Official CHEAP Sterling-Silver Finds Thread!

asheland

Show off your scores here!
I’ll start with today’s find:
Sterling silver toast rack for $35 plus tax:
I love these!


The book was tared for a flat surface...

Kliao

Do you really want to get me started Nice find BTW.

CoinHoarder

Not a recent purchase. Bought these sterling silver spoons about 15 years ago from my coin dealer. They were just a few bucks each. Silver was dirt cheap back then.

Jimnight

WOW ... a sterling silver toast rack. That's nice!!

I'll find something to post.

USMC_6115

OOPS, not sterling..

ricko

That toast rack is a surprising find.... and all Sterling? Unusual indeed. I must tour our thrift and antique shops... been a while.... Cheers, RickO

asheland

Sterling or any similar purity is welcome here...

asheland

Actually this toast rack is from about two years ago. Similar price as Saturday’s, but a lot heavier. 8 or 9 ozs if I remember correctly:

Kliao

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PerryHall

@Kilao---Do you want to double your money?

Kliao

@PerryHall said:
@Kilao---Do you want to double your money?

Sure! There will just be a $3k shipping and handling charge

PurpleEcho

The toast racks are sooo cool !!

Kilao, did the seller not realize what they had?

abcde12345

@Jimnight said:
WOW ... a sterling silver toast rack. That's nice!!

I'll find something to post.

Jimnight

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Kliao

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USASoccer

I am always amazed how most do not know sterling?

Halfpence

This purchase was from an estate sale in 2018. Twelve large goblets of 12 oz solid sterling, and twelve small goblets of 7 oz solid sterling. I paid $20 for the 12 big ones and $15 for the 12 smaller ones. Crazy.

asheland

Great finds shown so far!

Weiss

Not quite, but along the same lines. I've posted it before, but it seemed appropriate.

I was flipping a house back in 2013-14. Kind of a crazy old guy who'd given thousands of dollars to a contractor who did 30% of what he'd been paid for, then disappeared with the money. The old guy had pretty much everything he owned moved into the basement of the house so the work could continue while he had moved into temporary housing. The work never got done, the old man got older, he got used to where he was. With no money to finish the house, and no way to put it on the market in that condition, his daughter and his friendly but estranged wife offered the house to me cheap, so we bought it with the understanding that they had 30 days to get all of his stuff out of the house. 30 days came and went, and they hadn't sifted through more than 10% of his belongings. Then another 2 weeks. And our work was halted because we couldn't do the electrical or HVAC work in the basement crammed full of his stuff. So we gave them another 2 weeks and we paid for a dumpster so they could just toss things they didn't want.

That 2 weeks came and went, and then another week passed and I had to give them an ultimatum: Things have to be gone by this weekend or no more access. We can't take on the liability of civilians in a heavy construction zone with bare wires and/or no power. The weekend came and went, with them taking another 10% or 20% of the stuff and tossing another 10%. Still left half of his belongings but they gave us the green light. They were done, they got what they wanted, have at it. So my crew spent the next 2 days trucking up stuff from the basement and tossing it in the dumpster. We'd just gone through hundreds of pounds and dozens of loads of musty old magazines and by this time nobody was looking for treasure. One of the guys just happened to miss the dumpster with a raggedy old suitcase that was locked, and this fell out:

Full Reed & Barton sterling silver Georgian Rose tea and coffee set. 85 troy ounces. Perfect condition, IIRC it was dated to the late 1950s or early 1960s.

We went overboard on the flip, unfortunately, and I broke even. It happens, it's a gamble. So this set was the only real money I made on it.

Never sat right with me, though. If they'd known it was there, they wouldn't have left it. So about a year later, my 7-year old son and I knocked on the then widowed wife's door and handed her this set. She was touched, but a little confused. Still. The right thing to do and I don't regret it

3stars

I don't mind ripping businesses that should do their homework, but ripping private parties is pretty low. Glad to see the above poster did the right thing, too many stories of people ripping those who don't know.

Weiss

I mean. I can see this type of thing in many different lights.
It's a pretty common discussion in the general coin forums: Is it wrong to rip someone? Or is knowledge power?

Say you're at an estate sale. Older person passed away. The family already got what they wanted. Or maybe they're 500 miles away and don't care. Or maybe there is no family.

The estate is turned over to an estate sale agency. They don't understand English hallmarks let alone German or Italian marks. They put $10 on a heavy silver bowl because they don't know that "銀" is the Japanese kanji for "silver".

Would you tell them that it's a turn of the century war trophy and likely made of solid silver?

If you did, would they believe you? Would they just slip a $10 into the pot then sneak it out to their car once you left? If you couldn't bring yourself to buy it, would the next guy buy it either with or without that knowledge that you have gained through years of study? Would he keep dog food or spare change in it?

It's a personal call.

Now what if it's a garage sale instead of an estate sale. Little old lady, clearly not well off. Selling her late husband's favorite items so she can continue to live on her own for a few more years? I don't know. I wouldn't feel right, but that's me.

Like my example above, where I found the coffee & tea set. I'd given the previous owners so many opportunities to take their stuff. For weeks and even months, it was legally my property. And I'm very lucky to be in a position where I didn't have to sell the set when I first found it. If I'd needed that money to put food on the table or tires on the car? Hell, I was lucky for the luxury of having it sit there for the better part of a year so I could really do some soul-searching to decide if I felt right keeping it. In the end, I didn't need the $ and I didn't feel right keeping it. But I wouldn't judge anyone else who'd been in my shoes and who kept it as a trophy. And I got to teach my son a little about personal morals and I got a cool story to share on the PCGS metals forum

Now if someone asks you to offer an opinion of price and you willfully call it worthless when you know it's a good piece? I wouldn't have respect for that. Likewise if something is priced high and you do something to manipulate them, like switching price tags or deceiving the seller. That wouldn't sit well with me.

But if you're at a thrift store and you find a silver mug priced at $15? I don't know. On one hand they got it for free as a donation. On the other hand, they're probably a charity. But on the other hand...

Kliao

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asheland

One thing I believe is: if you have to lie to get a piece cheap, that’s wrong. Or, if someone comes to me knowing that I’m a silver guy, I’m going to tell them what I know and offer accordingly. It wouldn’t be right otherwise.

However, a thrift shop, or antique mall... it’s fair game. They priced it and they had the time to do their research, and I’ll pay the sticker price there, every time!

I’ve put in lots of time doing my research and leg work and I feel ok with being rewarded for that.

Great story @Weiss !

Weiss

My comments were not directed at anyone, @Kliao. Just my own feeling and observation.
I've been in a brick and mortar coin shop when the dealer offered 1/10th of the value of an easy to value item. Was it wrong? Dealer has overhead: rent, power, time. But also years of knowledge. And risk. And nobody made the seller sell the item. Judging other people is a slippery slope. If 1/10th wasn't fair, would 1/5th be fair? 1/2?

Kliao

Sorry that I didn’t word it right @Weiss . I wasn’t mentioning you but another poster above. Sorry for the confusion

3stars

I too wasn't mentioning any one person, just a general observation based on numerous posts above mine. If you think its you, ask yourself why. Like i said, ripping a business who should be doing their homework is fair game (including estate agents, thrift shops, dealers, etc). Being on the other side of the table (dealer) and ripping people who don't know better are another issue.

johnny9434

i can really understand why we pick some of this stuff up. nice

asheland

Woo hoo! Antique mall find:
475 grams, $43!

Kliao

Congrats! Nice find!

asheland

@Kliao said:
Congrats! Nice find!

Thanks!

ricko

That is a great find.... at a great price. I had been searching antique shops and thrift stores for a silver tankard... to no avail... now with the price of silver way up, even less chance of finding one. I have found other silver (engraved) cups/mugs in years past... at good prices. Not so much anymore. Cheers, RickO

asheland

@ricko the tankards are tough to find. I do hope you find one! 👍

ricko

@asheland... You are correct... really tough to find. A fellow forum member got one a few years back, and I have occasionally tweaked him about selling it... But he is holding firm. Still looking though... Cheers, RickO

asheland

@ricko I want one from the 1700’s eventually. But I’m in no hurry.

spirityoda1

Well I have some sterling cat figurines , but they are not cheap... and a solid .999 silver tarantula...and a silver brooch.

ricko

That silver tarantula is really nice... the first picture looks like a real one below your hand. Nice collection of cat figurines....@spirityoda1.... What material are the green ones made from?? Cheers, RickO

spirityoda1

@ricko It is from a malachite gemstone. I like all the greens.

spirityoda1

Here are my other cat figurines...

spirityoda1

spirityoda1

I am the crazy guy. I have 3 real cats all males. Max, Gucci, and Normy.

ricko

@spirityoda1... I thought it was malachite, but there are so many imitation materials used now. Thanks for the reply. Cheers, RickO

spirityoda1

I also collect spiders (not real ones). I not sure if you all want to see them ?

spirityoda1

I also collect some Hot Wheels cars.

asheland

I found these at goodwill a few days ago... as the pictures show, it’s a language I can’t read, but they looked and felt like silver so, for $5 I bought the pair.

I remembered that some of the Asian silver is 950 and even sometimes pure.

My friend that has the coin shop across town was there right after I got back with them and he showed interest. He also has an x-Ray machine so I told him to just take them with him and scan them...

100% pure!? Crazy. He took them for a cool $100.
They were 4.81 Troy OZ. (For the pair)

Weiss

That's awesome, man!

asheland

it made my day a little bit better.

ricko

@asheland.... Wow... fast and good profit on those.... I have not been as fortunate in the shops around here. Cheers, RickO

Kliao

Nice find! Congrats! BTW the mark on them translates to pure silver. It's in mandarin.

asheland

Thanks guys!

asheland

JUST now.

Kliao

WHAT!?! I need to move to where you are