Important: Safety Warning
This page describes trade processes that use dangerously toxic materials such as cyanide solutions, mercury amalgams, or strong acids. These processes require training, equipment, and precautions far beyond what the text describes.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
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To Purify and Reduce Silver (As used in the arts)
Silver, as used in the arts and coinage, is alloyed with a portion of copper. To purify it, dissolve the metal in nitric acid slightly diluted, and add common salt, which throws down the whole of the silver in the form of chloride.
To reduce it into a metallic state several of silver articles, technically termed oxidizing,