Melting Silver

[pjdentry]

I know that some folks have mentioned sending silver to be melted. But I have some questions before proceeding.



Who are good people that melt?
What should I expect to pay for my stuff to be melted?
What sort of things do you send to be melted? Should I try to sell stuff as objects before trying to melt it?
If it's rings and stuff, do I need to remove the stones beforehand? Or do they return them with the melt?
What size (ounces) should my melt be?

You folks are so helpful, thanks for all the good advice!

 

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[Argentium]

You could call any number of refiners and get answers to your questions . I have had good experiences with ARA refiners ( Dallas/Fort Worth area) I'm confident that a google search of precious metal refiners will bring up several resources - with contact info.

 

[Nitric]

I'm not sure how it is right now, I've been away from it for a few years.

This is how we did it with silver and Gold, and worked well at the time. I was also in a very good area for it.

You buy it or try to buy below what you will get for melt. You mark it for sale a little above "Actual Content" which what we did was roughly figure spot on the actual silver content and weight. Melt is way different because of loss, fees, amounts, etc...

If silver jumped high or if you couldn't sell what was in the cases after a while? We would start at one end and go to the other separating it for "Melt". Coin, 925, etc.. And most of the time were able to sell to individuals in bags a little above what we would have gotten for melt. This included common silver coins, you can only afford to keep so much of it.

If you buy it low enough then it's worth the time and effort. To stay competitive you need to move huge volume. Just making a little on each piece.

I have no suggestions for refiners anymore. Most of the silver at the time we were able to move to the "hoarders" this was in 07 to 10. Everyone was looking for silver it didn't matter in what form.

And to simplify some of your questions. The object is to turn it and make profit. None of us out here can give you exacts on how it's going to work for you. There are way too many variables.

How many people do you know that are doing the same thing? Other dealers have their certain buyers and will pay a premium for some of your items.

Area? Is it a good area for it?

There are other things too! Filling out papers for the Patriot Act, and other license's depending on volume.

Learning how to cover your rear from buying stolen stuff. It's almost impossible to know if something is stolen and you have to take the right steps to do it right to cover yourself. Doing this wrong can result in losing everything you own. No Joke!!! I know an 84 year old man that did it his whole life, one of the honest guys too, doing jail time in his mid 80's and has lost millions to seizure or "asset forfeiture" . All from doing things the "old way" and not doing the correct paperwork. "Possession of stolen property " label would be the least worry. They take everything then ask questions, his family will still be sorting that and fighting years after he's gone.

The more you send to "melt" the better the rate you will get. I don't remember the numbers on silver.

We pulled all of our own stones, but that is because my wife collected them. Most of that stuff really isn't worth all that much. But...There are buyers for it. Some places will send the stones back or give you that option. Another reason we pulled our own stones was to get accurate weight's. It's really hard to judge or figure stone weight, much easier to take them out. When I first got into it we were taking hammers and smashing them out because there was too much volume to go through to take the time. But that was a rare time. We needed to hurry up and send to melt, recover cash, to be able to keep up with the lines of people bringing it in.

It is also a world full of scammers and cons. You really need to learn a lot about all the possible cons. It can also be dangerous, people will follow you home, watch every move, etc.... There is also the competitive side of it. Other local guys will wait for you to make a mistake, turn you in, give you a bad reputation, just to try to get you out of business or to go away. That part of it is very real too depending on area.

I tried to think of some of the negatives too!