No money for guns because kids, so now...GOLD

[Modified]

Well, mostly silver.

Anyway. I'm always at garage sales and thrift shops trying to get out ahead of my wife's facebook feed, which tells her she needs to buy absurdly expensive clothing for our kids, so if I can stay one step ahead of facebook and just have whatever it is telling her to buy tucked away in the basement I can save us a bundle.

Turns out there's gold in them there garage sales and thrift shops! A lot of it. I've become super addicted to treasure hunting. Way cheaper then guns, especially since my gun tastes went to the esoteric, and a lot of other collectors have developed an eye for what I like thanks to the internet.

In the 7 months I've been at it I'm approaching 5 pounds of sterling, but the gold is slightly harder to quantify. If you were to melt it all down and refine it I'm nearly at an oz of pure gold, but of course its all 10k and 14k misc earrings and necklaces and anklets and such.

In any case, I'm spending roughly $75 a month on it since I started, and I'm already accused of being 50% Crow, 50% Pirate, 50% Dragon. Really though, it's just a cheap way I have found to scratch that itch for fine old guns that getting married and having adorable, but expensive, little poop and virus machines have largely denied me.

Anyone else grab precious metals when they are out and about?

 

[mtgianni]

Looks like great finds. You will do better up North than I would in the Ruby Valley.

 

[pawngal]

It comes to me. Where are you selling it? Refiners pay a better % the more you turn in at one time. Be sure to shop around. Some items are worth far more than the scrap value.

 

[Golddollar]

Well, mostly silver.

Anyone else grab precious metals when they are out and about?

Yep, and I'm wearimg them on my hands now.

 

[Just another 22 shooter]

My wife has an eye for sterling silver at rummage/yard sales. Rarely ever pays more than $1 for any of it.
She's even scored a couple of items with some 10K gold, cheap.

 

[Modified]

It comes to me. Where are you selling it? Refiners pay a better % the more you turn in at one time. Be sure to shop around. Some items are worth far more than the scrap value.

Hah, selling it?

I'm just piling it up. It's a lot of fun identifying the markings and figuring out what things are. Maybe I'll eventually sell some of it, but probably not for a long while.

 

[robvious]

I stick to the "semiprecious" metals...
brass, lead, stainless & blued steel, assorted alloys... the fun stuff

 

[Rudi]

Yep, gold, silver, lead, copper, and brass.

 

[Modified]

I stick to the "semiprecious" metals...
brass, lead, stainless & blued steel, assorted alloys... the fun stuff

Well that's my original hoard:

Not a lot of stainless though, nearly all blued. I think the only stainless guns I have any more are would be my CS1 and some Rugers.

 

[jscheck]

I've started investing in some sterling but from dealers. Local second hand purchases are hard to come by as most people know to look for silver or gold and don't give it up cheaply.

 

[boykinlp]

Back when silver was bringing around $40 an ounce, about 10 years ago or so, I sold some of my sterling silver and bought a NIB 1974 4" Blued Colt Python. I would love to do that again!
Larry

 

[Modified]

Things were getting out of hand, and my gun room was filling up with silver in every nook and cranny. So I started piling it on a table to sort it out, maybe scrap some of the silver.

Apparently not even restricting myself to silver from garage sales, thrift shops, and occasionally ebay (when they don't know that they have sterling), does not curtail my hoarding enough to keep me from filling up all available space.

The jewelry can be interesting, but the thing I am really having fun is with the old silverware. I think mostly because the markings can be fascinating in regard to the history they uncover, but its also just amusing to me to serve green bean casserole at Christmas with a spoon made in London in 1805.

 

[Golddollar]

T

The jewelry can be interesting, but the thing I am really having fun is with the old silverware. I think mostly because the markings can be fascinating in regard to the history they uncover, but its also just amusing to me to serve green bean casserole at Christmas with a spoon made in London in 1805.

Now that would be really a cool thing to see.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

I can't eat gold or load it in my guns.

 

[SweetMK]

I can't eat gold or load it in my guns.

IIRC,, the Lone Ranger loaded silver in his revolvers,,,

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Down at my local Metal-Coin Dealer - I've seen several guys who haunt the yard sales cash in. And one lady who's the manager of a thrift store.
He buys Gold and Silver and sends to a refiner. I think he paid the Thrift Shop lady $2k +. She had broken, orphan, oddball gold jewelry.
And I saw the fake 'gold' chain that a dude bought in the dark at a truck stop.

 

[jeffrefrig]

"And I saw the fake 'gold' chain that a dude bought in the dark at a truck stop."

I wonder if the gold chain was sold by the guys in the plain, nondescript white van that were selling the "Water-cooled" speakers in parking lots?

 

[THE PILGRIM]

The Truck Stop Scam is a needy - desperate traveler who was robbed, lost his wallet, or experienced some total loss of finances.
He needs funds to complete his trip and the only asset he has is his Gold Chain.
I should add it's usually at an off interstate Truck Stop - Gas Station.
That way most of the 'bargain seekers' aren't locals and a new candidates continually arrive.
So in desperation , he will sell the Gold Chain at a bargain cut rate price.
Or maybe it's Rolex. Or a Diamond. Emeralds are nice!
Out here in the SW it can be Gin U Wine Silver Turquoise Jewelry.
But in any case, you the buyer gets one hell of a deal!
Once I got two Fake Rolex's on a Squirrelly Knife Trade deal.
Since I was wearing my Rolex had no problem directly comparing.
The fronts looked pretty similar.
But the Backs- not even close!

 

[Skeet 028]

I buy silver and gold...other odd things We got a 1200 dollar floor lamp given to us at a yard sale....it cost 50 dollars to rewire it though ..My sister and wife bought a big bunch of "costume jewelry" for 5 bucks that they sold 300 dollars worth of silver out of. In our shooting/reloading hobby I buy 50/50solder and tin and lots of ugly pewter(85-95% tin). ..tin is 10 dollars a pound now

 

[Modified]

Now that would be really a cool thing to see.

Ok, had a few minutes, here you go:

This is the spoon I use at Christmas to serve green bean casserole. I'm not certain if the two headed eagle is meant to be associated to, as the symbol has been widely used, its very hard to say what it means in this case. I hope to find out one day.

This is a fine example of British Hallmarking, a system so tightly controlled and well considered that it is used by virtually everyone. These marks are from top down; The Maker, The Silver content (Sterling), The town it was made in (London), The Year code (1805), and The King (George III).

The final mark is I think a Journeyman's mark. This would be a unique mark that a silversmith would have that they would mark their work with so that quality and output could be traced (usually to calculate pay).

This is also a cool one:

This is a spoon from the California Gold Rush. It's made by one of the very rare west coast silversmiths, probably of silver that came out of the Comstock Lode.

Vanderslice and Co made silver for the well to do in San Francisco in the 1858 to 1908. Interestingly there are no markings indicating the silver content, but because of a very nice local pawn shop's x-ray machine we were able to determined it's 90% silver. Often called Coin Silver (the standard for American and many other country's silver coins).

And I just *love* these dang baby spoons:

It's for Welden!

Weldon was born April 24th, 1911, he weighed just shy of 9.5lbs and was born at 12:30pm! You can see where it was all engraved on and around the scale the Stork is carrying!

And speaking of Children's Silverware:

This pattern from David Andersen is just so dang neat, I love it:

And these cups are a favorite of mine too:

Cute little booze cups, but kind of bent up. The reason being they are made out of pure silver not sterling (which is only 92.5% silver, alloyed with copper to add strength).

Took me a bit to figure these out, but the CPO mark is the key. That is a stamp for the Central Purchasing Office, which the army set up in Occupied Japan from '47 to '52.

The pure silver thing is weird, but it makes more sense when you know that the CPO would acquire materials for Japanese artisans to make things for them. Whoever ordered this very talented artisan silver didn't know that he should order sterling instead of pure silver. So now I have a set of surprisingly fragile pure silver booze cups that I like to fill with mead.


Anyway, here's some closer up shots of stuff, I'm still sorting out so if you want to know more about anything just let me know:

I've been seriously enjoying the history behind the different pieces, the thrill of the hunt, and the pleasure of actually using such old objects for their purpose.