R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-11-3
Any person, firm, corporation, or association who or that makes for sale or sells, or offers to sell or dispose of, or has in his, her, or its possession with intent to sell or dispose of, any article of merchandise made in whole or in part of silver or of any alloy of silver, and having marked, stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted upon any part of the article, or upon any tag, card, or label attached to it, or upon any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which the article is encased or enclosed, the words "sterling silver" or "sterling," or any colorable imitation thereof, unless nine hundred twenty-five one-thousandths (925/1000) of the component parts of the metal appearing or purporting to be silver of which the article is manufactured are pure silver, subject to the qualifications prescribed by this chapter, is guilty of a misdemeanor; provided, that in the case of all articles, there shall be allowed a divergence in fineness of four one-thousandths (4/1000) parts from the previously mentioned standard.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-11-3