This isn't one of those things I've tried where I can say "you gotta try this!".. Personally, I'd have to say I'm not 100% sure that it actually makes any noticeable difference in how the bow handles or plays.  Sometimes I think it did, sometimes not.  It is possible that I am just too much of a noob yet to really be aware of such subtle differences.  It is also possible that it doesn't actually do enough of anything to be worthwhile. 

In any case, much less noticeable difference than using different rosin or string type.

But experiments go like that sometimes.  LOL

@kevin M:  No, the one pic just came out looking a bit odd because I was using low natural light to get the bit of shiny silver to look like metal instead of just looking white because of flash or overhead lighting.  A piece of metal that small is hard to show as an actually reflective surface in a quick pic.

@Mad_Wed:  Thanks!

@pky:  A bandaid was probably just too light.  But if you maybe added a few windings of something like copper wire or if you or anyone you know does electronics hobby, maybe solder?   Up at the skinny part of the stick right before the tip?  That could work, and look better than modelling clay. LOL

Or one could glue a couple small matching glass rhinestones with flat mirrored backs to the sides of the tip.  Maybe a set of post earrings with the posts clipped off?  Probably anyone with pierced ears has a set of earrings where you don't just want to throw them out because of sentimental value, but the metal of the posts isn't so good for ears.

There can be a lot of ways it could be done without needing a piece of silver and tools to cut and shape it.  Lots of ways it could look like a pleasant decoration or custom touch instead of a "fix".

Fiddlestix told us where the bow is supposed to balance, ideally, I guess.  So at least with cheap bows, one could check.  If they don't balance somewhere near that spot, then try a little dab of something like modelling clay or any little item that has enough weight to get the bow to balance could be tried by just taping it on before getting out the glue. 

If being a little too light at the tip end is a common problem with cheaper bows, this could an easy way to maybe make them play a little better until one can afford a better bow.

Wouldn't it be crazy if some of the problem sometimes with bouncing or having trouble bowing straight was that cheaper bows aren't balanced in the right spot and it could just be fixed DIY?  LOL

@kevin M:  Sounds like a plan.  I thought a silver tip looked pretty darn cool on the few antique bows I saw it on in pics. 

A couple other possibilities.. Deer antler, especially near the tips, is pretty hard/tough and might even be almost the right shape to take a slice of and make a bow tip from.  I've made guitar nuts and bridges from it sometimes.  Not quite as hard as bone or ivory, but it is nicer then plastic.  I've toyed with the idea of using deer antler for the nut and/or saddle of my violin-in-the-white, since it would look a bit like old ivory without having to be something illegal.  It can even be "deer friendly", since people who hike in the woods often come across antlers that were naturally shed, rather than from hunted deer.  I have friends who hunt, that I ask to save me antlers that are broken or otherwise not pretty enough for them to want to keep from deer they hunted for food.

For something as small as the tip of a bow, there's maybe another possibility.  Ivory is dentin/dentine.  It makes up the tusks of a number of endangered animals, BUT.. it also is found in teeth.  The dentin/dentine is the layer of bone-like material right under the enamel, but before you get to the softer pulp layer.  Now, if you could get maybe a molar from a large enough mammal, like maybe a cow or ox, Maybe a slice taken from it would have enough dentin/ivory to tip a bow with.  Might not be a good idea for items for sale or taking across international borders, since I don't know if there is an easy way to tell something like cow tooth ivory from elephant tusk ivory.  But for just personal use, it might be an option, I don't know.

I don't even actually know for a fact if there's enough dentin in a cow or ox molar to get a flat slice big enough to make a bow tip.  Just brainstorming on that, since I know that once upon a time violin bow tips were usually made from ivory.