Three and a half pounds of sterling............

Last Saturday I came across a yardsale where the lady had bags of silver. Each bag had a number on it and a price. Like 12.6 and $225. I asked her if the 12.6 meant ounces and she said yes. I asked what kind of ounce expecting her to say she put them on her postal scale, but she said troy ounce (hmmmm, she knows something about silver) I said I would like to buy all her silver but I would like to test it first. She said she already tested it with Nitric Acid (hmmm, she knows alot about silver) but I could test again and if I bought all of it she would sell it to me for $10 per ounce. (hmmm, knowledgeable but doesn't keep up with the going rates)

99% tested as silver (937gr of sterling and 220gr of Mexican 80%) so I offered her $372 and she asked for $400 and I started pulling out the Jacksons.

She was happy and asked if I wanted more because she has a LOT of spoons at home. 

Most of these will be melted pretty soon but about 9 pieces I polished up and will be making a trip to some local antique stores. There were four pill boxes, two perfume flasks, a baby rattle and a tea strainer spoon that are just too nice to melt.

Wow! Wish I could find stuff like that around here.

Wow! Wish I could find stuff like that around here.

You just have to keep looking. I arrived at this yardsale around 10:30 and it had been open since 6AM I wonder how many people looked at those bags and did not know what they were. When I was checking to make sure all was 925 the ladies were saying that everything was fineally slow.

Too many times when I ask if anyone has gold or silver they will say that they did but it was the first to get sold.

Too many times when I ask if anyone has gold or silver they will say that they did but it was the first to get sold.

My next door neighbor's father is one of those little old men with nothing else to do than start at 6am going to yard sales. Not much gets by him. I can't tell you how many times I hear "I had some but a little old guy bought them first thing."

I can't tell you how many times I hear "I had some but a little old guy bought them first thing."

When I plan my route I always try to start with an address that says they have gold, silver or jewelry and I try to get there 15 min before they say they will be open. I am always out the door around 6:30 on a Saturday, do a 40-45 mile route and hit more than 15-20 scheduled stops. I also follow some signs to unadvertised sales. MY SECRIT??? GPS (wouldn't leave home without it.)

Last week I came upon a sale (followed signs) a table was laid out with obvious silverplate serving pieces. I bluntly asked if the had any sterling? Nope just what I see. So I started looking at the marks on the back of each piece cause you never know. Most had a $1 tag on them. I picked out 4 I liked and asked if they would take $4? I paid and left with 16 troy oz of sterling!

Nice!
I picked up a bagfull of utensils from a buddy cleaning out his garage, but I think it's all plate. At least it was free.
Part of my problem is that it's hard to drag my butt out of bed that early....