batcap
Hero Member
At the end of an all-day tour of area thrift shops I was back at an old favorite . . . nice staff, well sorted variety of stuff.
Anyway I was strolling aisle with the silverplate - I always double check the big serving items. I notice this silver bowl, too big to eat cereal from, maybe you could put nuts in it. It's been inscribed, to somebody named I. Preis. The rest is in German (mentions Berlin) and is dated 1950.
It feels funny to me. It's too light to be that big. The metal is thin but quite sturdy. I put it down and walk away. I browse the glassware and figurines. Something keeps nagging at me to go look at the bowl again. So I whip out the smart phone and try to get a translation of the inscription from Google. Eventually I gathered that I. Preis is not a person; it means 1st Prize. Meisterschaft means championship.
So the inscription reads:
"1st Prize, Bridge Championship Berlin, 1950". I set it down and went over to check out the clothing, then the electronics, then the housewares. Something bugged me about this bowl. I couldn't leave it. It was my only purchase of the day.
I took my bowl home and gave it a deep scratch and acid tested it. Scratched the same scratch deeper, tested again. Third time - dug a groove in the bottom of that bowl and tested again. It keeps coming up silver. Now I'm really intrigued, who would give away an unmarked silver bowl? I sit down and start going over this thing with a loupe.
I didn't need it - the marks were there the whole time. It was 83.5% silver, over a pound of it.
After taking a few photos as mementos, I took it to the local metals buyer and he gave me $140. I could have done better mailing it off and waiting for a check, but he just makes it quick and easy.
So the morals of the story are "Always double check the big silver plate" and "Sometimes you should follow your gut, if the risk is not significant."
BTW - Thats the price in red grease pencil - $4.94. The G stands for green, every day they have at least two 1/2 price colors. This was a Blue and White day, so I had to pay full price. That last pic is the only one I have to indicate it's size. Thats a medium Flat-Rate Priority Mail box.
Anyway I was strolling aisle with the silverplate - I always double check the big serving items. I notice this silver bowl, too big to eat cereal from, maybe you could put nuts in it. It's been inscribed, to somebody named I. Preis. The rest is in German (mentions Berlin) and is dated 1950.
It feels funny to me. It's too light to be that big. The metal is thin but quite sturdy. I put it down and walk away. I browse the glassware and figurines. Something keeps nagging at me to go look at the bowl again. So I whip out the smart phone and try to get a translation of the inscription from Google. Eventually I gathered that I. Preis is not a person; it means 1st Prize. Meisterschaft means championship.
So the inscription reads:
"1st Prize, Bridge Championship Berlin, 1950". I set it down and went over to check out the clothing, then the electronics, then the housewares. Something bugged me about this bowl. I couldn't leave it. It was my only purchase of the day.
I took my bowl home and gave it a deep scratch and acid tested it. Scratched the same scratch deeper, tested again. Third time - dug a groove in the bottom of that bowl and tested again. It keeps coming up silver. Now I'm really intrigued, who would give away an unmarked silver bowl? I sit down and start going over this thing with a loupe.
I didn't need it - the marks were there the whole time. It was 83.5% silver, over a pound of it.
After taking a few photos as mementos, I took it to the local metals buyer and he gave me $140. I could have done better mailing it off and waiting for a check, but he just makes it quick and easy.
So the morals of the story are "Always double check the big silver plate" and "Sometimes you should follow your gut, if the risk is not significant."
BTW - Thats the price in red grease pencil - $4.94. The G stands for green, every day they have at least two 1/2 price colors. This was a Blue and White day, so I had to pay full price. That last pic is the only one I have to indicate it's size. Thats a medium Flat-Rate Priority Mail box.
