What is Mexican Silver?

Inherently, silver ore is the same everywhere. However, typically, Mexican silver is known as having a particular style and sterling silver content, usually signified by silver marks.

For starters, pure silver is rarely used for jewelry, because silver tends to be one of the softer ores. Because it’s so malleable, it lacks the durability to last as a piece of silver jewelry, so it’s usually mixed with a small percentage of copper or nickel, which adds that durability and longevity.  

Mexican silver is typically 925 silver, which makes it 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper or nickel. Meanwhile, plated silver involves using a thin veneer of silver, whereas the core and majority of the piece is copper. Plated silver is almost always avoided by silver consumers. Usually, when they buy it, it is by accident or when being misled. 

Santa Prisca silver is a local Taxco dealer, and we mostly serve retail partners in the US. The silver content of all our jewelry starts at 925 silver and goes up from there! We do not deal in plated pieces at all! Feel free to reach out if you’d like to make an inquiry. Shipping is free and takes 5-7 business days. 

Taxco is known as a center of Latin American silver mining, sales and artisanry, which makes it the perfect mecca to do business with. On our blog, we’ve also provided a guide to Mexican silver marks. Check it out!