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 Replies: 14 / Views: 1,788 |
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Pillar of the Community
1283 Posts |
At lunch time a customer came into the store to buy some fuel and after a chat he told me about his mothers old silverware. He knows that I buy coins and asked me if I would be interested, I say sure why not. I weighed all but the knifes as the blade is steel and the back is silver and I had no way of knowing their silver content. So that being said the weight w/o the knifes the total was 33.5 oz. He said that he had another offer last week for $900 but that was when silver was $30 so I took him at his word and matched the offer. I figured that there is probably at least 2.5 oz in the knifes combined, so roughly 36 oz sterling. I have wanted a silver set since I got in this hobby so today was kind of exciting. The cool part to me is the history that you see nicks and wear on the metal surfaces. I wish I loved history this much when I was in school I may have actually passed (JK). Does anyone know what the best way to sell this when the price rises? Just seems like the guys I deal with tend rob you on anything but pure gold and silver. Hoping for $40 an oz silver real soon.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
I was just getting schooled on flatware sterling today, and keep in mind TBK, that they use clay and other balancing weights sometimes in the handles of butter knives, and in the base of like candle holders....
Seeing as how you have mostly spoons, and forks there, with just a few knives, your total silver estimation should be about spot on, minus a counter weight in those handles....
Real nice score and a complete set, very rare, very well done, good buy. My boss told me today he has only had ONE complete set come in all his time thus far in the bullion business. And it was all real heavy, and it was back when silver was much higher, closer to 40 per oz.. She left with well over 5 grand, lol....
Cool thing is, these old sets when set free from sentimental value, usually always get sold back to melt, so they are becoming harder an harder to find....
Rick (Pawn Stars) says silver sterling sets in his shop set longer then any other item bar none. So keep that in mind as it is not a great seller, but I have a feeling you are gonna hang on to that for a while. If you did ever need the money, you could simply sell it off to melt, if you could not find a collector who would appreciate the silver an history tied up there in that great set....
Edited by Silverhawk74
01/27/2012 9:16 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
648 Posts |
Nice pick up there ;-) - I don't know much about the silverware myself but that looks really nice/classic in an old school kind of way.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
The Chinese, as with everything else, fake silver flatware as well.
I was nearly tempted to buy a full cutlery flatware set marked as 'sterling'. The dealer said it was Chinese but he also said that it was probably only .800 silver. The set was available for ASW price. That's why I was tempted.
My problem was that I could not satisfy myself that it was even .800 silver. If I was able to do that, I would have used the set in everyday use.
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Pillar of the Community
 1283 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
834 Posts |
I won't touch 98% of the silverware I come across. Now if it's marked Tiffany and Co. then that is a different story.
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Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
Do the pieces have a manufacturer's hallmark stamped on the back? I think there is a web-site where you can buy/sell pieces. Sometimes people get an incomplete set like yours and go looking for the rest.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Hall marks and date marks are also faked.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
I've bought a lot of sterling flatware over the last couple years. It's been my experience that it takes 2-3 knife handles to make a troy ounce when scrapped. Unless the set is extremely ornate or by a high end manufacturer it will sell for more as melt than it will as flatware. That means selling to a refiner, which means you will end up with around 90% of melt.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
My wife and I got a gorgeous set of sterling silver flatware for our wedding present from her folks. We hardly ever use it for anything. It just sits in our pantry in its velvet lined walnut box. Every now and then she catches me leering at it as I wonder how many ASEs I can convert this into. They say that "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". That could be true. I can definitely say that where "her" silver is involved it IS true!   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
"My wife and I got a gorgeous set of sterling silver flatware for our wedding present from her folks. We hardly ever use it for anything. It just sits in our pantry in its velvet lined walnut box. Every now and then she catches me leering at it as I wonder how many ASEs I can convert this into. They say that "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". That could be true. I can definitely say that where "her" silver is involved it IS true!" Ed, I can imagine you setting there looking at the silverware at dinner, with that 1000 mile stare. Or like on the old Looney tunes cartoon when Bugs an Daffy would get shipwrecked on an Island, and as starvation set in, they would start having hallucination where each appears like a nice roasted rotisserie pig with an apple in their mouth, lol. Only difference in your case, the silverware appears as a stack of ASE's.... Edited by Silverhawk74
01/30/2012 9:32 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
LOL! Good one, Hawk... and not at all far from the truth of it! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
830 Posts |
I'd be counting every piece before any dinner guest left |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2130 Posts |
How do you know what is truly "silver"ware? My grandmother collected silverware (for the longest time I wondered why) but I guess after reading this I may know. She would buy sets or individual pieces at yard sales and flea markets. I will have to try to locate the box these are in. My cuoristy is getting the best of me. What exactly do I need to look for when identifying if it is silver or not?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
If it's silver it's going to be marked with either sterling, a hallmark, coin, coin silver or a number designating purity. There are fakes so you still need to test the items. Anything that has plate, nickel silver, german silver, or alpaca is not silver. That should get you started.
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Replies: 14 / Views: 1,788 |
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Posted 01/27/2012 9:52 pm
