Featured Probably my best items of all time: post 4 of 4

Well, this is the end of the road for my silver reveal of epic proportions. Thank you to those who commented and took the journey along with me. I'll add in some additional information on this final post. Let's start with the background on the purchase:

-This sale was very typical of my previous online stories, and ultimately deals like this occur when experience and intuition meet timing. And timing occurs more frequently the more vigilant you are in your hunt. So in essence "LUCK" occurs more frequently when you have more experience, strong intuition, and you search A LOT. That's the basic three ingredients you need, put those together and you're going to get lucky more and more!

So for this particular purchase, as soon as I saw pictures of these items, I starting inquiring. Initially I was hoping the seller could provide additional photos, but I quickly realized that might be a mistake because the seller wouldn't be able to get me photos until the next day and who knows what would happen if the item were up for grabs until the next day. Initially, I really didn't have a clue about whether the items were going to be plated, but I came to this conclusion that led me to purchase without additional information:

For the price of the set, I figured that even if the items were plated I was looking at a minimum of a "break even" purchase that I could resell even if I was wrong. So I let the seller know I would like to buy them, but I had to wait 3 agonizing days until we linked up. It was during the three days waiting that I decided to do a bit more research (even though I was buying the set anyways, I really wanted to know). The seder plate proved to be the easiest item to research. Here's what I found:

1. There's another seder plate that is almost identical, here's a photo of it:

https://www.incollect.com/listings/...es/vintage-sterling-silver-seder-plate-333661

Interestingly though, I could see on the listing above that the sterling marks should have been visible in the same general location of my piece (this is still before I could see it in person) and based on the photos from the seller, the markings weren't there. But it made me feel good, and with further research I found almost all seder plates with the wavy edge to be made in real silver. (side note: strangely, the link above is a completely separate maker and country; hard to say who copied whom...) So I didn't really need the research, but it was reassuring since I was making a leap of faith with my purchase, uncertain of just what I was getting.

With that story out of the way, let's turn our attention to what I consider to be the crown jewel of the collection, at least to me anyways. Of the items in the original listing, this was the one item I felt pretty sure it was going to be plated, because it was just too big and too heavy looking, "no way" said my mind. It was the first item I grabbed to take a look at in the collection, and my jaw dropped when I looked at the bottom. For about 30 minutes afterwards I felt like a kid who got the best Christmas gift on earth, I probably looked silly smiling ear to ear for quite awhile after that.

On to the details, I haven't been able to dedicate much time yet to the polishing of this lovely Italian 800 fineness vase/urn, but I can't wait to get started in earnest. I'm just in love with the size of it, and the statement that size and weight make. It stands 20 1/2" tall (coke can in the first photo for size reference), it's marked 800 AL ITALY on the bottom, and weighs in at a wonderful 6 pounds 3 ounces.

I hope that you enjoyed the items I've shared over the past few days, I really enjoyed talking about them and I enjoyed all your nice comments!

 

That vase is just absolutely stunning!!!!!

I will admit I had to scroll down to the photos before I read you description because I was wondering how you could beat the bowl you posted last night, but beat it you did.

 

That is pretty insane. So, you rob castles?

 

Lovely, Nate!

 

Castle robbing: no
Searching often: yes yes yes!

Not to steal away from my own recent post, but just as proof of my addiction to searching, I was browsing around just now and came across these...Sadly the buyer won't ship them so I can't get them....but they're online right now, just sitting and waiting to be found by someone local, hidden in plain view, waiting for a collector to see them....(to be fair, I don't know if these are actually silver, but I would have pulled the trigger and bought them just based on what I'm seeing). The goodies are literally right under our noses folks.

 

opium lamps

 

WOW, WOW, WOW, what a fabulous piece Mr Nate

I can only imagine what the wait was like, but seeing what you bought it was well worth it!!
Thank-you for sharing, I do enjoy reading about your silver scores/buys

 

Awesome.

 

Beyond fabulous !I want those opium lamps too !

 

***thud***** that's me passing out!

 

Nate, as USUAL, you DO come through with the GORGEOUS & FABULOUS pieces!!!!! You've got that "MAGIC TOUCH"!!!! Have you booked a room at Fort Knox yet??

 

Yowza. The best part is silver is antimicrobial. Bugs that land on silver die.

 

Your comment actually made me chuckle out loud. Unbelievable I know but I really got these!

 

WOW...........Mr N8...your arms must be sore...from just lifting pounds and pounds of silver !!!!

Who is giving away all this silver......it's just too wild to think of !!!

 

Fabulous finds!! This is what keeps us going. The thrill of the chase.

 

Amazing!! Well done!!

 

Nate, have you set a date for your museum opening yet?

Those pieces are all just exquisite!

 

Lovely!

 

Hi MRN8. Your silver finds are the best.

 

Thank you for sharing those wonderful finds with us. We have all managed to share some of the pleasure.