Where to get rid of silver

[NightRunner]

All,

I have ~550g of silver, however it is unhallmarked. We used to make small silver split rings for the brewery industry, these are excess stock from decades ago.

Does anyone 'in the know' have a clue how I can go about selling them? I suppose the problem is that there are a few hundred of them rather than being one hallmarked lump.

I don't really know who to contact either! 'Cash-my-gold' would be useless before anyone starts!

Thanks,

[ColinM50]

Do you recall who you bought the silver from? They may buy it off you.

Alternatively the largest refiner of silver in the UK I believe Johnson Matthey. Would be worth a phone call to them asking who you can sell it to

http://www.matthey.com/about/preciousmetals.htm.

[NightRunner]

Cheers,

We're talking 30-40 years ago, my Grandfather sold the company on about 20 years ago.

We found these in his garage the other day.

I'll speak to the people you mentioned. I'm guessing it would cause some issues in having hundreds of tiny pieces - makes testing each one a bit awkward!

[TheEnd]

How or why were they used?

[NightRunner]

TheEnd said:

How or why were they used?

They went into solenoids in brewery lines (manufacturing lines mainly). I think silver was used due to it's aseptic qualities, I think it's pretty good purity too.

[PaulHogan]

Proving the silver content will be your problem. If you have .999 silver then your 550g is worth approx £370 at todays prices.

To start with I'd contact the local assay office to find out if you can have the silver melted into a bar and then tested for purity. If the silver content is low the value will be much, much lower.
You could also see what a working jeweller would offer you?

[NightRunner]

Cheers,

I've pinged a mail to the local assay office.

Just seems a shame to bin them. Depending how much it costs to have a bar made, it could be interesting to have a silver bar as a paperweight!

[66comanche]

You should be able to melt Silver in a very hot kiln (1600-1800 F or so?)