First Thrift Store Sterling

[Baltimore]

Hey all,

Well, I must say, after reading diggummup's insane finds o' the week this one hardly seems like much, but it's a milestone so I figured I'd post it. I was at one of the local giant overpriced thrift stores on saturday and I was browsing the heap of the usual silverplate trash, like one does. Among it was a small bag of silverware, a couple mismatched plate and brass pieces. However, in the bag was a cheese spreader marked sterling, so I bought it! The whole bag was 99 cents, so I figured what the hey. It ended up weighing one ounce, so I'm pretty sure I got my money's worth.

So now that I have something, I figure I might as well start looking for more! I was wondering, does anyone have any suggestions on how much silver one should accumulate before cashing it in? I feel like more is better when scrapping silver. Also, where would I go to sell silver at a reasonable price? I know pawn shops are a no-no, but I'm not really sure what my other options are.

Thanks guys, hope you all did well this weekend!

 

[vpnavy]

Nice find Baltimore.

 

[diggummup]

Good score and congrats, it all adds up. My insane finds were out of the ordinary for sure this past weekend. I've found more than one piece of sterling flatware in the piles at thriftstores over the years. Most people don't search to well, because you literally have to dump the whole container on the floor to search, around here at least.

 

[centfladigger]

nice find, I am sitting on my 108 piece Marshall field sterling set I found, Silver is low...IMO...I don't need to sell it....maybe you can use this to start you a pile and at a certain weight cash it in

 

[Baltimore]

maybe you can use this to start you a pile and at a certain weight cash it in

Thats what I was thinking, I'm a college student so for me personally money to pay rent is more valuable than a stockpile of silver for the future. I was wondering though, where can I go to scrap silver at a good price?

 

[centfladigger]

dang, too bad you don't live near me, I would tell you to sit on the silver and add to it and then come over and take a load of aluminium and metal to the scrap for rent

 

[Baltimore]

dang, too bad you don't live near me, I would tell you to sit on the silver and add to it and then come over and take a load of aluminium and metal to the scrap for rent

Darn, I certainly would do that! I have some friends that call me scrapper because I'm always keeping my eye out for a couple bucks. I don't mind though, when I make rent in a week from $100 worth of thrift store stuff they're pretty jealous! I probably will sit on the silver though, I don't see myself finding too much more in the near future.

 

[clovis97]

Nice find!

I can't seem to find the first thing that is sterling in any thrift store, or anywhere...and I look for it!

 

[jerseyben]

On June 21 take your silver scrap to the Baltimore Convention Center at 1 W Pratt St. That is the Whitman coin show and there will be dozens of dealers there who buy scrap at near spot prices. There are hundreds of dealers there who buy and sell coins as well, obviously.

Also, Ill be there looking for deals and shopping around.

 

[Baltimore]

Wow, great to know! I don't think I'll have much more silver by then, but that is a quick bike ride from my house. Maybe I'll stop in just to talk to some silver scrappers.

 

[jerseyben]

Wow, great to know! I don't think I'll have much more silver by then, but that is a quick bike ride from my house. Maybe I'll stop in just to talk to some silver scrappers.

I don't know if Silvertowne will have a booth set up but I have sold to them in the past. It is relatively painless and about as fair as you can get.

The cool thing about this coin show is that you can shop around and get mutiple quotes and estimates on your silver for free with no obligation to buy or sell.

I would say 90% of the dealers that I have dealt with at these shows are genuine and reputable people who you can trust for an honest assessment.

If you have any questions or need further pointers about it, shoot me a PM.