Yeah, they are rare and getting rarer, but they're still out there, and anyone can still afford to pick up a pair! And I know! I wish I could save everything, but I can't! It takes a lot to pay storage and packaging supplies to run my store, not to mention gas and food to make it to the next week... And I'm trying to sell a sterling weighted bud vase, art nouveau 800 salt cellars, a beautiful pepper mill, and now some Tiffany pieces for higher than sterling melt so whoever will buy them can't melt it for a profit themselves, and they've been sitting in my store for years and months! Heck, what will end up happening is the spot price will catch up to my asking price and sometime will pick them up n off to the smelter. On the other hand though, the market has never been better for someone with a shrewd eye to pick up some incredible silver on the cheap. I found all this for 15 dollars, and I share my finds for everyone to see so they can do the same!

Crazy! Thanks for the info Rich! I need to order another loupe, haven't seen mine in months. And man, is old Sheffield plate complicated! And underneath the handle it is unmarked. I assume the older ones are more common and less valuable huh.

Are you sure? 😁 I was hoping that just dilute hcl not heated up would not be strong enough to reach with the silver n form a chloride, usually you need nitric to react with ag.

Yes. That is silver chloride. The electrolysis is creating silver ions that immediately combind with the chlorine in the muriatic acid (HCl). Often, nitric acid is used to electroplate silver. It is a more expensive acid but your silver yield will be better and with fewer steps.

It will form silver nitrate if adding nitric to the water and doing the electrolysis, no? So it's basically the same problem?

I might just go back to salt water. lol

The advantage nitric acid has over muriatic acid is that the silver nitrate IS soluble and stays in solution and is therefore much more efficient in the electroplating process. There are quite a few KZbin videos on this process. Streetips is one such KZbin channel that refines silver in large, multi-pound, batches using nitric acid. You have a great channel and you are definately on the right track.

Ahhh, yes I remember that i think it's called the Archimedes principle! Very cool! Thank you for demonstrating it in such great detail for us!

Thanks for the response, I know that heavy plated pieces are tricking xrf scanners, I wish I had a sigma to use. Overall, it never did get settled, I refused that they cut into it, if it is real its melt value is miniscule, and I didn't want to damage it. Hopefully it will be worth something some day. I will just keep it. And that is a bit scary. I come across silver in plated boxes and when I find fake sterling I can often take a huge hit. Of course I can afford it because it doesn't happen very often. I remembered my friend found and went for a Mexican "silver" cake stand, I told him dude be very very careful, since cake stands are too big to make from sterling, and I was right that it was fake.

@@gmgssilverplate The Sigma is definitely very handy - but with a sterling hollow ware or flatware item you have to use a probe with the backing disc, and compare a raw volume resistivity measurement against a sample library you have set up in advance. Mine has paid for itself many times over helping me to avoid "unfortunate mistakes".

That sounds very complicated, I can't buy a sigma though, I would rather keep buying more silver / silver plate. Since I don't buy silver and gold directly from people right now, and I can't test any metal before I buy (they are all from online boxes from Goodwill) it wouldn't make financial sense. I'm glad it works for you though! They're huge investments.

It's a great pattern. Holloware is pretty rare, and I just found the water pitcher and a pair of candle holders this week.

@@gmgssilverplate very nice! I have 1 triple candelabra

Thanks! That was a while ago... Iirc they refunded me to full, and then I was still able to keep the other 3 pieces because they didn't make me send it back, and I made a decent profit, especially on the waste bowl, but it did suck.

@@gmgssilverplate I have that set

Do you like to collect other silver or silver plate or does that pattern have sentimental value to you and you mostly stay to it?

@@gmgssilverplate Eternally yours is my mother's pattern that she got for her wedding. I pick up a piece of it here and there when I can find it affordable for me. It's just sentimental.

Ice cubes? Hahaha, now that a fancy way to pick up ice cubes.

@@gmgssilverplate exactly exclamation point it was a time of style and flair. They actually work pretty well 😉

@@richcincotta6702 I am going to look at it again a bit closely, but apparently olive tongs are also a thing to look for. Those seem to be 3 prongs though.

@@richcincotta6702 And I suppose these came from a time where actually having ice at hand was a sign of wealth. I heard that people used to ship giant blocks of ice from the North. It was a huge trade.

@@gmgssilverplate actually these songs are not that old. I want to stay there from the 1950s or 1960s.

Thank you for helping me identify the patterns!

Thank for watching! I actually sold it last year I think for 350 iirc. I priced it competitively with other examples and it still sat a long time.

Certainly plausible, I thought given the control the government had on the economy they could just stamp the price of the pieces, at least that's what I saw from a bit of research.

Thanks Rich, I will try to get a partial refund from them. The only way to get a full refund is to send the lot back, which I won't do. I guess I'm just getting rather frustrated, and I do not want this to seem like this is a slight against their employees. Every single person who has a job makes mistakes. It's not really that as much as that the mistakes like these that I get angry about are very very blatant. When things like this occur, there is a system wide failure, imo, which if not corrected will continue to cost Goodwill much "Good Will." In this instance, even the most minimal of packaging voidfill would have given the pieces a much greater chance of survival. It could have been newspaper, plastic wrap, foam, peanuts, shredded boxes, anything. They need to come up with something, whether it is a supervisor or a team that does a final check on packages before they get sent out or more team leaders that works more closely with employees for on the job training, I don't know, it just needs to be something. And I do not want it to seem like I am attacking the "capabilities" of individual employees who work there. I am not. I worked 6 months with a non-profit which hired many people who were differently abled. I made friends with many of them while I was there. They were incredible people that had a lot of pride in their work, even if it was simply to remove staples from packs of papers and unfold them, if they were folded, before they were to be copied so they could be archived. They did a great job, but there were three other employees, myself included on some days, who kept an eye on things and caught mistakes when they were made, but they needed constant watching over and consistent encouragement. This is a management wide and cultural problem at this point.

I like to keep the knobs and handles.

I don't have any indications that it's nickel plated.

I mean it's possible someone plated it with nickel contemporaneously but that'd be a ridiculous thing to do and completely destroy any value it has.

Interesting. That makes a lot of sense, but it's kind of crazy how rare they seem to be. You would think there'd be one for most silver and silver plated sets but I don't think they even make them for a lot of the common patterns.

@@gmgssilverplate they were much more common during Georgian times as tea was a very expensive commodity and was often kept under lock and key. As time went on they were less needed and often not included in tea sets. An accessory that seems to have replaced the tea caddy was the slop bowl. This was used to contain the used tea that collected in the tea strainer and residue in the bottom of the cup.

True words there.

I as well, it didn't seem to be OSP, and that while I found that the "bell" mark is the maker mark I was able to connect to an OSP maker, I didn't find any seems that seemed to indicate it, and since the company did appear long lived, it is certainly plausible that they switched to electroplating later. I also was wondering if a former owner replated it. Would they have used brass and then silver if they did? There's so many questions. I will look inside the piece and look for any indications of soldering the handle on, I could not find any on the finial.

Yeah this maker definitely made some amazing plate.

I don't know if you have them where you live, I'm pretty sure they are everywhere. I call them fake rollie polies.

i dont believe ive seen one and i live in buggy florida :0 @@gmgssilverplate

Hey Rich thanks for the feedback on the piece being a syrup pitcher. That's right that the hinged lid would give it away. I've found a few of those, they sell pretty decently. I have a question for you. Are you English or American, maybe Canadian? It may be that Americans are more likely to just refer to that style as ball feet and other cultures will call it bun feet? I'm interested in what you have to say about that. Cheers.

@@gmgssilverplate I'm glad I could help! I think a syrup pitcher would definitely sell better than a cream without its sugar. Some syrup pictures are really unique and beautiful. I am American and live near Boston Massachusetts. I primarily collect English silver and old Sheffield plate. This is why I'm better versed on the terms.

@@richcincotta6702 Awesome! I looked up the difference and it seems that bun feet have a flat bottom while ball feet still have a round bottom?

@@gmgssilverplate yes! You will see ball feet used more on tea , coffee / tea pots, sugars/creamers and the like. Generally you will see bun feet on trays

Thanks for watching!

Spot on.

Top heavy candle holders are a problem rarely given enough attention in today's society!

@@gmgssilverplate true that!😁

Hello, Your message means a lot to me. I love that you're even watching my older content. It's a lot rougher around the edges since I've started these videos, and I've learned a bunch since I've started as well. We live during a really weird time where there's millions and millions of pounds of silver plate that has been basically orphaned and is being sent to scrap yards every year, and one day I thought maybe one day it'd be worth recovering the silver from this stuff, then the more I researched the companies and history behind the pieces the more I started to enjoy silver plate for silver plates sake and not just an ends to a means, but there's definitely opportunities in the space for whatever someone wants to do with it, whether that's scrapping silver and being a backyard refiner, finding an incredible flatware pattern for cheap and hosting amazing historical themed parties, or just making a few bucks off the side by flipping the stuff. I wanted to tackle this subject from as broad a lens I could and see where the subject would take me. I do hope you enjoy your own journey and I hope to keep making videos for at least several more years. Thanks for watching.

great idea!

Hello, Thanks for your message. I had them tested by a coin shop and they reported 88% silver. Counterfeit may be a strong word, it could be considered "imitation," as the Chinese were copying European designs because Europe wasn't interested in Chinese motifs/ designs like we are today, and they didn't copy the marks perfectly, like a counterfeiter would do, but put their unique and funny looking spin on it, without realizing what the marks even meant. They made King George look like Pinocchio on my spoon, and I think that's hilarious. I would love to see that article too. Is there anything cool to read about your ancestor online as well? Chinese export silver is now highly collectible, funny enough.

Yes! They are salt cellars! I was in the process of making this video and was hoping I could use them to serve ice cream based on the pictures, (I buy GW lots pretty much blind) but they are definitely too small for ice cream, and perfect for salt! But I hate salt on ice cream, so I didn't use them this time. A lot of people like sea salt ice cream, not me, haha.

Thanks Rich! Very helpful!

I guess the size makes it a gallery tray as opposed to a vanity huh.

@@gmgssilverplate the term gallery refers to the accrual edge not really about its size. There are differs trays such as vanity, salver, waiter, tea tray, high chair tray, butler's tray...etc. I hope this helps a little!😁

@@richcincotta6702 You are definitely one of most knowledged viewers and I'm very grateful for your input. Thanks!

@@gmgssilverplate you're very welcome. Knowledge is power and collecting old Sheffield Plate and unusual antique silver plate is a passion. You really seem to enjoy what you're doing!!💛

Back in those days I used salt as an electrolyte. I might have decided not to use any electrolyte that day and only water so that the video would show the silver clearer, and I would get more accurate yield, I can't remember.

It became a money decision at that point. I was not willing to return it since it went for maybe 25 dollars and even in that condition, I think it is historic and beautiful enough to keep. If it went higher than say 50 I would have probably done so. And I know this GW and their modis operandi. They hate to wrap my pieces so once in a while I ask them to. But because they don't, I've scored incredible boxes that go 1/5th of what they should have went for because other people don't trust them either, so I didn't want to rock the boat. Lol

@@gmgssilverplate Do you buy lots from GW? I’m more into jewelry and don’t quite understand the process of buying larger lots of merchandise. Maybe you could do a video on that. I like watching you because I don’t know anything about silverplate. There’s not a lot of information out there. Thanks for the reply.

95% of what I own and show on this channel comes from them. There's really no where else where I can find GW bulk boxes at a low enough price point that it gives me alot of options to make my investment back, whether that's scrapping the pieces then selling the base metal off or selling individual pieces/ patterns. Their liquidity and amount of metal makes them the only game in town for me. I wish Salvation Army sold their stuff like GW does. Instead they sell through eBay and I have to pay huge shipping fees.

And I'm not quite sure what kind of advice I could give. I can't give away what GWs will sell sterling more often or which ones go for lower prices. But I used to and still do just buy bulk as cheap as possible but started drowning in volume so I'm more selective now.

Yeah, when I do a piece, I usually do the top half, bottom half, then flip it over and do the top half and bottom half of that side, then let it rest overnight too. There are times where I will let the piece sit for a week before I get back to it, doesn't seem to matter much. Then I take it out, put it in another bin. Once I pour off my water, I'll get fresh water then brush off the used piece with a scrub brush, l usually get a bit more silver off the piece using a scrub brush.

Thanks for watching! I think it's probably different for different companies though, maybe I'll try another one when it's warmer weather. I definitely intend to scrap the old hotel plate they marked silver solder this spring, so stick around for that video.

@@gmgssilverplate I'm sure you must know that the brilliance of electro plating is the minimal use of precious metals needed to evenly cover the base metal. I have only read a little bit about it so I'm excited to see how everything works out for you. I'm pretty sure I subbed, but if I forgot I'll get on it now.

@@Xanrax thanks Frank, and yes, the companies did have two goals in mind though. We used to have hundreds of different firms making house goods in America. One of the reasons why I love this stuff is that so many people were employed in the industry and each one had their own designs and specific metals they used. As for the thickness of the plating, they were more likely to pick thicker plating so they could say that they were selling higher quality wares than the other guy, and that their pieces would last longer. Sadly, as the firms consolidated into fewer and fewer, there was less innovation and lower quality.

Gracias!

I certainly appreciate the kind words, thanks for watching.