# Silverware, is it worth anything?



## Jaxom (Jan 14, 2009)

Sadly my best friend has had to take over his mother's affairs. She's very ill and lucky to make it through 2009. I've been lending him a hand cleaning out the basement of the apartment building she owned. And boy did we run into something that could be a potential boon!

It seems over the years, my friend's mother was hording silverware and other items made with silver. We've got shopping bags and boxes full of all sorts of things. Litterly hundreds of pounds of the stuff. 

I'm no expert on what this stuff is worth. Neither is my friend, but it should be worth something. My first impression is to sort the stuff out, see what can be made into sets. Then start getting photographs of everything, and toss those photos up on ebay. But my friend is a bit leary about this, he's more wanting a quick sale and be done with it. Concidering the volume of items, doing an ebay sale would be too time consuming. 

Another concern of mine, is what if there's something in this pile that is of a greater worth because of it's collectiblity vs it's silver content! For all I know on of the nearly half dozen gravy bowls that I looked at could be something Paul Reveer made! You just don't know! 

That leads me to question then, would it be worth purifiying the silverware and processing out the silver from it and pouring ingots from that. I understand at this time silver is down in price, so I'd suggest just stashing it for a rainy day or until prices go back up. 

I've briefly read into a few of the process on purifying silver, but wouldn't that take extra time concidering that these are large pieces? Should we decide (it's my buddy's decision really) to go this route instead, melt the silverware down, and then drip the molten metal into a bucket of cold water making beads to be purified?

Suggestions and comment welcome!

Jax


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## peter i (Jan 14, 2009)

If you can sell it as silverware, it will normally be worth quite a bit more than bulk silver.

If it has a stamp saying .925/sterling, then you have a proof that it is that alloy, and it can be sold as such. If you melt it down, you'll need an assay to convince the customer what it is (I.E. do not melt it)

If you want to dissolve it, flatware is normally rather thin, and will dissolve willingly in nitric acid (I.E. do not melt it).



My line of action would be:
- Sort it in silver (good, everything that is stamped as silver), plated (that really is junk) and "old/mysterious" that is either junk or valuable.

-Sort the silver (makers marks, age and condition) some of it is worth the metal, other probably quite a bit more. Shine the good stuff and sell it (evilbay may be an option), sell the unsellable items for the metal value.

- Try to sell the plated items on evilbay, make sure to state clearly that it is plated (if it is not marked as silver, it is plated, or *very *old)

If you just sell it as metal, you will get somewhere below spot. The metal dealer I know, will as a starting point pay just 72% of spot for bulk silverware and 82% for coins without numismatic value.
If it has collectors value, the value of the silver is nearly irrelevant.
(He will not touch plated, unless it has collectors value)


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## Harold_V (Jan 14, 2009)

There are plated items that have value beyond that of sterling items. In order to know, you must investigate. You would be very well served to gain an understanding of the markings on silver items. Sterling isn't always designated as such, so you must be educated in the ways of hallmarking to understand what you're seeing. The Brits have different ways of marking than the US methods, so you must have a broad understanding. 

My suggestion is to sort by manufacturer, then sort by content, plated in one group, sterling or coin silver in another. Scandinavian countries are known for flatware that is lower in silver content, down as low as 70% or so. Such items should be marked according to content, with an example being 720 for 72% silver content. 

If you find the plated items to be of no particular value, you are unlikely to do much with them. Solid silver items, on the other hand, have value due to silver content. Be advised that many of the items will be filled, not solid. Knife handles, for example, are commonly filled with a cement that resembles Plaster of Paris, or rosin----as are items like candlestick holders. Such items can be easily broken up for processing, but you have been handed some excellent advice. Unless you are prepared to process the silver to high purity, you are far better served to leave it as silver scrap, which is readily identifiable. 

*Melting, in any case, is not a good idea. * 

Explore all options before making any snap decisions. If the lady had good taste and understood silver from the standpoint of a collector, there could be a small fortune at hand. That would include silver plated items. Silver plating is not something new-----it's been done for _many_ years.

Harold


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## qst42know (Jan 14, 2009)

Do you have any photos?


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## butcher (Jan 14, 2009)

also lookup silver hallmarks there are web sites on these.


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## peter i (Jan 14, 2009)

The old Danish "standard silver" was .826 and would be marked with an assay mark depicting "Three towers" (and silver plated with just two towers). 
Today it's sterling (marked sterling, SS, 925 or 925S)


As Harold says, the fineness required by governments to allow something to be called "silver" varies a lot with time as well as location (and to some extend, with the government!)

There is a list of hallmarks here
http://www.925-1000.com/


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## goldsilverpro (Jan 14, 2009)

Although the link given by Peter is good, it seems to be very incomplete. For example, a complete book on British hallmarks would probably be about 400 pages long. In most libraries in the U.S., there are large, more complete, books on silver hallmarks. If your library doesn't have these, you can get books from any public library in the U.S., through the Interlibrary program at your local library. 

Were it me, I would obtain as many books as possible and study hard.

Don't melt anything. We once found a British spoon made in the 1300s in a batch of scrap sterling. For the newer stuff, there are companies that sell individual pieces to people that need a few spoons, etc., to fill out their set. These companies would probably pay more than spot. If you sell on Ebay, only do so after you have done a lot of homework.


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## Jaxom (Jan 14, 2009)

Okay, let me repeat some of this, so as to verify that I understand correctly. 

As is my thoughts. Much of this stuff could or should be worth more because of age or collectablity. Then too is the factor of someone just needing one piece to replace one in their set that's missing. 

Sterling silver is solid? It's not alloyed with anything else? 

For any plated stuff that's not of any value as replacements or collectable, it's safe to attempt to recover the silver? 

What I didn't ask in my first post. If we were to weight it all out, unsorted, what would be a good price that either I can offer my friend OR a good price to seek from buyers? Would it go by price per pound or such? 

I've known my friend for over 30 years. We've gone through thick and thin together. I don't want him to feel I've cheeted him. At the same time if I do buy it all, it would be so I can make a profit. One that I'm willing to spend money researching, processing...what ever it takes to recover the most back on my intial investment. 

Sidebar: To sell items on ebay, what is best to clean silver? Surely one doesn't use Tarnex on these items. I've heard horror stories of coin collectors using tarnex on silver coins, only to have them turn solid black within a month. 

Thanks

Jax


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## qst42know (Jan 14, 2009)

You can determine approximate value without polishing anything. You only need to read the marks and do the research.

Silver plate you will need to study the makers marks and patterns, and determine if you have sets.

Given the work involved and your friendship perhaps you may want to work out some sort of split rather than a fixed price with this batch. Keep track of your time and keep him apprised of your progress. Renegotiate the split if things become too lopsided.


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## peter i (Jan 15, 2009)

Jaxom said:


> Sterling silver is solid? It's not alloyed with anything else?
> 
> For any plated stuff that's not of any value as replacements or collectable, it's safe to attempt to recover the silver?



Yes it is solid, Sterling is an alloy of at least 925 parts silver and 75 parts "anything else" (typically copper).
As Harold wrote, hollow structures may be filled with funny substances that are not silver.

I guess it is "safe" to attempt to reclaim the silver from "worthless plated". But the methods are normally pretty nasty and the outcome not worth the trouble. The silver plating is quite thin, and silver isn't that expensive after all.

Money and girls are the best ways to ruin a friendship, so be careful!
:wink: 
Be honest and make a deal that is fair to both of you.
You might make a nice bag of money from the silver, but it will take quite a bit of work to do it.


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## crateman2 (Jul 13, 2009)

this is a good site on hallmarks and symbols http://www.925-1000.com/index.html


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