73.5+ Ounces of Silver for $5.99

[1treasurehunter1]

Hey everyone;

I just wanted to share something that I found a couple of years ago at my local thrift store. As the title says, I found over 73.5 troy ounces in silver for $5.99. I was walking through the aisles and noticed this abstract sculpture I assumed to be Swedish or Danish / Scandinavian. I thought it was an interesting piece and when I picked it up I though WOW this is heavy. I assumed it was lead plated with silver but bought it because I thought it was an interesting piece of art.

I preformed acids tests which confirmed silver. I contacted several auction houses to see if they would be interested in the piece and only one auction house was interested and wanted me to ship it across the country to them for further examination so I declined.

I researched the sculpture and could not find a solid silver piece like this on google images. I drilled the piece in one spot and clipped of a bit and melted it into a button and then tested the button and confirmed that it was all silver. I didn't know the purity so I took it to a “we buy gold/silver” place which has a water density testing machine. They confirmed that the piece is nearly pure 999 silver. Wow. The piece is not hallmarked anywhere. The interesting thing is that it has a stylized 25 in the design which could mean it was a gift for a silver anniversary.

I don’t think this piece is by a famous artist. What do you guys think? When I bought it silver was at $45 an ounce and it was worth $3300 in melt but now it’s only worth $1150. Still a great score and I plan on converting it to some Prospectors Gold and Gems bars.

I know that modernist sculptures like these can be worth a pretty penny if they are by a famous artist. You guys/gals are better than me at researching. I wasn't on this website when I found this piece.

The piece was held together by a screw but now I can’t even put it together because it got a little dinged up.




Here is my youtube video of the find + some silver coins I bought:

 

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[Beachkid23]

Nice find! Too bad it didn't have a makers Mark on it. If you're going to turn it over I would just send it to refinery your and get the highest prices there. The dealers don't want to screw with it because it's not marked I wouldn't think. Or you could have a jeweler mark it 999 but I think for five dollar investment I would put it underneath your bed or use it as a doorstop because nobody's going to steal it. If you're interested though I have a kiln for silver used once it melts silver down real good if you're interested in doing your own bars it's the whole set up but I don't use it I don't have time. There is a 5 ounce loaf and a 1 ounce.

To be honest though I would probably either have it marked and put it away or send it to the refinery. You're going to get 90% of spot at a refinery if you take it to a dealer you're going to get way less than that. Have it stamped and deal with it when it's back up around 20 or 30 bucks or more. Or try it out call ARA ask them what their prices. And check a couple dealers and see what they are.

Heck of a find for five dollars!

 

[Joe777Cool]

Throw it on ebay for $4999. See if you get any interest. You dont have anything to lose especially if its just sitting there collecting dust.

 

[GibH]

How bad was it dinged up? Shouldn't be that big of a deal to tap it out.

 

[tamrock]

That a heck of a thrift store score.

 

[silverdollarbill]

Throw it on ebay for $4999. See if you get any interest. You dont have anything to lose especially if its just sitting there collecting dust.

I would do this. I would not melt it. Someone was pretty serious about the piece to use that much silver.

 

[Beachkid23]

I don't know but to me the bottom of it looks like a two and a five like a 25 if that was the year I don't know but it looks Indian made as well. And really it would have to be I would think to have that much silver in one piece. Stick it up on eBay for the 5000 or best offer I like that idea best. You could buy a lot of silver coins then!!

 

[diggummup]

A frontal view would be nice just to see what it actually looks like. I see a 25, an eagle and a building or something? And as far as being dinged up, it's solid so it could easily be smoothed out by a jeweler I would think.

 

[MadPoetLaw]

WOW -

That's one heck of a score there. I can only hope that would happen to me some day !! Great find ! Now what do you do with it ? well . . . .


With no maker / artist marks on it and it's rough condition I don't think I would spend the extra money on having a jeweler repair it - however , if you do go that route by all means have that jeweler certify and hallmark (with purity) it as solid silver. Get all that in writing because then you could very well advertise/ auction it for more than scrap value later even if it's not a famous artist's work. I have no doubt that some silver lovers would gladly pay a premium over scrap for it (especially if it tests out at .999 not .925) regardless of lack of famous artist.

If you enjoy it as a piece of art (not my taste sorry I'd melt it down today) as you said you did then you should keep it unless you really really need the money now. It's a valuable asset just for the scrap value alone and that will never change. There is no guarantee that silver will skyrocket but it could very well go up in the not too distant future. In fact i think it's quite likely it will in the next 1-2 years. And while you are enjoying it you still can always cash out relatively quickly by sending it off to a smelter in case of financial emergency. Consider it a savings account that will never lose value, appreciates automatically with inflation, and you get to admire it daily

For 5.99 you hit a jackpot no matter what you decide to do with it. You could tie a rope to it and us it as a boat anchor and still be ahead ! CONGRATS