Featured June Silver Purchases

What a fun read!
I have a fair bit of silver from yard and estate sales, but nothing like you have, Mr Nate!
You have a great talent for finding treasure!

 

I just shipped off a set of 12 butter knives to a local antique store. I doubt they'll be scrapped since there are a dozen matching. Surprised the keewap out of me, because they were in a silveplate silverware box at a church sale. That said, I've bought my fair share of pigs in pokes that turned out to be pig latin.

 

Awesome, Nate. Thanks for sharing

 

All fantastic finds,but I love the Roccoco sticks in find 7 . Was the tea set marked ? I couldnt tell from the pics.

 

I agree the candlesticks are awesome.

And yes the teaset was marked. They are going to be the hardest items to revive, I believe I spent perhaps 4 hours reviving just the sugar bowl; very happy with the results:

 

Pictures available to me only at the beginning of this thread, and the very end.

 

The photos aren’t showing up for you?! Hmm, you could try to refresh the page?

 

I have a question for you @MrNate.

In my travels, all of the silver items I have found were at yard sales, estate sales and thrift stores. I have paid very little for most of them, even though they are clearly marked "Sterling" on the bottom.

What is your opinion on this?
The seller somehow doesn't see the word 'sterling' ?
Or the seller doesn't understand what the word means?
They don't bother to flip the item over to see what's written on the underside?

Their loss is my gain, but I often wonder about the mental capacity of some sellers.

Since you find so much sterling out there, I'm wondering what your opinion is on this subject.
Thanks again!

 

Fantastic ! i love silver,but i confess polishing isnt my thing. Wich is odd considering i clean everything ! Again,Id give anything to see your vault ! Just to sit and envy .

 

This is an interesting question, and one that I think about quite often. Let me first answer your question directly, and then I’ll try to answer my thoughts from a bigger picture perspective on what is occurring.

In my opinion, people selling items or donating them to a thrift store I believe generally fall into three categories as to why they giveaway silver for free or price it very low. Reason number one: they don’t actually know what they have. Reason number two: they know what they have but they don’t know what it’s worth. Reason number three: they know what they have and they know what it’s worth, but they are focused on reducing/getting rid of items to live a simpler life

Here is the bigger answer perhaps a bit more philosophic on why this occurs. First, and foremost, we must recognize that if we want to buy goods or services, we have to engage in markets. Similarly, if we want to sell goods and services, we need to establish or join existing markets. In order for any market to exist, there must be at least one willing buyer and one willing seller. So both sides enter the market with a willingness to purchase goods or a willingness to sell goods. For a transaction to occur in a market, both parties must be accepting of the price. Now here is where it gets interesting: most markets, and most especially used markets, have imperfect information. What do I mean by that? What I mean is that a buyer in a market won’t know everything about the value of item or the condition of an item or the collect ability of an item. Similarly, many sellers won’t know the value of an item, won’t truly know the condition of an item, or its collectibility. Another example of imperfect information is an item may be properly marked, and very easy for you and me to see with our own eyes , but the seller may not see the same thing even though to us and our level of expertise it seems incredibly obvious.

Generally speaking, the higher value of an item, the lower the probability of imperfect information in those markets. It would be very unlikely for someone to sell a house for $10, not realizing the true value of this item, however, in theory it is possible. And so because Silver is of relatively high value, the probability of market imperfections is much lower, but absolutely not zero. And what that means is to find silver you have to go to thrift stores a lot, or you have to search the internet a lot, in the hopes that you will through high volume of individual items for sale, find market imperfection.

What I am personally doing when I am entering into the market as a willing buyer; in the long run of all of my purchases I’m seeking imperfect information and in exchange I hope to be rewarded accordingly for my time and my expertise.

 

I do/did the same thing with jewelry and other items. Once in a while, screaming steals happen when the seller just wants it gone and the buyer has just enough knowlege to know something is better than the price charged. And yes it takes time and work.

 

Just truly magnificent.
I can imagine the hours you must have spent to come up with these treasures.

If I may be permitted to ask,
How do you decide what needs to be scrapped and what needs to stay in your wall of treasures? Do you also send good items to auctions? to achieve a better price?

 

Happy to answer Roshan Ko,

Here's my criteria to determine what happens to an item I buy: I use the THREE C's:

Collectability: if an item appears to have collectability, it stays out of the scrap pile.

Condition: if an item has significant condition issues (ie big dents, damaged parts etc.), provided it isn't a collectable, it's going to end up in the scrap pile.

'Cause I like it: What makes it into my collection is bit harder to provide reasoning for, but generally speaking because I like the item. I'm typically hanging on to more intricate items as a general rule.

What goes to auctions: currently nothing. Admittedly I've only gone the auction route once, I dissolved a large portion of my collection a few years ago; I actually probably could have done better scrapping, it was a pretty sad experience so I doubt I'll go that route in the near future unless I have an item that truly needs a specialized market.

 

Pretty much how I chose things too, what few I find. Pieces with damage, missing parts etc or that weren't worth more than melt to begin with? To the pot wi' ye. Things worth money or I just plain like? No melting pot for those. Those weighted 50s wedding gift candlesticks, for instance go straight to melt. They're nothing but sterling tinfoil and are often damaged.

 

Don't know what to say. Read all of the above. And it's like magic. Abracadabra stuff.

Debora

 

A little bummer that the auction was underwhelming.

More importantly keep collecting and keep showing us the shiny wares you find.

 

Mr. Nate, silverware chests new are crazily expensive, so there's that. Silverplate in our region, especially the forks, is crafted into bracelets and earrings. Spoon and forks are used for wind chimes. There isn't much use for plain dinner knives. The more unusual pieces, like soup spoons, butter knives, seafood forks, etc., do okay in listings. I think you could make some money back on the silverplate items and chests. I have only found one sterling teaspoon, but then, I have found quite a bit of sterling jewelry.

 

I've seen the spoons and forks made into sculpture too, and I once knew a crafter who made perfume bottles of the hollow knife handles. The solid ones were a dead loss.

 

Oh yes, they do make bell charm pendants out of the hollow knife handles, too.