Articles made out of precious metals are usually assayed before they are put up for sale. This is done in order to determine the amount of pure metal in the article. Silver articles may be made out of an alloy of silver and some other metal to give it strength. Different marks may be used for indicating the fineness of the metal, maker of the article, country and year of assay. The Silver from different countries may be distinguished by its fineness. A Silver standard is followed in many countries for determining the fineness of Silver in an article. The decimal system where a decimal number indicates the quantity of Silver in parts per thousandth is commonly used.
French Silver has a Silver standard of .950 under the world decimal system. It was a practice in the ancient period to melt pieces of old Silver to make new Silver articles. In France, Silver furniture was popular in the 17th century and Silverware in the 18th century.