What Did I Win At Auction? ..
Silver! .. and More Silver .. I decided to break this up into two parts. For this first part I was excited to show you my favorite pieces. I like to bid on estate auction things, but rarely win. This time I did and I think I made out well. It was sort of a blind auction, meaning they didn't tell you anything about the pieces so this was a bit of a risk. $50.00 later the auction was mine!
After taking possession .. Of the box, I began to dig through the pieces I had won. With every new piece examined, I became more and more thrilled with my choice to bid. All of the pieces were silver; Most 925 (Sterling Silver) and some others possibly 800 Silver (80% silver). All in all total Silver weight came out to be 286 grams of the shinny stuff. Not bad for $50 USD.
I am thinking that a few of the pieces may be worth more if I resell them rather than their weight of actual silver content (Melt value). So far, I am not sure I want to part with all of the pieces yet. Some may go into my collections.
Let's Dive In Shall We ..
The Butterflies ..
How STINKIN cute are these??? .. These and the following item (the flower) are my favorites of the bunch. They are all 800 silver (I think) and not in bad shape at all for being vintage broaches. I am in love with all of the filigree detail work. I would love to display these somehow in our home, but not sure yet on how.
The largest one is quite big at 3.5 inches wide and 2.5 inches long. I placed a 1934 Silver Peace Dollar next to them to give you some perspective on size. The coin and the butterflies all have some really nice toning, although I am curious to what these cuties would look like all cleaned up and shining.
Here are the stamps on the back .. One says silver, another says Mexico and the other something then I think 800 and then Mexico. ???
Now On To My 2nd Favorite ..
The Flower!
This piece is also quite large .. At 2.5 inches wide and 4.5 inches long. The piece is also quite heavy for a broach, and I couldn't imagine anyone wearing it for any length of time. The filigree detailed work is also very stunning with this one.
Everything about this piece I love, even the toning of the silver. The pin portion of it is a little beat up, but still intact.
The stamp on the back I can't fully make out.. I see it says "MEXICO" and then something above that resembles the work SILVER but not sure about that. Maybe someone here can help me out.
The bad part .. It's got a broken off petal. uggggg. I am hoping my friend who works with silver can maybe weld it back on for me. I hope so.
Next Up Is Another Flower ..
This fancy filigree broach .. Is also a flower, but it cam with no stem, leaves or distinct petals. If you look at the center you can see the stamen and anthers, so I know it's a flower. Either way I still like the fancy design work, it's just not as cool to me as the other pieces above.
Again, this piece is unmarked but did test out to be silver. Not sure but I am guessing 800 again here.
And I Don't Know What ..
I have no clue what this fancy thing is .. But it is marked sterling. I am thinking it may have been part of a buckle at one time or another before it became more scrap than anything. I like the design, but really have no use for it. It will probably go into my scrap silver bag.
So What Do You Think ???
You can see that I also got a few chains and bracelets and other goodies, but I'll get to those in another post soon. Maybe someone can help me out with those stamped letters. Those butterflies and flower are pretty cool, right?
“We only know a tiny proportion about the complexity of the natural world. Wherever you look, there are still things we don’t know about and don’t understand. [...] There are always new things to find out if you go looking for them.”
― David Attenborough
