Hey all, I have a few pieces of silver plated copper items that were given to me to sell at yardsales. I have had several but cant sell them, not even for 2$ a piece. If I were to scrap them what would they fall under? dirty copper?
thanks
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Hey all, I have a few pieces of silver plated copper items that were given to me to sell at yardsales. I have had several but cant sell them, not even for 2$ a piece. If I were to scrap them what would they fall under? dirty copper?
thanks
Usually number 2 copper, that's what I get for it.
Yes, Brandon is right #2 instead of #1. I find it ironic that you can devalue something by silver plating it.
A few years ago I had 300 lbs of thick bus bars all silver plated. I tried to find ways of removing it, but aside from grinding the heck out if it nothing worked. In the end I just wound up taking it in as is and getting #2 price for it.
FYI one of the cash for gold type places near me started buying silver plated items for $1 per lb.
One of the yards I go to has a category for "Sheet copper," that's what my silver-plated copper stuff usually falls into.
Is it actually silver? I get a fair amount of copper wire that my yard calls "solder-coat". Some insulated, some bare. Always number #2 copper. Not saying yours isn't silver, just throwing my experience out there.
#2 copper is around $2.50, I would buy it all day long at $1 a pound!Quote:
Originally Posted by Pnutfarmer
If you have tableware or something like that, then it is called "german silver". It could even be stamped as such. I believe now manufacturers are not allowed to label as that because of some confusion regarding quantity and purity of the silver. All that I've gotten has been resold or scrapped as #2
Older tableware and cutlery are made from a copper/nickel/zinc alloy, commonly called German silver or nickel silver (among other names) (I am discounting stainless cutlery here)
The nickel in the alloy makes it a hard alloy that allows a durable cutting edge on knives, stops it bending the fork legs, and also aids in the electroplating of a thin layer of silver over the top.
It is an almost "white" copper alloy and any scratches to the silver plating can be almost invisible because the base metal is so similar to the plating layer.
There is no silver in the alloy, just a layer of silver as the plating. Pure silver is just too soft to use for knives and forks.
Likewise would be the use of pure copper for tableware, its just to soft to maintain its shape or cutting edge, and would become useless very soon.
I havent yet seen a yard that has a separate category for this alloy, and here in NZ, yards tends to just class it as brass (my yard classes it as stainless and it goes in their staino bins)
I just store it up now for use in the foundry later, its a great "white" copper alloy to have.
Pnutfarmer - It's very "RICH" of them for that $1 per pound for silver plated copper. As they say "there's a sucker born everyday", that local gold guy is "SUCKING" them in.
pjost....I have some of the solder coat wire that I was stripping tonight. It's older wire with a tarry kind of cloth insulation. I believe the coating on it is a tin solder. The bus bars I've seen have mostly been silver plated, but they do make both silver and tin plated.
Bigburtchino....Immulmen.....yes, I sure wasn't advocating selling them your #2 copper at that price, just giving the info that they are trying to buy it now. The rest of the story is that I found some steel platters that were silver plated and took them in to sell for $1 per lb. I told them up front that they were steel and they told me they were after the silver anyway so it was good.
Hurrikane.... Yes, as snapperhead said, German silver tableware is made of an alloy usually of copper and nickel (and some other stuff). You're right that it doesn't actually have silver in it and has caused lots of confusion. I think CraigRets has some tableware that actually is copper or copper alloy that's silver plated. It usually says "silver plate" on those.
If anyone wants to send me a small sample please pm. I will add this to my buy list. It must be silver plated. Probably will take 1-2 weeks to get confirmation on what you have. Pricing tbd but much better than #1 or 2. Thanks
I know someone who went around yard sale (garage sales in NZ) buying all that silver plated stuff.
He got $4 a Kg....
The scrapdealer knew what it is, probably not the first time he had seen it too.
They classed as 'brass'.
I noticed its all stamped with [epns] , 'Electro Plated Nickel Silver'.
I gave all the epns I had put aside to a guy who uses a gas torch and silver solder to make 'Metal birds' with them.
They look really great, he paints them black with spray paint.
Imagine the feet made from forks and the bills made from spoons.
Imagine a pelican or stork for the best shape profile.
I watched a video of a guy who grinded the 75-90% of the silver plate off and then used acid to remove the non silver....anyone think about or try to do this before? I know it would take awhile to add up but when it did add up it would be decent amount of cash.
Depends on how much material you have . The cost of the chemical used to remove the base metal from the silver is expensive. Then you have to know how to get the silver back to its metallic state. Dont go by a you tube video. Most are incomplete when it comes to refining and you will be left with a mess and toxic waste that can not be and should not be poured down a drain unless it is properly neutralized.Quote:
Originally Posted by CraigRets
If you don't have the knowledge to do this you will be better off selling the material outright.
Is this not tinned copper?