Refiner/Smelter Recommendations For Old Sterling/Coin Flatware

I just sold my sister's silverware set. I very large complete set. The dealer you take it to takes a 10% cut as well as the refiner he sells it to. You loose alot of money up front but noone uses silverware sets today. Our set was from the 50s' so I hated to see it go but it is just better than storing it away and never using it.

I collect it, on and off. Based on past experience I wouldn't expect to get much more than 60% of melt for solid pieces from the shops I deal with. Hollow pieces....good luck. The last vases I sold, the buyer crushed and removed the clay base weights before putting the pitiful remains on the scale. Hollow handled dinner knives fall into the same category.

Some sterling and coin silver flatware is highly desirable. The colonial American spoons I have (ca 1760) used to trade in the $250-500 range for a 5 gram coffee spoon, depending on the maker. Early 1700's English sterling sells in a similar market. Sometimes they show up on ebay, but mostly they are sold by a few specialists. They are rarer than rare coins.

There are a few modern and crafted patterns which are collected. Anything by Adler or Kalo, and modernist patterns like Towle Contour and Wallace Discovery for instance. But the vast majority of it is weighed and dumped into tubs for the refiner. I've pulled pieces I wanted out of those tubs and paid melt for them. They are much better value than Replacements Ltd.