Is it too soon for another "Let's play a game"???

Today I have another game for those interested in participating. And thank you for all the participants of the last game, that was REALLY fun! If you choose to play, please be sure to do your best to follow the rules so we don't spoil it for others. It turns out the rules for this game are the same as the last, so here's a refresher:

1. Look at the photos for any valuable indicators/clues that these could be good/bad
2. Use your intuition, or search engine skills, or any other piece of info you need to try to figure out if these are worth your time.
3. Consider the following question: with only the info above and the photos below, do you have the gambling spirit to pay $100 for the group?

Here's the ways to respond once you have done the steps above so we don't spoil it for other guesses, please respond with one of the following options:

1. I would buy, but I'm not sure why
2. I would buy, and I think I know why
3. I would buy, I know why, and I know a country too!
4. I wouldn't buy

Good luck!!!!

 

I would buy and I think I know why.

 

never too soon for another game Mr Nate
#2 I would buy and I think I know why

 

WOW, those photos are really tough, especially the ones with the texture of the plastic reflected in the silver! I go for #2 also, I don't know a lot but I have a feeling.

 

I would buy even though I don’t think all of these are silver, but happy to be proved wrong.

 

Great comments and guesses so far, I think I'll leave the contest open until tomorrow night and then we can make observations etc.

 

@komokwa @Lucille.b another silver game to play

 

Thanks for everyone that participated and looked at the photos, would you guys like to share your observations on why you think it's a good buy at $100 and then I can reveal all the details?

 

ok, I'll go first
in the 1st photo, I think the tray in the centre and the tray to the right of that one are silver/sterling, to me they have the right look. The one to the right seems to have a hammered finish on it? It does have a thick edge, but still think silver.
I don't think the large, heavy tray with trim or the serving piece on top of it are sterling (2nd photo) - hope I'm wrong on those two, that would be a heck of a score

 

I just like the overall color and uneven tarnish, hoping the big tray is silver also, but am prepared to be wrong about that

 

I thought most seemed thin enough apart from the large tray with the trim as cxgirl said and I wasn’t sure about the dish with the lid either.

 

Hi everyone,

Great responses from those that chose to participate in this game. I like all of your observations, and the details you observed in the photos. There was one clue I was really hoping someone would uncover, but I'm happy to share what I saw. The assessment you've made about the tone/thickness etc. of the pieces is really good, but it turns out that to make the leap of faith for $100, I needed to rely on one very important observation that hasn't been discussed.

With that in mind, I will tell you that to purchase this group, I relied exclusively on my observation and knowledge of the large tray with handles. It's interesting that this was the piece that I think a lot of people ruled out, I suspect due to it's bulky shape and some rough features (perhaps I've done too good of a job saying thin silver is a good sign because that's not 100% accurate). So while my eyes definitely saw the promise in the other trays in the photographs, this was the only item I considered in my decision to make the purchase.

So what are the critical clues about this tray? Well the moment that I looked at this tray, I was firmly convinced it was going to be made in Mexico based on a number of style factors:

1. The edging style is very typical of Mexican silver items
2. It also helps to understand that much of the Mexican silver produced violates the "thin rule" of silver; much of the silver produced was bulky/heavy/chunky.
3. So armed with this knowledge that the tray was likely made in Mexico, I set off on google to confirm how often these trays are silver-plated. My observation is they are rarely/never plated when they look like this, and much much much more often sterling silver.

So.....I took the plunge and here's what I received (pre-polish); all other items in the photos turned out to be plated. I'll have post polish photos up in a few minutes.

 

So with this find, 2021 has obviously started off nicely in my hunt for silver! Here's a few extra observations and then the polished photos of the tray.

-I had an interesting observation when I picked up the collection; for those familiar with acid testing silver, you know the professional way to test silver is to take a scrape sample, to test the scrape sample and observe the color using a paper towel. Well, the "fast" but destructive way to test items is to apply acid directly on the metal. For all the trays without handles, someone had previously tested with acid (likely the person I bought them from) but for some reason hadn't acid tested the tray....

-I'm just guessing here, but if there was any reason they wouldn't have tested the tray, it's because of the beautiful word PLATA. Notice the marks on the back of the tray say PLATA at the bottom? Well let's start by saying that these marks are very clearly STERLING silver marks; the mark on the bottom left "169" is the registered maker number for silver export, and the eagle on the right indicates this tray was made in Mexico City (credit to spratlingsilver website: http://www.spratlingsilver.com/hallmarks.htm for teaching me this). So my theory, and absolutely just a guess, is that seeing the word PLATA they assumed PLATED, but in Spanish PLATA = SILVER!!!

The lesson to me is that tuning your eyes to identify regions and styles of manufacturing can lead to tremendous purchases. I hope you've enjoyed the details, here's the 2,560 gram tray all shined up:

 

Great game! Look like we all would have won - but for the wrong reason

 

Doh! I Couldn’t have been more wrong!
Something similar to your Plata mark, I do remember seeing EP marked on a silver egg cup. Dismissed by the Charity shop as Electro Plated they had ignored the passant lion and the EP was the maker.

 

I didn't see the game until about 5 minutes ago, but that tray sent my antennae up too. The handles didn't look like the usual silver-plated $2/pound junk. The fondue/warmer thingies are almost never silver. The other platters were all no-gos?

 

That’s right, all the other platters were plated. I thought they looked great too, but that’s just the way it is sometimes. Obviously there’s no reason for me to complain with the tray.

 

You did great with your comments houseful. The other pieces were very promising looking to me. So if you concluded this set had potential, you did great.

 

I once found some little dishes/ashtrays/whatsits in a thrift. Not a mark to their name, but I had a hunch. They looked right, felt right, and (pre-Covid masks) smelled right. When I asked the price since they were missing their tag, the lady said "$2". You guessed it - silver.

 

Helluva tray!