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Sheikh_yer_BuTay
Penny Pincher Member
USA
232 Posts |
 Posted - 07/11/2010 : 16:23:43
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One of my neighbors just retired from the estate sale business. He has many, many pounds of old plated silver flatware. The silver plate is almost worthless because it is so tarnished, but the underlying metal should be worth something, right?
Most plated silver flatware used "quick-silver" to plate upon. Quicksilver is a combination of nickel and silver.
Is anyone here at Realcent a buyer of nickel/silver flatware? Is it worth anything?
I have a few old tea sets that are plated upon nickel/silver. I am also interested to learn if this is a good way to pick up some extra cash, myself.
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Ardent Listener
Administrator
USA
4841 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2010 : 17:43:20
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Nickel silver, also known as German silver, paktong, new silver or alpacca (or alpaca), is a copper alloy with nickel and often zinc. The usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc.[1] In fact, all modern, commercially important nickel silvers (such as those standardized under ASTM B122) contain significant amounts of zinc, and are sometimes considered a subset of brass.[2]
Nickel silver is named for its silvery appearance, but contains no elemental silver unless plated.
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Ardent Listener
Administrator
USA
4841 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2010 : 17:52:40
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tion: How do I know if I have sterling, silverplate, coin or nickel silver?
Answer: We have received many questions regarding the silver content in sterling, coin and silverplate; and how to tell the difference. Here are the minimum facts you should know when buying American silver:
Sterling Silver is 92.5% pure silver. The backstamp will include either the words "sterling silver" or "sterling"; sometimes will be simply marked as "925" or "925/1000". Some sterling pieces prior to about 1860 were not marked as such, and were not required to be, but American sterling earlier than this is uncommon.
Coin Silver is 90% pure silver. American pieces are generally marked with only the maker's initials or name, and are sometimes marked with the word "coin" or "C".
Silverplate is marked with the manufacturer or company name. Flatware pieces will sometimes also have the terms A1, XXX, quadruple and other words or symbols to indicate the amount of applied silver. Silverplate flatware consists of a base metal, usually nickel silver, covered with a layer, or layers, of 92.5% silver.
Nickel Silver has NO SILVER content. It is a an alloy made of nickel, copper and zinc. There are various tradenames for nickel silver such as Alpacca Silver (aka Alpaca), German silver, Afghan Silver, among others. Nickel silver was often used as a base metal for silverplated flatware, holloware and jewelry. Nickel silver items are still being made today in various countries and are sold here in the U.S. |
Realcent.forumco.com disclosure. Please read.
All posts either by the members, moderators, and the administration of http://realcent.forumco.com are for your edification and amusement only. It is not the intent of realcent.forumco.com or its host to provide investment, medical, matrimonial, legal, security or tax advice and nothing posted here should be considered to be so. All rights reserved.
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Sheikh_yer_BuTay
Penny Pincher Member
USA
232 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2010 : 19:54:19
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Thanks Ardent Listener.
German silver, not Quick Silver, that is the term I meant to use. I am sure there is a market for it. Just don't know how to go about finding it. Would there be any buyers here? I told my neighbor to come onto this site... guess he has not done it yet. I am enjoying the comments here a good deal! A couple of years ago, nickel was sky high! Too bad it didn't stay there very long. The nickel content of nickel/silver would be what would drive the price. |
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Robarons
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
522 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2010 : 20:03:24
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I would only expect to get scrap for such things hence you should call around. the most important thing is to able to prove to the scrap yard this nickel, copper etc.
I would expect you to get some kind of Cupro-Nickel price if not something better fot the nickel content. |
Robber Baron= Robarons |
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wolvesdad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2164 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2010 : 22:06:42
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yeah, I was thinking.... quicksilver is mercury... if memory serves me correctly.
But, you may have a hard time getting scrap yards to pay you nickel content, or even copper content....
If you know any of the managers/owners then you may be able to make some headway though. |
"May your percentages ever increase!" |
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Sheikh_yer_BuTay
Penny Pincher Member
USA
232 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2010 : 21:14:50
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quote:
Originally posted by wolvesdad
yeah, I was thinking.... quicksilver is mercury... if memory serves me correctly.
But, you may have a hard time getting scrap yards to pay you nickel content, or even copper content....
If you know any of the managers/owners then you may be able to make some headway though.
You know, I do. But, he relocated to his operations in another state. Funny thing, when I talked to him about hoarding copper pennys to scrap-out later once the melt-ban is lifted... he looked at me as if I had lost my mind! |
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Ardent Listener
Administrator
USA
4841 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2010 : 21:25:58
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quote:
Originally posted by Sheikh_yer_BuTay
Thanks Ardent Listener.
German silver, not Quick Silver, that is the term I meant to use. I am sure there is a market for it. Just don't know how to go about finding it. Would there be any buyers here? I told my neighbor to come onto this site... guess he has not done it yet. I am enjoying the comments here a good deal! A couple of years ago, nickel was sky high! Too bad it didn't stay there very long. The nickel content of nickel/silver would be what would drive the price.
The best market for it might be to scrap it back to the companies that are still producing German silver flatware. BTW, some casinos use German silver to make their chips. |
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All posts either by the members, moderators, and the administration of http://realcent.forumco.com are for your edification and amusement only. It is not the intent of realcent.forumco.com or its host to provide investment, medical, matrimonial, legal, security or tax advice and nothing posted here should be considered to be so. All rights reserved.
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Nickel/copper flatware salvage.
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