Featured Mr. Nate's College of Silver Knowledge

Lesson #1 - Always check out boxes of silver plate.

I was at a thrift Wednesday and stopped at a box of silver plate. On top I saw something that caught my eye:



Lesson #2 - Uneven tarnishing and a slight golden color is promising.

So I fish out my trusty travel loupe that folds flat and fits in the change compartment of my wallet. The marks are very small, I couldn't read them without it:



Lesson #3 - Check the whole box.

BINGO! A coffee pot, tea pot, sugar and creamer for $7.00.




Thank you Mr. Nate, I would never have looked in the box but for your posts

 

Way to go Marie!!!

How many times has it been said on this forum as well as the old eBay boards "I would have walked right by ----- if I had not seen the post here"?

 

Congrats, Marie!

 

Fantastic! Well done.

 

Wow!

 

All kudos go to Mr. Nate for generously sharing his know how

 

Nice! If you don't know the maker yet, see '20 AL', Ricci & C, here:

http://www.silvercollection.it/SILVERSMITHSAL1.html

~Cheryl

 

OOOHHH! Thank, you so much Cheryl, I didn't have a clue where to look

 

Score!!! I'm jealous!

 

I replied in guest mode and don't know if it's showing up. So I'll reply again...

WOWZAS! That's about $1,400 worth of shiny. Silver spot price has just about doubled in the past month. You may have known that, but if not there is no time like the present to sell if you plan to. CONGRATS!

 

Thank you everyone, I feel like I scored bower ball

 

Wow, so wonderful. Congrats on the super finds.

 

Marie!!! This is honestly one of the moments that makes me the happiest. I don't know how you responded when you saw the marks, but I imagine it was a feeling of pure elation. Personally I look back at my biggest finds and I know it's this strange coincidence of luck and skill colliding..like what if you visited the store the next day, would someone else have discovered the treasure already?

All that matters now is it's all yours to admire and it's worth a ton! That's a 'best find' in my book all day and everyday. Can you share anymore details of the story, were you nervous while checking out? I always get nervous the cashier is somehow going to magically figure out that i'm about to land a valuable score from their inventory....

More than anything, I'm just so excited for your find, that's a TONNNNNN of silver! You did it, you used your skill and snagged a monster!

 

One small piece of advice: If I were you (and assuming the store is easy to get to) I would recommend going back to that same store for at least the next few days. Here's why:

Let's say someone unloaded a bunch of items, and there's more than that set they donated. Often times stores bring out inventory at a random schedule, so you may find nothing else, or you may find over the next couple of days that something else from the donation makes it's way to the shelf.

 

Congratulations. What a find.

are the pictures after you polished them? Because they look pretty shiny to me. Am surprised that people let bling be. You are truly lucky

 

I share with all the above congrats.............

 

Thanks Mr. Nate, I will add this to my list:

Lesson #4 - Always check back at shop where you find a goodie, just in case.

About being nervous, no I wasn't. I find in charity shops the volunteers don't always know what 925 means, I didn't think they would know what 800 means. Plus the marks are very, very tiny and I bet they don't have a loupe there. She did say she was sure they were silver plate

No, I didn't polish them, that's the way they looked when I found them

 

Bad for them, good for us!
What an awesome find!

 

How come some folks have all the luck. No, seriously, that is just an amazing find and I am very happy for you!

 

Thank you