Featured A seriously good day hunting!

Hi Everyone!

It feels like it's been ages since I've been able to post anything good on here. The truth is, I've been working my butt off to find some goodies, they just haven't been there. I've definitely found a good amount of random silver lately, I just didn't think they were worth mentioning in a post. Well today, I had enough goodies in one day to share.

I struck out to go to as many stores as possible today, hoping to find silver and all the other things I buy. In the middle of the day I stumbled on four weighted sterling candlestick holders made by Preisner and Alvin. I got all four for $16, not bad but not amazing. Awhile later in the day I grabbed three sterling coasters for $2, I know it's not much silver, but I can't resist...

I arrived at the second to last store of the day, and cruised over to the section of the store with a modest pile of plated junk. This store has coughed up a few weighted items before, but nothing significant yet. I was searching one side of the aisle, and another gentlemen was looking at the other side of the aisle which also had plated stuff. Now I'm competitive when it comes to finding all of this stuff, but I am very respectful of others when I'm shopping. I have one cardinal rule that I never break; don't get in someone else's personal space even if you want to look at the same shelf. So this was the situation I was in, the guy was taking a long time and he was doing the same thing as me looking through the stuff for something real. But I stayed patient; as I was looking through my side of the aisle (I kid you not) I hear him mutter under his breath "gosh that looks like real silver"...now my interest is perked...does he know what he's looking for? Has he found something? Either way, I give the man his space and walk down a few aisles waiting for him to leave the area. After 5 minutes or so he leaves to go to another section of the store. I head back and start looking through the same section, and I'm not sure if it was the item he was looking at, but I pick up a large bowl and it has a beautiful sticker on the bottom that says TOWLE STERLING!!

At this point, my adrenaline is through the roof, because I've never found a bowl this big. It's 9" in diameter and the bottom isn't weighted, it's just beautiful hidden treasure. After looking through the rest of the pile and checking out the rest of the store, I head to the register to pay $3 for my bowl. All told, I paid just over $20 for everything I found today, it was a fun one, I hope you enjoy the photos! PS, the main sterling mark was covered up by a piece of tape, that might be the reason the other gentlemen didn't decide to buy it.

 

Less than 1c a gram - can't beat that! Nice bowl!

 

Great finds, Mr. Nate!

 

GREAT HUNTING!

 

follow that guy where ever he goes...........he can't read english !!!

Nice lot 'o loot !!!

 

Good on you!!

 

I can smell it from here ...well done...regards..pewter2;

 

can imagine the joy at peeling back that label !!

 

Wonderful find. The man with the silver nose strikes again.

 

It was a feeling of shock... Practically speaking, three people had to miss obvious signs of sterling for me to score this. The person who took it to the store to donate, the person who priced it in the store, and the other silver hunter. I felt pretty good seeing the sticker said sterling, but seeing the real mark on the bottom felt the best.

 

The nose returns!!!!! Thanks Any Jewelry

 

Nice finds.
Good Hunting.

 

even i missed the big sticker that says STERLING

just goes to show !!

 

Your respectfulness and patience paid off!

How on earth did everyone pass that by when it had that big ole sticker on it?

 

I don't know either, clearly anyone that collects knows that the word "Sterling" on something that is plated is generally a no-no. Here's my thoughts on why everyone else missed it:

1. There's plenty of other plated items, and this one had enough tarnish on it to "blend in to the crowd".

2. The sticker was partially obscured by the tape applied over the bottom (thank you, whoever put that yellow tape there). The full sticker would have read "TOWLE - The Proudest Name in STERLING"

3. I've spoken to a few other "collectors" and on the few occasions I've talked to them, most of the time I'm disappointed with their level of knowledge and attention to detail. Nice people, but not always well educated on the art of markings (trust me, I still have plenty to learn too). My best guess is because lots of items that aren't sterling have a sticker instead, that's what these people saw. They just see a sticker that says the brand makes some sterling, but this item isn't silver or it would be stamped sterling (of course it was).

4. My final theory is all the people who go to this store are millionaires and they don't have time to buy a 344 gram sterling silver bowl; much too busy looking for platinum, diamonds and gold

 

Oh, now I see. The sticker doesn't actually say that it's sterling, it just gives the ad line of "The Proudest Name in Sterling". I am as unobservant as the other customers in the thrift store...lol.

 

Gee the bowl came up looking wonderful. Really classy!