I finally found some silver

[niffler]

After moving to the Oregon coast 2 years ago I haven't found much of anything worth mentioning at the thrift stores around here. That changed last weekend when I finally found a Mexican silver dish at the GW. I paid $4.99 for it and when I got it home and weighed it, the weight is 465.4 grams...14.965 Troy Ounces. Hopefully this is the start of a happy trend of finding silver!

 

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[tamrock]

Excellent Glad to see someone else is still out searching other than me. I was beginning to feel like no one else did this kind of treasure hunting technique anymore or they just don't care to share? So many have gone away on this forum. You know, this thing of luck does come along and one of the stranger things is I'll go and unload some of the silver I have for cash pretty much for no reason other than that. I feel a bit of sellers remorse after I do because I like my silver. Then almost instantly the finds start showing up and they're even better and more silver than I just unloaded. It's really strange as that seems to happen every time I let go of a little I end up replacing it with a whole lot more.

 

[Corvus]

The thrifts here have been weak this year. No sterling flatware or hollowware lately but nabbed a few 14K jewelry pieces.

 

[HistoryTeacher]

Don't know how the pricers at the TS missed that mark! That being said, my eye wouldn't have been drawn to the style of that piece--I've never seen a big piece of Mexican silver--great find!

 

[Corvus]

Don't know how the pricers at the TS missed that mark! That being said, my eye wouldn't have been drawn to the style of that piece--I've never seen a big piece of Mexican silver--great find!

I have. I held two large bowls in my hands at an antique mall. Both had the old eagle mark and the word "plata" but no sterling or 925/950 mark. Laughed at how anyone would pay $12 each for old silverplate. Guess who didn't have Spanish in school *sigh*.

 

[UnderMiner]

I have. I held two large bowls in my hands at an antique mall. Both had the old eagle mark and the word "plata" but no sterling or 925/950 mark. Laughed at how anyone would pay $12 each for old silverplate. Guess who didn't have Spanish in school *sigh*.

This. I have found rare pre-20th century silver from Russia, Europe, the middle east, and other exotic places in people's recycling bins. Some pieces having been clearly acid tested but disposed of anyway because whoever owned them last did not recognize their markings nor understand that less than 90% silver, such as 80% Continental Silver, does NOT register positive in nitric acid silver tests. It is without a doubt in my mind that millions of dollars in some of the rarest and oldest silver gets disposed of in this manner by ignorant people simply because all people recognize these days is .925 and Sterling. There are litterally tens of thosands of silver markings out there and silver qualities ranging from as low as 50% to 100% that could throw off typical testing techniques.

 

[Corvus]

It's a never-ending learning curve on silver. Just distinguishing pseudo-marks is a chore, especially since UK silverplate was often intended to fool consumers even in the mid-1800s. US pre- Civil War coin flatware isn't usually marked so one needs to get a feel for it. Not knowing their tower marks before, I only have some nice Danish pieces as I just liked their design. I bought them as plated.