversmith suggested taking
the tarnished silver items and placing them into a large enough
container to hold them, preferrably glass container. place aluminum foil
in the container suspended by alligator clips which are attached to a
wood dowel that is positioned across the top the glass container. fill
the glass tank with hot to warm water and table salt. basically, you are
making a weak battery. the silver sulfide, which is the tarnish releases
the sulfur which is attracted to the aluminum. he demostrated this using
a 50 gallon fish tank, silverware, hot water, and i would say close to a
half pound of table salt. by morning the silverware was bright as ever
and the aluminum did not look that different.

when i asked about preventing the tarnish to being with he offered
little insight. short of storing it away in purple velvet bags with are
treated with anti-tarnishing agents and not placed on display there is
no easy way. when i mentioned i would like to have the silver items on
display he suggested a positive pressure glass display case which uses
filtered air to maintain a higher pressure in the display case than
outside the display case. the filter unit is specifically designed to
trap hydrogen sulfide gas and prevent it from entering the display case.

a third silversmith has suggested plating the pieces with white gold,
platinum, or palladium. they will not tarnish and the thin plating will
protect the silver. the least expensive plating would be palladium.

are there other suggestions.

-- 
terry l. ridder ><>