[adowns]

I was talking to another chemistry teacher who bought six solid silver 150 ml test tubes at a garage sale that had junk from the estate of an elderly chemist. What would these have been used for?

[adowns]

Let me add this... I saw the test tubes and the size was about 3/4 inch diameter and about 8 inches long. He said they were 150 ml tubes, but the actual volume is 50 to 60 ml. They were indeed silver. He did a demo for a class and reduced the silver sulfide coating by putting them in an aluminum pan with a baking soda and salt solution. They became shiney instantly. They weighed about 70 g each.

[SirRoderick]

For the lolz?
Would look awesome on the bookshelf.

That's all can think off

[enahs]

If it is on the outside it could just be to block light; but most likely they were used test tubes and got coated in silver.

[adowns]

No, they are SOLID silver, very heavy for their size, and they conduct heat extremely rapidly -  put one end in boiling water and the other end is almost instantly hot. He also measured the density which matched that of silver.

[enahs]

They might be for specific purposes for use in ultra high speed centrifuge then.