Need some advice on silver

Not a good idea. Your gonna be taking something that is marked sterling and can be sold it as such and melting it into a bar that cant be sold till it is assayed. Sounds like a losing proposition to me. Unless the piece is hallmarked silver or sterling then its not. Rodgers is known for making silver plated items, go to any thrift store and look at the silver, 80% is rodgers.

Also the handles of the knives are filled with plaster or some other similar material and the metal covering them is very thin. Consider holding onto the sterling or selling it and buying silver coins or verifiable siver bulion. Mike.

Silverplate may have some decent scrap value if under the plating it is brass or copper. It could also be stainless steel under the plating but will probably be magnetic stainless. If you have silverplated spoons,forks and knives take a file to it or cut it in half and see what type of metal it is. You can pick up silverplated items on the cheap at yard sales and thrift stores as well. People do remove the slverplate form these items for the silver but there is such a small amount that it would cost more in time and labor for the small amt you would recover.

What is the point in melting sterling silver into a bar when you are not going to increase the value at all?

This is how I see it. If you are not willing to invest the time to learn, the effort, the energy, etc in first recovering the silver, then refining the silver before you cast it into a bar, what you are really doing is just spending extra money melting silver that is sterling, not 99.99 fine, into a bar but you will not get anymore from it.

If you want nice silver bars, watch on ebay. It's going to cost you between $35-$40 per ounce, but you will be getting fine silver, not sterling. In the long run you are going to end up paying less for the fine silver bullion, than you would if you spent the energy melting sterling silver. Also, if your silver is only 80%, and you want to sell it to a refiner later on, they are going to just have to re-melt it anyway to upgrade the silver content so it can be run as a silver proposition in a mobious or thum electrolytic cell. What is the point in the extra processing?

I have to admit there is something primal about pouring molten precious metal into an ingot mold. It's a beautiful thing, and I never ever get tired of pouring precious metals, not ever. But what you are proposing just amounts to wasting your time and money.

If you are serious about owning silver ingots, I can put you in touch with a personal friend who sells thousands of dollars worth of silver, on a weekly basis. He will treat you fairly and honestly and not hold you over a barrel. And if you are interested in melting your own silver, he has developed his own small jewelers melting furnace, and can supply you with that as well.

Or if you are interested in melting and pouring the silver yourself, I have about 300 ounces of silver shot that assays out at 99.998% silver, .002% copper, < .001 lead < .001 Nickel. I will sell you at $35.00 per ounce. Just let me know.

Scott

You guys are not reading the thread right, he did not say he's going to melt sterling, he is askig if silverware is solid silver. I agree with Gus some of the silverware I've come across the magnet does not stick and it does spark and it is too heavy to be aluminum, so I was thinking that it would be nickle.

Originally Posted by happyscraper

You guys are not reading the thread right, he did not say he's going to melt sterling, he is askig if silverware is solid silver. I agree with Gus some of the silverware I've come across the magnet does not stick and it does spark and it is too heavy to be aluminum, so I was thinking that it would be nickle.

Originally Posted by Motörhead

Are these all silver an can be melted down I searched high an low an can't find an answer. I know sterling silver is all silver but what about these ones?

Originally Posted by Motörhead

an can be melted down

I think you are right in that he is asking if it's solid silver, but he mentioned watching a youtube video about melting silver, I think he is asking about being solid silver, so that he can melt it.

Maybe he can clarify, and if I read that totally wrong let me apologize ahead of time.

Scott

Ive had alot of good buys at thrift stores and such but you have to know what to look for and exactly what it is your looking at. As soon as i hear rodgers i know its silverplated from my bad experiences in the past. Oh well, live and learn. Just because something is called silverware does not mean theres any silver in it.

how about silver contacts anybody know what to do with them?

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Originally Posted by Starmex

how about silver contacts anybody know what to do with them?

Untitled | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

find a buyer in the buyers section of the forum

Thank you

Originally Posted by happyscraper

The term "silverware" comes from back in the day when they made silverware out of silver because bactieria can not grow on silver. Today it is more comminly called flatware.

Silverware can range from a candle stick holder, vase, tea pot, serving trays etc. etc., while flatware is eating utensils like a knife and fork only the formal set contains so much more variety it's enough to confuse a person which spoon to eat your soup or stir your coffee.

Originally Posted by 79corvett

Can any body help with silver eleco_refining

What is silver eleco_refining, did you mean electro-refining.

Ammens book, Refining Precious Metals has a complete section on electro-refining gold and silver.

Also this topic has been covered in great detail over at the gold forum.

Silver from plated material can be removed with hot concentrated sulfuric acid, nasty, nasty stuff.

Sulfuric acid seeks out water, since the human body is mostly water any contact with hot or cold sulfuric acid cause severe burns as the acid seeks out the moisture in your body.

Best to sell your silver plated stuff and stay safe.

Originally Posted by Bear

where do you find those kind of contacts ?

high voltage breakers and switchgear, power plants and substations

Originally Posted by 79corvett

The question I have is making the silver nitrate how pure does it need to be also what should the anode and cathode be made of

For a silver cell the anode of course would be silver along with a few impurity's.

This is a topic that belongs on the gold forum where the experts can baby sit you from doing something foolish.