Can someone enlighten me as to the difference between the two? I know my flute says sterling silver .925 I always assumed that meant is .925% pure silver. What is coin silver in comparison? Does it sound different?

Pure silver would be 100% silver.

Silver alloys are used instead. Standards exist that determine the percentage of pure silver that must be in any alloy to meet a standard. The rest of the alloy are other metals usually used to provide various strength or other properties.

Coin or solid silver is 90%
Sterling 92.5% (7.5% copper)
Brittannia 95.8%
Pristine: 97.0%

And higher as well

As the percentage gets higher you usually find some pretty strong metals added to give the silver sufficient rigidity. Since the amounts of trace metals are smaller amounts you will usually see stuff like titanium among other things..

Sterling is the standard 92.5, sometimes just shown as Sterling or .925 to identify it.

Joe B

Thanks Joe. I always watch the flutes on eBay just because I like looking at all the different makes and models. I sometimes see flutes made of coin silver (this one was a Selmer) and they never seem to sell very well.

So, am I understanding you correct that if your flute is stamped "SOLID SILVER" that is may not actually be sterling? I am thinking of my first step-up flute that I had, a Gemenhardt 3SB. That's what it was stamped and I always assumed it was sterling. My current flute is stamped "Sterling Silver" and on the headjoint it says "Sterling Silver .925"

Thanks for your help, Joe. I'm so glad I found this board, I have had so many questions about flutes for years and nobody to ask!

However, don't let the coin silver thing throw you off from trying one. I had a vintage handmade Yamaha of coin silver and it was the best flute I have ever played.

what matters is how good you are and how much you practice, don't get fooled into thinking a silver flute will make you sound better...