airborne1092
Hero Member
- #1
Thread Owner
I hit the community flea market yesterday, here in the Stuttgart area. It was a local sale for the military on base. Here is an outline of my haul, albeit small, and lessons learned as it was my first genuine attempt at buying silver collector spoons (was that a collective, apprehensive inhale!?) and the redemption at the end of the day.
After buying 8 Hotwheels/Matchbox et al cars for my boys for .25 cents a piece, I saw a German woman who was selling 8 small spoons and asked her how much they were. She said €5 each and after a bit of small talk, she finally said all 8 for €35.
These spoons were: two 925, two 800, one sterling and two that were oddballs, yet interesting. She said she was reducing her collection and that she had collected most of these on a trip through South America about 40 years ago.
I told her I only had €20 in my wallet and some USD and that I really didn't want to go draw money out of the machine (long walk from there, fees applied for using my CU card in B@ stAr ds of America machine.) I told her I would keep looking and after that, I'll come back either way. So, not much else that I found and I came back where as I promptly offered my €20 for 5 spoons and she said yes, if I kicked in another 5 USD (WTF, why not?) So, I chose 5 of (what I thought) were the best ones and started to walk away. I grabbed the two 925, the two oddball spoons, and the heavier 800 one.
The two 925 spoons weighed in at 11.4g & 12.2g, and the 800 spoon weighed in at 15.9g. These two oddball spoons both had old South American coins silver soldered onto them, forming the bowls. One was a Brazilian 1924 2.000 Reis and the other was an 1894 Bolivian 50 Centavos. Later, as I was "processing" these two I found that the Brazilian spoon with its swizzle handle is merely plated as the handle is a resin material. After looking on the internet about the coins, I found the coin weighs 7.9g (confirmed) and contains .1269 oz of silver. It's not worth much as a coin anymore, as it's been pressed or pounded concave-like to form the bowl. The other coin I could not find any details about, but I did read it was a silver/tin composition. The handle does sound/feel/look a little tin-y and would not be surprised at this point if it only had a little or no silver in it. The 800 Silver is German - what can I say about it?
So the redeeming point to my first foray came when we were leaving. My wife was pointing out a few pieces of kids jewelry, scanning for more silver pieces when a flash caught my eye. It was a PAMP Suisse medallion! Turning it over, it was labeled as a half ounce .999 Ag as the lady told me, "6.00 for that." I could not get my wallet out faster, payed for it and walked away without another word. Looking back I should have at least dickered with her, pointing out that it DID have an old, large bust of a lady on it and it WAS pretty big for a kid to wear and would she take 4.00 for it?
So all in all, I think Silver collector spoons are tough, but not impossible. I try to keep value and worth separate and I need to start carrying my pocket scale, calculator and a cheat sheet with me and only buy the ones that I feel comfortable with and I can confirm are good deals; leave the iffy ones there. I'd rather not pick a good one, than get burned again buying all the bad ones that "look nice."
Have a good day and great finds to you all!
After buying 8 Hotwheels/Matchbox et al cars for my boys for .25 cents a piece, I saw a German woman who was selling 8 small spoons and asked her how much they were. She said €5 each and after a bit of small talk, she finally said all 8 for €35.
These spoons were: two 925, two 800, one sterling and two that were oddballs, yet interesting. She said she was reducing her collection and that she had collected most of these on a trip through South America about 40 years ago.
I told her I only had €20 in my wallet and some USD and that I really didn't want to go draw money out of the machine (long walk from there, fees applied for using my CU card in B@ stAr ds of America machine.) I told her I would keep looking and after that, I'll come back either way. So, not much else that I found and I came back where as I promptly offered my €20 for 5 spoons and she said yes, if I kicked in another 5 USD (WTF, why not?) So, I chose 5 of (what I thought) were the best ones and started to walk away. I grabbed the two 925, the two oddball spoons, and the heavier 800 one.
The two 925 spoons weighed in at 11.4g & 12.2g, and the 800 spoon weighed in at 15.9g. These two oddball spoons both had old South American coins silver soldered onto them, forming the bowls. One was a Brazilian 1924 2.000 Reis and the other was an 1894 Bolivian 50 Centavos. Later, as I was "processing" these two I found that the Brazilian spoon with its swizzle handle is merely plated as the handle is a resin material. After looking on the internet about the coins, I found the coin weighs 7.9g (confirmed) and contains .1269 oz of silver. It's not worth much as a coin anymore, as it's been pressed or pounded concave-like to form the bowl. The other coin I could not find any details about, but I did read it was a silver/tin composition. The handle does sound/feel/look a little tin-y and would not be surprised at this point if it only had a little or no silver in it. The 800 Silver is German - what can I say about it?
So the redeeming point to my first foray came when we were leaving. My wife was pointing out a few pieces of kids jewelry, scanning for more silver pieces when a flash caught my eye. It was a PAMP Suisse medallion! Turning it over, it was labeled as a half ounce .999 Ag as the lady told me, "6.00 for that." I could not get my wallet out faster, payed for it and walked away without another word. Looking back I should have at least dickered with her, pointing out that it DID have an old, large bust of a lady on it and it WAS pretty big for a kid to wear and would she take 4.00 for it?
So all in all, I think Silver collector spoons are tough, but not impossible. I try to keep value and worth separate and I need to start carrying my pocket scale, calculator and a cheat sheet with me and only buy the ones that I feel comfortable with and I can confirm are good deals; leave the iffy ones there. I'd rather not pick a good one, than get burned again buying all the bad ones that "look nice."
Have a good day and great finds to you all!
