Motherload of silver flatware at Goodwill

[jmb2email]

Been a long time for me to post something but... I stopped by my local goodwill and thought I would try out searching for Silver in the flatware. They had a very small amount of cheap flatware so I made my way to the back of the store and happened to find the manager sorting stuff. Asked her if they had any in the back... "yeah, we have a lot, its a bit dirty". She brings out a massive tub and I start digging. Almost immediately I found huge areas of Silver. Long story short, I pulled 11 pounds of 4-5 brands. Looks like there may be almost one complete set too.

My question is this, do I try to scrap this, or try to sell sets/pieces on ebay?

Thanks,
JMB

 

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[jmb2email]

Forgot the pic and it only cost me $11

 

[ecmjamsit]

The bay will give you more per piece.

 

[ScubaDetector]

All silver utensils have sterling or 925 on them. I hope you have solid silver and not silver plate. If you do looks like you made a killing!

 

[kurtak]

All silver utensils have sterling or 925 on them. I hope you have solid silver and not silver plate. If you do looks like you made a killing!

That is correct - real "silver" flatware by law has to be marked with ether the word sterling - or the number 925 --- 925 & sterling are the same thing - the 925 is the purity of the sterling silver alloy (92.5% silver) the remainder (7.5%) is copper alloyed with the silver to make it hard so it doesn't bend easy when used

If it is marked with the words Rogers, Community, Embassy, Oneida (just to name a few) it is silver plate --- in other words - no word sterling or no number 925 means it is plated & not real (solid) silver

Also - if it is marked with the words Nickel Silver or German Silver or Brazil Silver there is absolutely NO silver in it at all - all 3 of those are the same thing - they are an alloy of nickel & copper - the nickel in the alloy bleaches the copper white giving it an appearance of silver - but there is NO silver

Letters like EPNS means it is silver electroplated on the base metal alloy of nickel/copper (or Nickel Silver)

There are "some" exceptions to real silver flatware not being marked with ether sterling or 925 but that goes back to 17th century silver flatware that was marked with a "hallmark" (symbol) approved by European royalty for the silversmith --- there is some (symbol) hallmarked stuff out there that is also electroplated - so you really need to know (&/or research) the hallmarks to determine if it is in fact silver (sterling) or electroplated

Kurt

 

[trapperart]

Congrats and good luck

 

[kurtak]

Also I should add to my last post that you will be VERY lucky now days to find any real 925/sterling from the large chain second hand places like Good Will

Back when gold went up to $1,800 & silver went up to around $40 all the larger "chain" second hard stores where contacted by refineries (like NTR) with "contracts" to take all their sterling &/or karat gold "scrap"

They (the refineries) "trained" them for what to look for - so now - most "all" your local Good Will stores now have a trained employees that sorts though the flatware &/or jewelry - if its "good" stuff they will put it on display for resale "at a price higher then its scrap value" --- if its scrap - the local stores now send that to the area central corporate warehouse/office - which in turn sends the large bulk collected from the local stores to the refinery they have a contract with

In other words - the large refineries have made these places smart & it is now rare if not impossible to get "good deals" from these places anymore

Even many of the local "private" second hand shops have now been trained by the local "We Buy Gold & Silver" dealers &/or local pawn shops - so even with local private stores it is getting harder & harder to find good deals on gold & silver at these places

In other words about all you will find at these place anymore (if you are lucky) is "plated" stuff

Kurt

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Nice score, hope they are .925!

 

[jmb2email]

Also I should add to my last post that you will be VERY lucky now days to find any real 925/sterling from the large chain second hand places like Good Will


They (the refineries) "trained" them for what to look for - so now - most "all" your local Good Will stores now have a trained employees that sorts though the flatware &/or jewelry - if its "good" stuff they will put it on display for resale "at a price higher then its scrap value" --- if its scrap - the local stores now send that to the area central corporate warehouse/office - which in turn sends the large bulk collected from the local stores to the refinery they have a contract with

In other words - the large refineries have made these places smart & it is now rare if not impossible to get "good deals" from these places anymore

Even many of the local "private" second hand shops have now been trained by the local "We Buy Gold & Silver" dealers &/or local pawn shops - so even with local private stores it is getting harder & harder to find good deals on gold & silver at these places

In other words about all you will find at these place anymore (if you are lucky) is "plated" stuff

Kurt

I don't doubt you, however most Goodwill's around the major cities I am near cycle through employees about once a month. I'm betting that this is not as true any more. Especially since I decided to hit another Goodwill less than 5 miles away and found 4 pieces in their small bin. There are 2 more within 20 minutes I can go to try too.

I've got a new option sounds like, hit all the Goodwills for a bit... when they go dry I'll find another option I guess.
JMB

 

[kurtak]

JMB

I really do hope that what you got is real sterling flatware because if it is real sterling (925) & not just silver plated flatware - you just scored big time

There is about 14.5 troy ounces in a pound - so with sterling being 92.5% silver gives you "about" 13.4 troy ounces silver per pound at current silver "spot" price of $18.17 per troy ounce = $243.70 per pound X 11 pounds = $2680.75 --- not a bad score for an $11 investment

Of course you would likely only get 80 - 95% of that depending on the buyer (pawn shop - coin shop - "we buy gold & silver dealer" or direct to refinery)

The question is --- is what you got actually sterling - or is it plated - or some sterling along with some plated ?

In your OP you said there was something like 5 or 6 different brands

If you could post the brands &/or any other stamps/markings that are on the flatware we can help determine what you have

Kurt