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.
Tibetan Silver is an alloy of Copper with Tin or Nickel. It has very less or no Silver. Nickel is less commonly used now a days in Tibetan Silver as it can be dangerous. Tibetan Silver is not very much in demand as this alloy usually has dangerous metals like Nickel or Lead. In the past, an alloy of Silver and other metals were also known by the same name. In terms of antique, Tibetan Silver jewellery is a collectible item.