A quick guessing game

Discussion in 'Silver' started by MrNate, May 13, 2020.

  1. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

    Good afternoon everyone!

    I've been a bit slow on my posts and updates, lots of finds lately but haven't found much time in my schedule to share and post. This one is a quick game for those interested. Here's the rules:

    1. Pick from the three items in the photos.
    2. Rank from most likely to least likely silver
    3. Do you think you could gamble a small amount of money (less than $20) on any of the items without extra info?

    After that I'll give the details (maybe sometimes I need to create a game where none of them are real to illustrate the countless listings I go through to find the goodies) ;)

    1.jpg 2.jpg
     
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  2. say_it_slowly

    say_it_slowly The worst prison is a closed heart

    Only the plain one, other two no.
     
  3. Miscstuff

    Miscstuff Sometimesgetsitright

    I middle one and the right one have blue-ish hues so I'm going for the left one as silver.:bag:
     
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  4. Frank

    Frank Well-Known Member

    I'd guess the plain oval is sterling, but not heavy. It looks modernish, and thin. The other oval looks plated, and the round one looks like an inexpensive trophy of some sort.
     
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  5. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

    Great guesses for those that played. Here's photos of the correct one. Some considerations:

    1. There's something about the "good stuff" that jumps off the page when you look closely. For me it's the tone and the "wobbly" looking shape of the metal that looks so different with something that's potentially sterling.

    2. Remember i'm finding this stuff in a sea of fake things. It's pretty easy when I isolate one picture where you know there's something real. The true skill is finding the one item out of 100's of duds, and being committed to pull the trigger on the purchase (I never asked for photos of this one, and got it shipped to me for $12 total cost).

    3. There's a few other good clues in the shape/design/simplicity of the piece contrasted with the copper looking oval piece and the round tray which has silver plate indications. For me the biggest clues on this one other than the items mentioned above is the uneven tarnish (a great thing), the soft glow of real silver (it really looks soft to me) and the shape of the design which was made to add rigidity to a soft metal. I hope you enjoy the polish job.

    4. If you want to try round two, there's a photo at the bottom. For those interested in playing, rank the items from most likely to be real, to least likely to be real silver.

    IMG_5317.JPG IMG_5318.JPG IMG_5320.JPG IMG_5321.JPG IMG_5323.JPG

    ROUND 2:

    round2.jpg
     
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  6. say_it_slowly

    say_it_slowly The worst prison is a closed heart

    #10, possibly 6 & 11 but can't really see well enough to guess.
     
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  7. bercrystal

    bercrystal Well-Known Member

    I agree with SIS, #10, but I will add #'s 11, 14 & possibly 12. I am also on the fence about #6.

    How much are we spending on this lot?
     
  8. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    I'd say likelies are 11, 6 and 8 in no particular order. The others:
    14,9,10,7,12,3,4,5,1,2,13,15
     
  9. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

    I will only answer the second question (so I don’t spoil the game before others have a chance to guess). I asked about one single item, got a photo that looks wonderful to me, and made a calculated guess to get 4 items (3 I don’t know if real or not) shipped to me, total cost was $55 (haven’t gotten them yet)
     
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  10. PortableTreasures

    PortableTreasures Active Member

    I'm going to go with: 11, 6, 10 and 14 as the four you're most interested in seeing up close and personal, MrNate.
     
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  11. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

    Very good guesses on round 2! You guys have great eyes for stuff. So the one that caught my eye was #10. I immediately asked if I could see the bottom of that one, here's what they sent me (might have to zoom in):

    IMG_5327.JPG

    So the entire batch was being offered for $50, but to get all that shipped to me would have been $$$$. So here's what I did. I offered $40 plus shipping to just get #10, #11, #6, and #8. I think I should have asked for #14 too now that I think about it, but I like my strategy. I only ask for the ones that look probable/possible. So I'm offering the seller to buy just a few items for a good amount of $$ compared to what they were asking for the entire lot. I'm betting #11 will be sterling (scrap) and #8 is probably plated but I'm hopeful (fingers crossed) that #6 is real. I should get it in a few days (maybe tomorrow??) so I'll update.
     
  12. PortableTreasures

    PortableTreasures Active Member

    Ohm what a great strategy--bit of a gamble, of course, but less so than to pay for shipping for the entire batch. So, just for my own education, why did you ask for #8?
     
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  13. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

    Thanks PortableTreasures. And for this one, there's actually no gamble (at least not in my opinion). A quick online search shows that Gorham 1328 Celeste sterling bowl should weigh around 7.93ozt, so just that bowl has a melt value of approx. $115. Getting $115 for $55= free money. But I get what you are saying, I'm gambling on the rest (risk free gambling).

    So why did I pick #8. My logic is I'm picking from items I view as most likely to be silver, without adding any clunky-ness to the shipping (since the other three most likely are flat I figure throw in #8 even though I think it's unlikely to be sterling it doesn't add to the size of the shipping). I definitely could have gone with #14 too but I was just trying to keep the transaction very simple for the seller. I want to find the prize (#10 is definitely a prize), try to get it for a good price, and get an opportunity to score a few more potential items without asking for any more details... So I make a price that is good for the seller, an offer that's easy for them to say yes to, and keep the details short and sweet on the reality that I'm probably grabbing the only goodies in the lot. But the seller still will do just as good (or better) than their original asking price of $50.
     
  14. DragonflyWink

    DragonflyWink Well-Known Member

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  15. PortableTreasures

    PortableTreasures Active Member

    Thanks for the detailed explanation of your reasoning, MrNate--given that you recognised the Gorham bowl as sterling then you were on a sure bet--well done!

    And yes, Cheryl, I went back and forwards on #14, but it looked like Towle sterling to me and therefore worth a punt.
     
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  16. J Dagger

    J Dagger Well-Known Member

    I would take a gamble on 4 (weighted prob), 6, 8, and maybe 9. 9 looks weird but worth a few bucks gamble. Nice eye on the Gorham.
     
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  17. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

    They say you are supposed to retire on top, so maybe it's my time! Happy to report that all four items were received, and an amazing/impossible guess of the goodies happened because all four were sterling! What a great way to start the weekend, here's the photos:

    IMG_5328.JPG IMG_5329.JPG IMG_5330.JPG IMG_5331.JPG IMG_5332.JPG IMG_5333.JPG IMG_5334.JPG IMG_5335.JPG IMG_5336.JPG IMG_5337.JPG
     
  18. PortableTreasures

    PortableTreasures Active Member

    Oh well done!! Thanks for the update!
     
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  19. cxgirl

    cxgirl Well-Known Member

    ack, totally missed this thread, I love playing these guessing games:)
    Great scores Mr Nate, they look beautiful all polished up:)
     
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  20. J Dagger

    J Dagger Well-Known Member

    Bravo
     
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