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 Replies: 12 / Views: 1,586 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2269 Posts |
As many on this forum might know, in the last month I have joined many who collect silver bars. One of my favorite places to purchase silver is on ebay. Here is my question, when I do a search of silver bars, I come up with a bunch of auctions that are for German Silver. What is German Silver? Because of the low prices they sell for, I assume that there is little to no silver in these bars. Thanks for your help, Christopher |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
Edited by amida17
05/29/2012 9:22 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
759 Posts |
Usually copper, nickel, zinc. 60-20-20.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2269 Posts |
That makes sense, they sell for far less than an ounce of silver.
Thanks for the quick responses.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
745 Posts |
those auctions are for 'Sucker' Silver..  ..no silver in bars & but they forget to say that in listing.  Just  sellers fishing for 'Suckers' Edited by Penny4Me
05/29/2012 9:42 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
Quote:
I come up with a bunch of auctions that are for German Silver. What is German Silver? Because of the low prices they sell for, I assume that there is little to no silver in these bars.
I'm sure that you have heard of fools gold. Best way to describe this stuff is "Silver for fools"  |
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Valued Member
United States
220 Posts |
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I'm sure that you have heard of fools gold. Yes I am famous |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
The Royal Mint way back in 1920 issued 500 fine silver coins alloyed to a copper nickel: 500 silver, 400 copper, 100 nickel. It was a failure. The coins in circulation developed an ugly yellow tarnish to them. The Royal Mint experimented again, and came up with 'Quaternary Metal': an alloy of 500 silver, 400 copper, 50 nickel, and 50 zinc. Success! British silver from 1921 until 1945 was composed of this alloy. When these coins are heavily worn, the poorer silver underneath shows up as a rather duller gray. The planchets were acid washed (blanching), and rinsed before striking. This was to leach most of the copper and zinc out of the surface, so when struck, the coins had a surface enrichment of silver.
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Valued Member
United States
247 Posts |
Quote:
I'm sure that you have heard of fools gold.
Yes I am famous
Lol! ;)
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1502 Posts |
handy line to include in your ebay search: -mil -mils -mill -mills -grain -gramms -clad -replica -layered -copy -HGE -filled -plated -flake -covered That will filter out the majority of sucker fishing listings. |
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Valued Member
Canada
178 Posts |
I hate the ethics of people selling "German Silver" it is fraud in my opinion.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
I agree with that sentiment, but the term has been recognised for copper nickel alloy for decades.
Actually, for reasons s other than coinage, copper nickel alloys have a huge range of specialist industrial applications.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
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I hate the ethics of people selling "German Silver" it is fraud in my opinion. Perhaps. Compared to the cretins who advertise their cheap GOLD plated "collectibles" on TV, however, these guys look like a Sunday school crowd. |
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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,586 |
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Posted 05/29/2012 9:20 pm
