A process for forming a silver coating on a surface of a vitreous substrate is described. The process comprises an activating step in which said surface is contacted with an activating solution, a sensitising step in which said surface is contacted with a sensitising solution, and a subsequent silvering step in which said surface is contacted with a silvering solution comprising a source of silver to form the silver coating. The process is characterised in that said activating solution comprises ions of at least one of bismuth (III), chromium (II), gold (III), indium (III), nickel (II), palladium (II), platinum (II), rhodium (III), ruthenium (III), titanium (III), vanadium (III) and zinc (II).
This application is a Division of application Ser. No. 10/319,557, filed Dec. 16, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,307 which is a Division of application Ser. No. 09/835,590, filed Apr. 17, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,217, which is a Division of application Ser. No. 08/907,970, filed Aug. 11, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,482, which is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 08/435,721, filed May 5, 1995, now abandoned.
