When the COVID was at its peak, I chose to stay home. I didn't want to deal with people looking at you like you had the plague if you sneezed, burped, coughed, hiccuped or farted. With free time on my hand and a desire to keep my mind busy, I set off on a challenge.
Sterling Silver
I had long since been aware that there are many household items out there in thrift stores, pawn shops, consignment stores, etc., where items from decades ago were made of Sterling silver. For those who are unaware, Sterling is a term reserved for silver that has a minimum purity of 92.5% silver content in it.
These items are usually tarnished and overlooked as just being made of cheap metal because people don't know what it is. Because of this, you can sometimes pick up Sterling silver on the cheap and either send it to a refiner to melt down, or sell it at a high markup to those looking to buy Sterling silver items. Those who do know the true value of these items will often spend anywhere from $1 per gram of weight or more.
The Hunt
Since I didn't want to bother with paranoid people, I set my sights towards online auctions on eBay. Sure enough, there were miscellaneous lots of jewelery, utensils, cups, etc., all made of Sterling silver. Some were overpriced, but if you looked hard enough you'd find some priced far below melt value. I quickly set to snatching up auctions whenever I found them.
Adding to My Stack
The nice pieces I resold for cash and used the money to buy silver bullion. That part was easy enough to find buyers online. I even found a $200 Sterling necklace with blue and white sapphires in a jewlery lot I paid $50 for, and happily resold it. It even had the tag still attached! There was no shortage of nice Sterling silver to resell.
The Rejects
There were quite a few pieces that were too broken, dented, scuffed, etc., to resell at a profit. For those pieces, I turned to Prospector's Gold and Gems to refine the pieces into 999 silver. Since I had quite a bit to refine, I was able to get a very good amount of refined silver back from them.
The best part was the profit made from selling the premium pieces paid for the majority of the cost to purchase the lots, ship items out, etc. This meant the cost for the refined bars I got back ended up costing maybe $1 above spot price.
The bars you get back from Prospector's Gold and Gems look really nice. They are very reputable, so reselling their poured bars takes no effort. I once sold 5x 10oz bars they poured for me within a few hours of posting them for sale.
Final Thoughts
Scouring stores and online for Sterling silver was fun. It did, however, take up a lot of extra time. On the other hand, it did allow me to add a nice amount of cheap silver to my stack. If you have the time, know where to look and what to look for, it can be both a fun and profitable adventure!
Each month, I give away a $1 Goldback or 4 HBD. The winner gets to choose.
Note: Some countries may have prohibitively expensive shipping or delivery, which may not be feasible. I reserve the right to award the winner 4 HBD instead of a Goldback at my discretion.
Not sure what a goldback is? Click here to find out more about them.
How The Reblog Lottery Works
- Follow me. (If you're not a follower, you won't be entered into the drawing)
- Look for "Reblog lottery" in any of my post titles.
Make sure it's for the current contest month, and is 6 days old or less, and click "Reblog".
(Reblogging an older post will not get you an entry) - An upvote is appreciated but not required, and does not give you additional entries.
- You'll get one entry for each qualifying article you reblog this way.
- At the end of the month I'll enter your name into the drawing and pick a winner at random.
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