Can i sell tarnished silver

You should stay away from these businesses because they are just middlemen. You can get a quick sale but you won't get anywhere close to the true value of your silver. You can find a local buyer through Craigslist or another similar website. Typically you would get the highest price by going this route. It would be a consumer to consumer deal so you could get close to the retail value of your silver. Ideally this is one of the best options for scrap silver. Refineries buy silver and then melt it down to produce new items.

However most refiners do not deal with consumers or small orders. At this time we don't have any specific refiners that we can recommend. You would need to do research and find one that would accept your silver items. Some dealers like Provident Metals will also allow you to trade your silver for other types of silver or gold. For example you could trade silver eagles for junk silver coins.

Usually these retailers won't offer you great prices, especially for rounds and bars. For older silver coins they could make you a decent offer but it would all depend on the retailer and the specific coin. If you don't live near a coin shop then this could be an option for you. However we would recommend trying Craigslist or eBay before selling to an online bullion dealer. Selling is selling, and selling silver is no different than selling any other item.

In order to get the best deal, you need to know a few negotiating tactics. Once you've verified it's real you might be tempted to polish the silverware and get it all bright and shiny to sell.

In a word, don't. Unless you know what you're doing you run a higher risk of damaging the silverware than doing a proper polish. Some silverware patterns are rarer and older than others. These will give you clues about when the silver was manufactured and if you're dealing with true antiques. This can highly affect the sales price if you have a whole set of ultra-rare silverware. It's good to be an informed seller so you have a better idea of what price to expect.

Ok, you've got your whole silver collection gathered together. You have a little bit of everything, jewelry, coins, silverware, an old teapot, and now you want to come in and get a price for it. However, it can be nervewracking to bring all these valuable pieces out of your home, pack them in the car, and then bring them into a shop when you don't know who will be there. Luckily, we take appointments to set your mind at ease. We are happy to schedule appointments even before or after normal business hours to make sure no one else is in the store with you when you come into make your deal.

This way you can relax and feel secure in the process from beginning to end. Bring all your pieces in and you know you'll have our one on one undivided attention to go through every piece of your collection. This is a great idea if you have a large amount of silver or a lot of pieces you need to be verified so you don't have to wait.

We have a tool here at Unique Gold and Diamonds that sets us apart from any other store you go into. It will tell us exactly what your pieces are made of and how pure they are. The machine tells us immediately if it's counterfeit silver or silver plating. Because it also reads the exact composition of the piece we are inspecting we can also give you the most accurate price for your piece.

Once we know what we are working with we will offer either the spot price for the weight of the silver or give you an offer on the piece itself based on our appraisal. If you're satisfied with the offer we give you all cash right on the spot.

We can also pay with a business check, bank wire, or even give you a store credit to buy another piece of jewelry. It's up to you! If you decide not to sell we are happy to provide you a written appraisal amount with what we offered you and a breakdown of the analysis of your pieces.

Here at Unique Gold and Diamonds we always offer you a completely free evaluation. There is never any obligation to buy and we want to provide you with the fairest price for your silver. We have over 50 years of experience in the silversmith trade. It is explained rather well in the following link:.

The light buff we do afterwards on the outside is necessitated by the multitudes of fine scratches the cases have accumulated over the years, not by any etching caused by the cleaning.

The attached picture of the interior shows the silver untouched after the process. We do nothing to the interior after the dip. Shiny things sell better then dull, scratched up silver, in most cases dilapidated will yield nothing more then a silver paper weight when properly melted in sand, then one can call it a silver nugget paper weight, they sell. Generally, items in original, as-found condition can attract a significantly higher price than items which have been zealously over-cleaned or inexpertly "restored".

Your link does not even mention how all this affects antique silver. Multitudes of fine scratches are going to take more than a light buff to make them go away. Unless you are using a wheel; please tell me you are not using a wheel. Also, what chemical are you using to get the black back in the crevases after the chemical cleaning? As with any antique, the least invasive approach is the safest.

From what I see here, the watches look a bit overcleaned. If they were brand new, they look great, but if antique, they are just too slick in my opinion. The black present in the engraving on the watches pictures is the original stain that the engraver used over years ago to highlight the engraving.

The process does not remove it. Sounds like magic. There were a number of points in your other post that I cant seem to find now that I wanted to address. However, in stripping away an old surface, you strip away the history of an object and the story it can tell of how it came through time. Agree that some watches could do with a very light polish, but dunking every watch into a boiling chemical bath and then buffing away the history of small scratches is akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

I never said it got rid of pitting. I said that I have found pitted surfaces caused by tarnish. Tarnish left unabated for many years is damaging to the surface of silver. The process is not drastic. Clean sterling silver if selling online or to a private buyer.

This will make any old repairs or imperfections obvious, reducing nerves or suspicion in the buyer. When listing an item online, you can also take pictures that more clearly display the hallmark and pattern detail. This is particularly useful for Internet auction sites such as eBay.

You may wish to clean one area to show the surface shine. If the item is really black and tarnished use caution when cleaning in case the item is silver gilt.

Anything too abrasive will take the gilt off. Silver gilt is a silver object with a thin layer of gold fixed to the surface.