Question about garage sales and sterling silver

[fmerg]

this year fisher2 and i went yard to sales
the first time we hit it big
1 14k chain 1 18k chain paid $10 for both sold for $850
but that was the only time we did great
other then that we got some silver at about 50% below spot
but it was less then an oz each time out

 

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[cyberdan]

Could you describe what you did when you "tore them down"?

Does the weighed part go up into the candle cup?

The weighted part is either a very dense plaster or sometimes an epoxy resin. If you see any part of something that looks thick most likely there is filler behind it. Most candlesticks are filled top to bottom. I have found weighted candy dishes where only the base is filled and you can tell the bowl has solid walls, there is a lot more silver there.

When tearing apart I use some needle nose pliers and a pair of dikes (no, not two gals who don't like guys :P ) I just grab an edge and peel away. Think of it as peeling an orange. I also use a small hammer to wack the k-rap out of it.

WARNING! the filler will shatter and pieces could get in your eye and the silver skin is very sharp.

Every outer piece is silver, the only metal that is not silver would be the spine that is usually steel or nails or once it was a stick. Everything has always broken away very easily.

 

[OldSowBreath]

I bought a small trophy bowl (best way to describe it) at a garage sale today that is engraved from with a name and '52 on it. It appears to be silver, not plated and on the bottom is "Empire Silver Co." and "212". I know the American company exists, but what does the 212 mean? It weighs between 4 and 5 ozs on a postage scale. Is it likely Sterling? I paid 50c.

Could it be a marraige cup?




Digg - It looks exactly like that without the handles. I think its sports related. The 212 is what is throwing me on the base.

 

[billjustbill]

[quote .......

WARNING! the filler will shatter and pieces could get in your eye and the silver skin is very sharp.

Every outer piece is silver, the only metal that is not silver would be the spine that is usually steel or nails or once it was a stick. Everything has always broken away very easily.
[/quote]

CDan,
Thank you for sharing your experience. I've got two sets of these and the salt and pepper shakers with glass linings. I'll go easy and give your method a try.

I have a nice set of crystal salt and pepper shakers that appear to have sterling lids. The salt has reacted with the silver and that lid is frozen to the glass threads. Any thoughts about how to "soak" it to get it to release?

Bill

 

[billjustbill]

Could you describe what you did when you "tore them down"?

Does the weighed part go up into the candle cup?

The weighted part is either a very dense plaster or sometimes an epoxy resin. If you see any part of something that looks thick most likely there is filler behind it. Most candlesticks are filled top to bottom. I have found weighted candy dishes where only the base is filled and you can tell the bowl has solid walls, there is a lot more silver there.

When tearing apart I use some needle nose pliers and a pair of dikes (no, not two gals who don't like guys :P ) I just grab an edge and peel away. Think of it as peeling an orange. I also use a small hammer to wack the k-rap out of it.

WARNING! the filler will shatter and pieces could get in your eye and the silver skin is very sharp.

Every outer piece is silver, the only metal that is not silver would be the spine that is usually steel or nails or once it was a stick. Everything has always broken away very easily.

For $4, I bought 2 short and squatty sterling candlestick holders that was stamped: Sterling and Weighted....

Using your suggestions, I took one apart this afternoon. It is filled with a caulk like putty, much like the thick and almost dry putty you put in the bottom of a sink when installing a whole new drain. Before starting, it originally weighed 13.14 ounces (as in 16 oz. to a pound). After I pulled the bottom off and began bending and rolling the thin sterling silver (thicker than tin foil but thinner than a Coke can) was wrapped around the somewhat flexible, yet brittle putty. It took me about 40 minutes to get all the (sharp-edged) sterling skin actually pealed away from the filler. Even the hollow rim of the candle cup is filled with the stuff....

The thin Sterling is still a bit dirty on the inside, so I deducted some weight, allowing for the putty film and bits... I weighed the silver, and got 61.4 grams, then deducted a full six grams, just to get a conservative worth for ONE:

Weight of Alloy 55.00 Grams - 35.37 Dwts - 1.768 Troy Ozs
Alloy Silver of 0.925 Purity
Weight of Metal 1.636 Troy Oz of Pure Silver
Price Used 21.74 USD / Troy Oz
Value of Metal 35.57 USD

Not bad for a few minutes work and a few dollars....one more to go

Thanks so much for your help.
Bill

 

[cyberdan]

Using your suggestions, I took one apart this afternoon.

Yep, that is how you do it. I have a plastic bucket that I put all the guts in as they break out. I am about ready to empty it for the 2nd time. It takes a lot weighted sterling to fill a bucket.

When you buy always look for "WEIGHTED" on the bottom. If you turn over a candlestick and the bottom is velvet, put it back down. No matter how good the pieces looks it is not silver.

 

[trdhrdr007]

It took me about 40 minutes to get all the (sharp-edged) sterling skin actually pealed away from the filler.

I hope it didn't really take you 40 minutes. I take them apart in just a few steps & look at it like 2 different assemblies...the base & the cup that holds the candle. First I pull the flat piece on the bottom off. Once you pull the bottom piece off set the candlestick upright on your work bench & use a razor knife to make a slit all the way down the base. That will let you peel the entire skin that covers the base. Once that's off you can break the fill material off & trash it. Then flip it upside down & use the razor knife or a screwdriver to pry the seam around the top of the cup loose, grab it with pliers & yank it out. Once that's done slit the side of the cup & peel it off in one piece. Sometimes it's easier to peel it, whack it with a hammer & pull the filling away from the cup. I think it takes me about 5 minutes to skin a candlestick.

 

[billjustbill]

UPDATE: Re: Question about garage sales and sterling silver

Using your suggestions, I took one apart this afternoon.

Yep, that is how you do it. I have a plastic bucket that I put all the guts in as they break out. I am about ready to empty it for the 2nd time. It takes a lot weighted sterling to fill a bucket.

When you buy always look for "WEIGHTED" on the bottom. If you turn over a candlestick and the bottom is velvet, put it back down. No matter how good the pieces looks it is not silver.

CyberDan,

That last part is good to know. thanks. And for the other poster, too, I may have you beat..... by shear luck of course...

I took the matching candlestick apart today after trying an idea: I left it out in the sun for most of the day.... Wrong move, it made the putty even more sticky and flexible!! I wasn't getting any where!! So, I tried to freeze it....even worse.

Plan "C".... I took my small bottle Propane torch and began heating the silver from the outside. I left the candlestick cup intact after I had pulled it away from the base. With a small standard set of pliers and a quart waste can to catch the melting putty, I had both the cup and the base clear in less than 10 minutes!!

Now you have to stand downwind of the smoking putty, have a waste can below the silver pieces, and be prepared for the putty to flame up now and then, but I don't have to worry about leaving any extra weight/contamination on the silver skins. On the base, the flare-ups of the melting putty turned the inside of the domed silver part black, but I fixed that. I took a Zip-Lock Baggie and added some of the thicker based "Lime-Away" directly on the silver. Where it wasn't black, it actually shined-up the silver... But the Lime-Away desolves the black soot enough to use an old toothbrush under warm water to completely remove the soot where the pliers had folded-over the thin silver... I don't want to give which ever refiner I use any grief when I send/take my silver in...

I'll be heating and melting it this way, all the time.

Bill

UPDATE: It is much nicer to have only 3 pieces after getting rid of the weighted putty.... I weighed the clean silver skins and one clean candlestick weighs 58.4 grams of Sterling...Times 2...for the pair easily gets 116 grams. Cost for the candlesticks: $4.00

 

[trdhrdr007]

"Weighted" is a good sign that you have sterling but be careful. I have seen several sets of candlesticks marked weighted, with silver plate stamped underneath.

I keep records on my weighted pieces in one of those pocket size spiral notebooks. Whenever I buy a piece that is different from anything I've bought before I write down the dimensions, what it weighs, if the base is small, medium or large, & how much silver I got out of it. I try to keep all the similar pieces on the same couple of pages. The first couple months I had to write everything down. Now I very rarely come across items that are substantially different.

The book comes in really handy at antique malls that have locked display cases & for items that are priced higher. A quick look in my book tells me if it's worth my time to get the clerk to open the display, or if I can buy at the higher price. In other words, it takes away a lot of the guess work.

 

[cyberdan]

Re: UPDATE: Re: Question about garage sales and sterling silver

Plan "C".... I took my small bottle Propane torch and began heating the silver from the outside...and a quart waste can to catch the melting putty, I had both the cup and the base clear in less than 10 minutes!!

I'll be heating and melting it this way, all the time.

I have never seen that or ever had a problem like that. Everything always just breaks away or peels away. I know the "putty" you are talking about. I believe it is an early epoxy resin. But most of the time the filler is a white plaster. Just hit it with a hammer.

 

[billjustbill]

Re: UPDATE: Re: Question about garage sales and sterling silver

Plan "C".... I took my small bottle Propane torch and began heating the silver from the outside...and a quart waste can to catch the melting putty, I had both the cup and the base clear in less than 10 minutes!!

I'll be heating and melting it this way, all the time.

I have never seen that or ever had a problem like that. Everything always just breaks away or peels away. I know the "putty" you are talking about. I believe it is an early epoxy resin. But most of the time the filler is a white plaster. Just hit it with a hammer.

The set with the "sometimes flaky, mostly flexible" putty was "Spring Glory...International". The other notation it had, other than "Sterling" and "Weighted", was the term "Reinforced" stamped above the word "Weighted". Just an FYI...

I'll give your way a try!! Today, I found two things at three Thursday garage sales: A 10kt gold necklace weaved so fine, it hardly weighs anything. I had my pocket magnifier so I could see the clasp was stamped, and she only wanted a Dollar for it. On my scales, it weighs just .3/10 of a gram. But then, I found another set of short candlesticks; for another $4, but they are a bit shorter than this first set. The name on the bottom of these looks like "Ducsun Creation" with a hand and fingers holding the first letter "D"....

We'll see what's inside...

Bill

 

[billjustbill]

Re: UPDATE: Re: Question about garage sales and sterling silver

Plan "C".... I took my small bottle Propane torch and began heating the silver from the outside...and a quart waste can to catch the melting putty, I had both the cup and the base clear in less than 10 minutes!!

I'll be heating and melting it this way, all the time.

I have never seen that or ever had a problem like that. Everything always just breaks away or peels away. I know the "putty" you are talking about. I believe it is an early epoxy resin. But most of the time the filler is a white plaster. Just hit it with a hammer.

The set with the "sometimes flaky, mostly flexible" putty was "Spring Glory...International". The other notation it had, other than "Sterling" and "Weighted", was the term "Reinforced" stamped above the word "Weighted". Just an FYI...

I'll give your way a try!! Today, I found two things at three Thursday garage sales: A 10kt gold necklace weaved so fine, it hardly weighs anything. I had my pocket magnifier so I could see the clasp was stamped, and she only wanted a Dollar for it. On my scales, it weighs just .3/10 of a gram. But then, I found another set of short candlesticks; for another $4, but they are a bit shorter than this first set. The name on the bottom of these looks like "Ducsun Creation" with a hand and fingers holding the first letter "D"....

We'll see what's inside...

Bill

Well, I started on the smaller Duchin candlestick.... It was filled with plaster with a small U-shaped brass piece to connect the three hollow pieces.

This brand's silver is thinner than a Coke can... and way thinner than the other set by International Silver. The sterling weight is only 15.1 grams for one.
From this website, here is today's worth:

http://dendritics.com/scales/metal-...925&Purity=.925&PrOzt=&CurrencyN=USD&Markup=0​

Weight of Alloy 15.10 Grams - 9.71 Dwts - 0.486 Troy Ozs
Alloy Silver of 0.925 Purity
Weight of Metal 0.449 Troy Oz of Pure Silver
Price Used 22.86 USD / Troy Oz
Value of Metal $10.27 USD

I like lightly banging the plaster that shatters easily and is much easier to dust off and quickly bag up. Even though the silver skin is thinner, I'll look for more of these!!