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Has anyone else considered purchasing silverware for PM investment?

tydyetydye Posts: 3,894 ✭✭✭
Since my SDB is on the verge of being full. And I don't really want to rent another. I was thinking what about silverware? Probably can be stored in plain view and 99 out of 100 robbers would not even give it a second glance these days. Most sets are an easy 100oz of silver

Comments

  • mkman123mkman123 Posts: 6,849 ✭✭✭✭
    When it comes time to sell them, your not going to get a lot for them unless you paid a very low price for them. If your not worried about money then they are great because you can appreciate all the hard work put into making them and the various beautiful designs some have.
    Successful Buying and Selling transactions with:

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  • zrlevinzrlevin Posts: 734 ✭✭✭
    I would much rather have silver in a more liquid form.
    Zach
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,122 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Since my SDB is on the verge of being full. And I don't really want to rent another. I was thinking what about silverware? Probably can be stored in plain view and 99 out of 100 robbers would not even give it a second glance these days. Most sets are an easy 100oz of silver >>



    I would think burglars would grab silverware along with jewelry, guns, cash, etc. Anything portable and easy to fence.

    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

  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I like the idea of owning a really attractive set of silverware with some caveats (off of the top of my head and in no particular order):

    1. It's sterling, not .999 or 90%. We've had a few threads about the sterling dilemma: It's more pure than 90%, but it tends to sell at a substantial discount to its silver value.

    2. It tarnishes. If it's kept in a good box it may not need to be polished but ever few years.

    3. Knives. The handles are almost always hollow filled with plaster or resin, the blades are usually steel. Buy them by their weight and you'll get burned.

    If you can buy it right and you know what you're getting yourself into, I think it's fine. If you're expecting it to be as liquid as .999 or 90%, you're probably going to be disappointed.
    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • tydyetydye Posts: 3,894 ✭✭✭
    I highly doubt that today's burglars would recognize silverware as being made of silver these days. The last burglar I saw steal the stuff was Bugs Bunny. Electronics, guns, jewelry, computers seem to be what they go for. Many dont even recognize coin collections as being worth more that what it says on the coin.

    I agree that silverware is harder to sell. My dealer offers 80% for it. But on the flip I can get it for under melt. Plus I can use it. Antimicrobial as well.
  • jsfjsf Posts: 1,889
    ugh, don't remind me. I've got about 60-70 ozs of inherited silverware I need to sell in a box under the bed. I'd sure rather have that $ in a coin or two...or, oz au?

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,122 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I highly doubt that today's burglars would recognize silverware as being made of silver these days. >>



    That may be true if the burglar is the kid that lives down the street with a drug problem but professional burglars know that silverware is made of silver and is easily disposed of for good money.

    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

  • ttownttown Posts: 4,472 ✭✭✭
    I have some just becaue I like it. The problem is determining if it's really .925 isn't it. We know that marked 14k gold isn't actually 14k but varies so it's discounted. If silver really jumps expect to see the discounts increase if there pleaty of silver to be had.

    I'm not sure it's really a valid question because this stuff is very high per piece new and most older flatware is collected and sells for more than it's silver content. In order to get a fair price you'd have to sell it to collectors, if they're only paying 80% then why not coin silver? Really anyone over 40 is going to know about sterling silver flatware so it may not be as safe as you think. If your in the habit of showing your stuff off their also might be more people that know about it than you think too.....hope you don't have kids image
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,122 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If you buy some nice silverware, be careful with it. More than a few pieces have been chewed up in the garbage disposal. image

    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

  • derrybderryb Posts: 36,795 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If you trade it for food you will have to eat with your hands

    "Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey

  • I saw the following at the Midwest Refineries site a couple weeks ago. Are these buying restictions typical for refiners, and how would anyone know what the actual silver content is before buying and stripping out fillers from the items that contain them? It would probably be fine for someone with knowledge in this area but I would have to learn a lot first.

    "Midwest Refineries no longer accepts any weighted sterling silver

    Some sterling silver items like candlesticks and pedestal style containers and bowls, are weighted with wax, plaster or fillers with steel support rods for strength. Dinner knives from sterling flatware, have stainless steel blades with steel support rods and filler that run through the sterling silver handle. The silver is then poured or molded over this material in the manufacturing process.

    All sterling silver must be free of all stainless steel and weighted filler like wax, cement, plaster, support rods and glass."

    Bob

  • 57loaded57loaded Posts: 4,967 ✭✭✭


    << <i>I saw the following at the Midwest Refineries site a couple weeks ago. Are these buying restictions typical for refiners, and how would anyone know what the actual silver content is before buying and stripping out fillers from the items that contain them? It would probably be fine for someone with knowledge in this area but I would have to learn a lot first.

    "Midwest Refineries no longer accepts any weighted sterling silver

    Some sterling silver items like candlesticks and pedestal style containers and bowls, are weighted with wax, plaster or fillers with steel support rods for strength. Dinner knives from sterling flatware, have stainless steel blades with steel support rods and filler that run through the sterling silver handle. The silver is then poured or molded over this material in the manufacturing process.

    All sterling silver must be free of all stainless steel and weighted filler like wax, cement, plaster, support rods and glass." >>



    that is a big caveat when buying any sterling sets for its silver content
  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I saw the following at the Midwest Refineries site a couple weeks ago. Are these buying restictions typical for refiners, and how would anyone know what the actual silver content is before buying and stripping out fillers from the items that contain them? It would probably be fine for someone with knowledge in this area but I would have to learn a lot first.

    "Midwest Refineries no longer accepts any weighted sterling silver

    Some sterling silver items like candlesticks and pedestal style containers and bowls, are weighted with wax, plaster or fillers with steel support rods for strength. Dinner knives from sterling flatware, have stainless steel blades with steel support rods and filler that run through the sterling silver handle. The silver is then poured or molded over this material in the manufacturing process.

    All sterling silver must be free of all stainless steel and weighted filler like wax, cement, plaster, support rods and glass." >>



    Like I said in my list above: Knife handles are filled and blades are stainless.

    The answer to your question of how would anyone know what the actual silver content is before buying and stripping is...you don't. Nobody does except the manufacturer. And I suspect they wouldn't tell you if you asked. Having hollow handles and steel blades is a good thing. Solid silver handles would be very heavy and cost-prohibitive. Sterling blades wouldn't hold an edge and would scratch easily.

    You would be amazed at how thin the sterling is on a candlestick or a knife handle. It's not quite aluminum foil thickness, but it is shockingly close (to me at least).

    I walked into my dealer's place back in October to find him just finishing up destroying an ornate candlestick. It kind of makes you sick to see it: piles of paper-thin bent and twisted metal. He was just about to start on its twin when I offered to buy it at melt. That's a 10 ounce bar of silver sitting at its base. With that in mind, care to guess how much actual silver there is in this candlestick?

    image












    5 ounces. And that's sterling, not .999
    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • OPAOPA Posts: 17,119 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Wow...& that's one reason the only time I use "silver ware" is to clean it once every 10 years or so & then it gets put back to accumulate more dust & tarnish. I believe my parents did the same thing and my heirs will probably end up doing the same thing also.
    Not worth the effort as an PM investment unless it came from the Habsburg's collection. image
    "Bongo drive 1984 Lincoln that looks like old coin dug from ground."
  • Mission16Mission16 Posts: 1,413 ✭✭✭
    Several years ago I bought a 8 place setting set with accessories for spot minus 10% (somewhere I have the invoice with the weight) of Oneida Damask Rose.
    We use it a few times a year 'cuz it is SPECTACULAR when polished! Especially in the sun. And it feel soo cool in your hand. Folk who have never held a piece of sterling flatware will comment on it's looks and feel.
    And my father helped design and build alot of the equipment used to make it. So it'll always be a neat reminder of him and how he provided for us when he passes.


    Oh. That said, I wouldn't buy sterling for investment.
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,122 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I wouldn't mind buying .925 silverware if it were cheap (melt or less) and I liked the pattern. Otherwise, forget about it.

    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

  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231


    << <i>I wouldn't mind buying .925 silverware if it were cheap (melt or less) and I liked the pattern. Otherwise, forget about it. >>




    Question: How do you buy an object for "melt or less" when you have absolutely no way to confirm its actual metal content in terms of total weight?

    Just curious.
  • calleochocalleocho Posts: 1,569 ✭✭
    I have one small spoon....I wanted one ..got one ...thats enough.
    "Women should be obscene and not heard. "
    Groucho Marx
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,122 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I wouldn't mind buying .925 silverware if it were cheap (melt or less) and I liked the pattern. Otherwise, forget about it. >>




    Question: How do you buy an object for "melt or less" when you have absolutely no way to confirm its actual metal content in terms of total weight?

    Just curious. >>



    If a piece of silverware is marked sterling by a major manufacturer such a Gorham, Stieff, etc., you can trust the silver content to be 925 fine.

    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

  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231


    << <i>

    << <i>

    << <i>I wouldn't mind buying .925 silverware if it were cheap (melt or less) and I liked the pattern. Otherwise, forget about it. >>




    Question: How do you buy an object for "melt or less" when you have absolutely no way to confirm its actual metal content in terms of total weight?

    Just curious. >>



    If a piece of silverware is marked sterling by a major manufacturer such a Gorham, Stieff, etc., you can trust the silver content to be 925 fine. >>





    But if that piece is a knife, then how do you determine what % of that piece is steel, plaster, and silver?
  • bstat1020bstat1020 Posts: 2,151 ✭✭
    Ever considered it. Probably never will.

    I can imagine saying this to one of my close friends...

    "Here look at my silver fork!" imageimage

    "Here look at my 10oz silver bar!"imageimage

    Just my opinion, good luck to those that do like it.

    image
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,122 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>

    << <i>

    << <i>I wouldn't mind buying .925 silverware if it were cheap (melt or less) and I liked the pattern. Otherwise, forget about it. >>




    Question: How do you buy an object for "melt or less" when you have absolutely no way to confirm its actual metal content in terms of total weight?

    Just curious. >>



    If a piece of silverware is marked sterling by a major manufacturer such a Gorham, Stieff, etc., you can trust the silver content to be 925 fine. >>



    But if that piece is a knife, then how do you determine what % of that piece is steel, plaster, and silver? >>



    When the silver buyers buy from the public, how do they do it? I assume they just estimate the knives are 20% silver due to steel blades and filler in the handles. Of course they could smash the knife with a hammer to remove the blade and handle filler but that would destroy the knife. The various spoons, forks, serving pieces, etc. are just weighed and silver value is calculated based on .925 purity and the current spot silver price.







    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

  • OPAOPA Posts: 17,119 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i> When the silver buyers buy from the public, how do they do it? I assume they just estimate the knives are 20% silver due to steel blades and filler in the handles. Of course they could smash the knife with a hammer to remove the blade and handle filler but that would destroy the knife. The various spoons, forks, serving pieces, etc. are just weighed and silver value is calculated based on .925 purity and the current spot silver price. >>



    They give you 10-20% of spot ....image (takes into account the non silver .. and what the refinery will pay...the refineries will do most of the smashing)
    "Bongo drive 1984 Lincoln that looks like old coin dug from ground."
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