Why is sterling frowned upon?
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Why is it sterling is looked down upon? I understand there would be refining costs to turn it into pure silver however 90% coins would also but it tends to be more accepted and sells better than sterling. Sure Us coins contain collectible value as well be that has basically disappeared since silver is high as it is. Seems sterling would be the better bet since its a little more pure.
Since most jewelry is made from Sterling couldn't jewelers use the sterling As is and not have to refine it? Must they start with .999 silver and add 8% copper themselves?
I don't mind sterling myself besides the fact that everyone else looks down on it. Great way to beat the premiums. It can even be had at a discount to melt many times. I've been buying Franklin mint sets with the Mini ingots made from sterling. Most gram & Fractional pieces sell for Large premiums but I can get a set of sterling ingots for $60 which contains 80+ 1-2 gram ingots. I have about 10 different sets now and purchased most at a very low price over melt. Figure they would be great in a SHTF scenario.
What are your thoughts on sterling?
Since most jewelry is made from Sterling couldn't jewelers use the sterling As is and not have to refine it? Must they start with .999 silver and add 8% copper themselves?
I don't mind sterling myself besides the fact that everyone else looks down on it. Great way to beat the premiums. It can even be had at a discount to melt many times. I've been buying Franklin mint sets with the Mini ingots made from sterling. Most gram & Fractional pieces sell for Large premiums but I can get a set of sterling ingots for $60 which contains 80+ 1-2 gram ingots. I have about 10 different sets now and purchased most at a very low price over melt. Figure they would be great in a SHTF scenario.
What are your thoughts on sterling?
Its all relative
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10k-22k Gold scrap always seems to sell very well in any form. Why the double standard?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
it does seem like a way to get it cheap...i think you'll be sending to a smelter rather than a vehicle to barter
<< <i>Why is it sterling is looked down upon? I understand there would be refining costs to turn it into pure silver however 90% coins would also but it tends to be more accepted and sells better than sterling. Sure Us coins contain collectible value as well be that has basically disappeared since silver is high as it is. Seems sterling would be the better bet since its a little more pure.
Since most jewelry is made from Sterling couldn't jewelers use the sterling As is and not have to refine it? Must they start with .999 silver and add 8% copper themselves?
I don't mind sterling myself besides the fact that everyone else looks down on it. Great way to beat the premiums. It can even be had at a discount to melt many times. I've been buying Franklin mint sets with the Mini ingots made from sterling. Most gram & Fractional pieces sell for Large premiums but I can get a set of sterling ingots for $60 which contains 80+ 1-2 gram ingots. I have about 10 different sets now and purchased most at a very low price over melt. Figure they would be great in a SHTF scenario.
What are your thoughts on sterling? >>
For the exact same reason gold has any value at all....its a psychological thing.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
What he said ^^^^^^
<< <i>Other than Franklin Mint art bars/rounds, I'm unaware of any 925 sterling silver bars. Anyone got any pics to share with us? >>
There are Tons of them. You can find Many on eBay right now from 1 gram to 100 oz+ They are normally odd weights for some reason like 10.42 ounces. Seems a lot are marked in grains, 1000 & 5000 grains are common.
<< <i>
<< <i>Other than Franklin Mint art bars/rounds, I'm unaware of any 925 sterling silver bars. Anyone got any pics to share with us? >>
There are Tons of them. You can find Many on eBay right now from 1 gram to 100 oz+ They are normally odd weights for some reason like 10.42 ounces. Seems a lot are marked in grains, 1000 & 5000 grains are common. >>
I wonder if these were produced during the great silver run-up when people stood in long lines to sell their sterling silverware and teapots.
Are there any sterling bars produced by the major refineries like Johnson-Matthey or Englehard?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
<< <i>I wonder if these were produced during the great silver run-up when people stood in long lines to sell their sterling silverware and teapots. >>
I guess it would be far easier to melt scrap sterling flatware and pour your own bars than it would be to refine the scrap silver to a 999 purity. Just a thought.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
90% = US coinage. 90% seems like an arbitrary number equally as random as 92.5%. What gives it its demand are all the reasons we've talked about on this board, some of which include: face value, fractional, trusted, known weights, known purity, numismatic, etc. It is money to many people. It's the coins, it's not the silver content. If it was the 90% purity that was in demand, you'd see 90% rounds and 90% 100 oz bars.
.999 = investment silver. It's as pure as it needs to be for good delivery on the world commodity exchanges.
...on the other hand...
Sterling = end use. There is no standard unit of sterling silver--forks don't weigh 1 ounce, candle sticks don't come in kilo sizes, necklaces aren't sold 500 to a bag. Because of that, it isn't traded on any commodity exchanges. Sterling has only a few of the features of 90%, and it's missing arguably the most important: Monetization. There is demand for its end use. But in terms of a secondary market, it's essentially a one-way street: smelters will buy it, and people will sell it to them. But few people want to buy it back from smelters as 92.5%, so smelters don't sell it back to the public.
Sterling is a one-way, end-use in the same way that 14k gold is an end use of gold. You don't buy and sell class rings on the Comex. Catalytic converters are an end use of platinum. You don't buy them from your brick & mortar. Sterling is end use for .999
--Severian the Lame
--Severian the Lame
The Franklin Mint left a bad taste in the mouth of collectors, and they were mostly sterling silver.
what a relief to have read that wrong
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