Bill, 
 Most good jewelers these days  have machines allowing to assess the composition of the alloy without any destruction : capacitive decay, X-ray fluorescence etc. 
 I went several times to our local jeweler and they did it as a courtesy. Takes 5 seconds and is very accurate. As a matter of fact, they were thrilled to see antique weapons and asked me to bring them more stabbers and slashers:-) 
 
 
I am sure your neighbor jeweler has one of those already.
		 
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
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