What do I have? A little help please (silver plates)

[Omega]

Today was a total bust for me. But last week I snagged these plates. All 5 for 5 bucks I think. I just acid tested them and it said they were silver. Do you guys know anything about them, what they're made of or worth? Silver or plated? Thanks

 

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[war-digs-it]

The dreaded "EP". electro-plate. Sorry, nice silver plate though.

 

[diggummup]

Even though they are only plated, at $1 each you did okay since they do have a little collector value. They were made by Gorham for the Commodore Hotel in NYC that opened it's doors in that same year. It was named after Cornelius Vanderbilt. I would think they should be worth at least $5 each.

 

[Omega]

Hey! Thank you for all this great information. Any other thinks I should look out for when trying to buy silver stuff? I didn't know about EP. I am a heavy CRH, and just started doing garage sales to help add to my stack.

 

[Lost&Found]

Most important is to learn the marks. Being familiar with marks will make your task much easier. Silverplate can have value even if its scrap. At the right price, in finding silverplate on copper, the copper value could be more than the price you paid. Old sheffield plate (18th century) from England can be a steal if the seller only thinks it is regular silverplate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_plate

In determining if its plate I look for green corrosion (oxidized copper), exposed areas and scratches (for base metal) and smell. Plated objects smell sour and silver smell sweet to me.

The other things I look for in anything I pick is rarity, quality and workmanship.

This thread has alot of useful information.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/g...rrent-forum-research-website-master-list.html