If it is 80% pure Kitco buys scrap for about $12 an ounce... but it makes a neat paperweight! Make a goofy mold and pour a giant boolit!
If it is 80% pure Kitco buys scrap for about $12 an ounce... but it makes a neat paperweight! Make a goofy mold and pour a giant boolit!
US coinage (by date) is an absolute know silver content and is “provable”, unlike a “hunk-o-junk” you cast in your backyard. I have a lot of silver (not sandwich) half dollars in my bank box that are valued more than the spot price of silver because they are a certified silver content. But they are “provable” by being in US dated mint coinage form.
When I needed a lot of silver solder,I checked prices,recovered(a bit),and got out the old coin collection...........no,they cried,dont melt collectable coins,take them to a coin dealer........which I did........anything less than UNC,he offered me bullion ,at his idea of a price........so into the melt they went....Waste of time trying to sell precious metals to a dealer,they are all of one persuasion,and wont give true value for precious,which they hoard.
If you can sell it for $40-$50 and it is something that most have been throwing away as worthless dross, I'd say that you done good.
Don't listen to the naysayers.
I have been buying and selling US silver coins for years, unless you have mint state (MS) coins they are scrap silver except for rare years/mint marks. Typically sell maybe 25-50 cents over spot at most. Sold some Mercury dimes not to long ago and most sold for that, I had a few rare ones that I sold individually.
Aside from this narrative about whether silver in this condition has value: I would like to commend you for your work on just getting this ingot. It must have taken quite a while according to the method you described. Not many people would have the wherewithal to do what you did there. I hope you can get it tested and it turns out to be high content silver. Please let us know what you find out.
Traffer,
Thank you! Sometimes when I get a silly idea in my head I just have to scratch the itch. It was really exciting to see those first little silver balls start to form! I would say they started out about the size of #8 lead shot. Soon as I can get up to the scrap yard I will have my mystery ingot and my pewter ingot scanned to see what it is and will report back.
I still have my favorites. I love em because of their beauty. I don't have the money to collect coins so I collect pictures of coins now...seriously..I will share some with you....Attachment 214449Attachment 214450
These US Pattern Coins are the coolest. But way out of my league to collect. Some are silver some are bronze.
What years are these and the face value?
You can always make some Lone Ranger bullets.
Mercury dimes are my favorite followed by the Morgan Silver dollar but they hold to high of a premium for a junk silver collector like me. American Silver Eagles are nice too and a few years are VERY collectible and carry a corresponding high price. I sold off all my slabbed and graded collection, when it comes down to needing silver to barter(and a lot of people around here do barter it! I have a 1/2 a pig coming that was a silver trade) I prefer worn and "junk" US coins because everyone knows what they are. Have to be careful with half dollars and silver dollars, lot of chinese counterfeits so know your seller!
I believe these are 1869 - 70 or thereabouts Quarter patterns. I don't know much about these type of coins. I just happened to see them on eBay and copied the pictures. They are called United States Pattern Coins. An author named J Hewitt Judd has written books about them. The name Judd is almost always associated with them. You can find more info on the internet or by looking on eBay.
Interesting posts
Watching
Mike
I quit collecting coins and silver about 7 or 8 years ago. Then they had some Buffalo head 1oz silver bullion rounds that were counterfeit from China but I didn't hear about anything else. Didn't really seem worth it to go the trouble to counterfeit something only worth $20 or $30.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |