Thift store silver has become slim pickings

tamrock · Dec 8, 2025

This is all I've found lately. Every piece of silver plate has the price stickers peeled back by those who believe a mark might be hidden underneath. I came by this strainer spoon and it's got the Swedish 3 crowns, so that's some good .830 alloy silver. It's been modified by someone who cut off a fork or spoon and they soldered that strainer on it. This leaves me wondering what purity of the strainer might be. It doesn't look plated and its very playable and easily bends. Whole thing weighs 48 grams and I paid $5 and change for it. I think my scrap buyer might give me maybe around $55.00 for it. Ive already sold off a bunch of silver and that put a big dent on a $7K co-pay bill I was just hit with over some medical bills I've incurred lately which was a relief. Another neat little thing I found for $4 and change was this .800 alloy filigree silver pendant and chain. I'm not sure where this type of jewelry is from. Maybe Greece or Spain? . I believe its rather old and made in a technique that is thousand of years old.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filigree Even at today's silver prices this little 7 grams of silver is worth more than I paid.

Blackfoot58 · Dec 12, 2025

tamrock said:
This is all I've found lately. Every piece of silver plate has the price stickers peeled back by those who believe a mark might be hidden underneath. I came by this strainer spoon and it's got the Swedish 3 crowns, so that's some good .830 alloy silver. It's been modified by someone who cut off a fork or spoon and they soldered that strainer on it. This leaves me wondering what purity of the strainer might be. It doesn't look plated and its very playable and easily bends. Whole thing weighs 48 grams and I paid $5 and change for it. I think my scrap buyer might give me maybe around $55.00 for it. Ive already sold off a bunch of silver and that put a big dent on a $7K co-pay bill I was just hit with over some medical bills I've incurred lately which was a relief. Another neat little thing I found for $4 and change was this .800 alloy filigree silver pendant and chain. I'm not sure where this type of jewelry is from. Maybe Greece or Spain? . I believe its rather old and made in a technique that is thousand of years old.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filigree Even at today's silver prices this little 7 grams of silver is worth more than I paid.

Our thrift stores are the same when it comes to precious metals: barren.
I’m guessing the identifiable good stuff never hits the shelf.

pepperj · Dec 12, 2025

Well done on the silver. As far as getting anything from a thrift store up in these parts it's pretty bleak.
I buy privately or out of a local online auction site that handles Estate and Downsizing sales.
It's worked out pretty good overall, but one has to know the the spreads between the refinery is paying.