Harold,

A relative wants to sell some inherited sterling silver flatware. How
best does should she do this, and how does one avoid being cheated?

Thanks,

Joe Gwinn

"Joseph Gwinn" wrote in message
...
Harold,

A relative wants to sell some inherited sterling silver flatware. How
best does should she do this, and how does one avoid being cheated?

Thanks,

Joe Gwinn

A special thanks to Brian Lawson, for letting me know I was being pinged. I
do not visit this group much.

Harold

Harold,

Fairly well related question, I have nearly a pound of sterling silver
from my jewelry days in the late 70's. It was all bought as casting
silver. Far as I can recall, it's only been cast once.

It's all sprues, sprue bases, and items that didn't come out as
expected. What course would you recommend for selling. It should be
worth several hundred dollars, allowing for other folks to make a few
bucks. I took my wedding ring from my first marriage to a local jeweler
a couple years ago, when gold was around $900/oz, and got next to
nothing for it. So they're hardly my first choice for this lot...

I'd like to melt it all into an ingot, cleaning it up some. Thoughts on
that vs just selling as is?

Regards,

Jon

"Jon Anderson" wrote in message
news
Harold,

Fairly well related question, I have nearly a pound of sterling silver
from my jewelry days in the late 70's. It was all bought as casting
silver. Far as I can recall, it's only been cast once.

It's all sprues, sprue bases, and items that didn't come out as expected.
What course would you recommend for selling. It should be worth several
hundred dollars, allowing for other folks to make a few bucks. I took my
wedding ring from my first marriage to a local jeweler a couple years ago,
when gold was around $900/oz, and got next to nothing for it. So they're
hardly my first choice for this lot...

I'd like to melt it all into an ingot, cleaning it up some. Thoughts on
that vs just selling as is?

Regards,

Jon

Jon,

If the material has been melted, the best you can hope for (in my opinion)
would be scrap price, but with silver at a respectable level, you should get
one hell of a lot more from it than it cost, even in adjusted dollars.
Silver, in the early 70's, was under $2/ounce.

I would expect that most guys that cast sterling would not wish to gamble on
re-melting silver that has been previously melted, as each heat deteriorates
the quality, finally to the point where it casts with inclusions and must be
refined to clean it up. Could be wrong, though, so if you know of any
silversmiths near you, wouldn't hurt to ask if they'd be interested. They
generally pay over spot for new silver, and more if it's alloyed, so they
may be interested in a price slightly under spot. Hard to say.

You might be able to sell the stuff to a coin dealer, but that can be risky,
too, for they likely can't test properly, so you're likely to receive a
lowball price. It's guaranteed, if you take the stuff to the corner gold
and silver buyer, you'll get screwed.

I might make the same suggestion to you---to, perhaps, offer it for sale on
the gold forum. I'd think you'd get somewhere around 75% of real value
(silver contained within), keeping in mind that no matter who gets the
material, it has to be refined. As I suggested to Joe, silver is used in
processing gold, so there's a demand for the stuff, in particular if it
needs refining. It would be a good idea to let me know if you intend to
try selling on the gold forum, so I can blaze a path. Happy to be of
service if you make that decision.

Harold

Gunner Asch on Tue, 05 Jun 2012 07:31:18 -0700
typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
On Tue, 05 Jun 2012 10:05:19 -0400, Joseph Gwinn
wrote:


Do more searches on the net, and if there's a knowledgable antiques dealer
in her town, that would be a good place to get an opinion, but, beware.
Precious few antiques dealers really know and understand this stuff. It
might pay to seek an expert, to ensure that something really good doesn't
get passed off for scrap value.

It seems that some homework is in order.

Indeed. Tiffaney flatware can command some spectacular prices, far
above ..far far above the price of the metal.

"Can"

As they say about real estate, the two questions are "Value to
who, value as what".

How many people are willing to spend top dollar for a torn shirt -
if you tell them that this shirt was born by Their Hero. One of the
Beatles, Elvis, Vladimir Ullanov, Che, Cher or Charity.

--
pyotr filipivich.
For Sale: Uncirculated Roman Drachmas, feature Julius Ceaser's Portrait,
several dated 44 BCE. Comes with Certificate of Authenticity.

On 6/4/2012 9:50 PM, Harold & Susan Vordos wrote:

Happy to be of service if you make that decision.

PM sent with questions!

Jon