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Hirbonzig
Penny Collector Member
USA
451 Posts |
 Posted - 06/05/2009 : 17:00:41
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Is it worth buying silverplated flatware and serving platters I found at a yard sale at 25 cents per flatware item and $3.00 for each serving platter? What is the most common base metal under silverplated items and how much silver is there in silverplate-my guess is not much.
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Sharkman
Penny Sorter Member
USA
49 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2009 : 17:23:06
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Well I am not an expert but if it looks really old than it may be Sheffield plate, which is silver plated copper. There is something else called German silver aka Nickel silver which is, you guessed it, made of nickel along with copper and zinc. There is a market for metalware regardless of content. Older and rarer pieces command more money of course. The key is identifying the pieces. This link may help or try google with any names or marks on your items.
You must be logged in to see this link." target="_blank">http://antiques.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=antiques&zu=http%3A%2F%2FYou must be logged in to see this link. |
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Kurr
1000+ Penny Miser Member
2906 Posts |
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magnasort
Penny Pincher Member
USA
174 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2009 : 20:33:03
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I think that standard plate is 2 troy oz/gross teaspoon, double plate is 4 troy oz/gross, triple is 6 oz/144 tsp, and quad plate is 8 tr.oz./144tsp.
Ive done the math and used stripping solutions, the silver recovery is usually a wash or net loss by the time the chems and your time are factored in. The base metals will usually go as misc scrap at $0.25/lb because the recyclers dont do volume in the materials.
Use a figure of approx. 3 sq inches per teaspoon to approximate the ag value on large platters, etc using surface area calcs...
I still buy all plated I find and hold for resale value which I think is at least triple what you would get for stripping and scrapping.
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Magnetic sorters, no moving parts except the coins |
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Kurr
1000+ Penny Miser Member
2906 Posts |
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goldsilverpro
Penny Sorter Member
26 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2009 : 08:32:52
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Magnasort,
Can you outline the method you used to strip the silver?
Kurr,
The silver chloride can be converted to silver metal using sodium hydroxide plus some type of sugar. It is common to use light Karo syrup. It takes about 13.3 ml of Karo syrup and 20 grams of sodium hydroxide for each troy ounce of silver.
You can also use sodium hydroxide alone, without the sugar. This produces the brown silver oxide, which is decomposed in the melt to produce silver metal.
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magnasort
Penny Pincher Member
USA
174 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2009 : 11:02:36
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| The above method will work. I bought some SLS (silver leaching solution) from Ebay some time ago that is mixed with acid. Also an interesting discussion on goldrefiningforum.com about a 'replacement' method using only cupric sulfate, 5 day soak in a 5 gal bucket. Ive yet to try this but will in the next few weeks. |
Magnetic sorters, no moving parts except the coins |
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magnasort
Penny Pincher Member
USA
174 Posts |
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Silverplate
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