Okay! Deep dive into forking—have you ever noticed those little numbers engraved on the back or base of a fork? It’s usually somewhere around the handle. You might be inclined to think it’s a style code or some weird batch number, but no. It’s about the silver. Well, at least the perceived silver quality.
Those little numbers tell you how much silver—if any—is in the actual fork. That shiny flatware isn’t always pure silver; it’s usually plated. As in, there’s some base metal underneath (nickel or copper or something cheap-ish), and the outer layer has a thin coating of silver applied through electroplating. This is why there are all those weird labels with things like “EPNS 100.”
So, “EPNS” means Electroplated Nickel Silver, and it’s true—the “100” doesn’t mean it’s 100% silver. It means the entire surface has a silver coating on it. Kind of like makeup for metal. If you happen to see something like “925,” that’s shorthand for sterling silver: 92.5% actual silver, 7.5% other metals (usually copper). That, however, is the real thing. Not plated—just sterling. Which, yes, means it’ll tarnish if left in a drawer too long, but it’ll also last basically forever if treated well.
These engravings can be helpful if you’ve inherited a bunch of forks from a grandmother you don’t really remember and want to know if any of them are worth looking into. Or if you just happen to be… really into flatware. Not judging.
So… That Notch Is an Actual Feature. Who Knew?
So next time you’re at a wedding (or some tea party, etc.) where you happen to need cake forks (which is rare!), consider the little bit of engineering that went into it. That notch? Most certainly not for decoration. That wider tine? Most certainly for a reason. You are holding a small, single tool designed to solve a surprisingly specific first-world problem of wanting to eat cake the right way, without having to bother with two utensils.
And if you catch some faint numbers engraved somewhere around the handle, now you know what those numbers mean too. A tiny fork can say so much—about function, history, even value.
