Category Archives: Forum Questions

Question: I would like to have my silver dimes, mercury dimes and barber dimes refined. How much are they worth? From Gary in Raleigh, North Carolina

Hi Gary,

Thanks for your question. To start we would need to know a few more things about your coins to give you a better idea about the silver value for them.

(1) The type and date factor into the value of your coins because different coins were made with different amounts of silver at different points in time. That is why coin dealers make an entire living know which coins hold the most value. Can you tell what the dates are on your coins?

Here are some common types of coins that we refine: Refine Silver Coins. You will also find the amount of silver that is available in each that you can multiply with the current price of silver to get a market price of the silver value in your coin.

Doing this research can not only let you know how much silver is available for recovery, but you should also make sure that your coins do not have collectible value that is worth more than the silver value. For example, if your barber dimes are 1895-O they could be worth between $250+ depending on the condition. Other barber dimes that have been known to have collectible value include the 1892-S, 1901-S and 1904-S. A fun story about the Barber dimes is that the 1894-S is one of the most valuable coins ever produced by the United States mint. Only 24 were produced. In 2007 one of them sold for $1.9 million.

Of course the majority of Barber coins are not going to fall within the collectable group of coins mentioned above. Most Barber coins that are made with 90% silver and 10% copper are ideal for refining.

(2) The amount of coins that you have is also a factor when you want to refine for the silver content. This is because so much energy has to go into refining silver coins that the more material you have to refine at once, the higher your return will be.

1916-1945 Mercury Dime (below)

1946-1964 Roosevelt Dime (below)

*Images displayed are only a representation of the items described in this blog post and may not be true images of the items in question.

Please keep in mind that we are not a coin dealer and cannot give estimates based on the value of collectable, rare or vintage coins. As a precious metal refiner, we only give estimates based on the weight of items and the amount of precious metal available for recovery.

While we are happy to give estimates on precious metal items, we are NOT antiques dealers, researchers, or retail sellers. As a precious metal refiner, we only consider the weight and amount of precious metal available to extract during the smelting and refining process.

Question:  I believe I have several ounces of platinum wire (my father had been holding onto it for quite some time). Thanks! From Chelsea in Austin, Texas

Hi Chelsea,

Do you know what the platinum wire was used for? Platinum wire is normally used in high temperature industrial furnaces. If you think that is where your wire is from, there is a good chance that it is platinum. How much of the material do you have? Platinum wire can vary in the purity and grade. We would use our XRF (X-ray fluorescence) testing equipment to see how much platinum we could recover from your wire.

According to CNN Commodities Prices, platinum is $ 1,646.70 USD per troy ounce today** Given the costs involved in refining platinum wire, we typically pay about 70% of the platinum content available to recover.

*Images displayed are only a representation of the items described in this blog post and may not be true images of the items in question.

** Market price of platinum changes daily. This price may not reflect the current price of platinum today.

Question: What does the stamp “Plat Furo” mean inside my engagement ring? From Kathryn in Danbury, CT

Answer:

With the price of platinum rising above the price of gold, this precious metal is the commodity of the week! So thanks for your question about your platinum ring.

Though there are not as many hallmark variations for platinum jewelry as gold and silver, when deciphering platinum hallmarks you still must take in to account the purity, time period, manufacturer and place of origin for your piece.

“Plat” obviously means platinum, however we’re not sure what “Furo” means next to it. Are there any other markings? We would be looking for a number that indicates the purity/grade of your platinum ring. Below are some common markings we see:

850 (85% Platinum)
900 (90% Platinum)
950 (95% UK Standard Platinum)
999 (99.9% Pure Platinum)

If your ring is new, I would think that it would have one of these common platinum markings. If it does not have one of those, you may want to have a jeweler look at it for purity. While most of our platinum posts are about industrial platinum refining, here are a few about platinum jewelry that may help also:

https://www.precious-metal-refining.info/is-there-any-way-to-tell-if-my-platinum-ring-is-pure-platinum/
https://www.precious-metal-refining.info/where-to-sell-platinum-wedding-rings-precious-metal-refining-blog/

*Images displayed are only a representation of the items described in this blog post and may not be true images of the items in question.

While we are happy to give estimates on precious metal items, we are NOT antiques dealers, researchers, or retail sellers. As a precious metal refiner, we only consider the weight and amount of precious metal available to extract during the smelting and refining process.

Question/Answer: I have a few hundred pounds of used industrial x-ray film, 15 or so pounds of silver flake and a couple of hundred gallons of used fixer. What can I estimate its worth and do you know who would buy it? From Levi in Tucson, Arizona

Hi Levi,

A silver refinery such as Arch Enterprises would probably be the best place to see your items. With more industrial/manufacturing items such as you have, it is not as likely that you can sell to a pawn shop or retailer. If you go to a scrap yard, they may buy your items, but they really have no way to recover the silver from them, so most likely they would just sell to a silver refinery and give you only a fraction of the silver value.

Image: Harvested Silver Flake

Working directly with the refinery ensures that you are getting the most for your silver items. We can also help arrange the freight if you need. Unless you have the appropriate paper work on the grade of your silver flake and fixer, we would need to run tests to see how much silver is available to recover from it. For refining X-rays, you may want to wait until you have at least 300-400 pounds of x-ray film (out of the paper jackets) before you ship. This way the shipping will be worth the cost. Without knowing how much silver we could recover from your material, it would be difficult to provide a dollar amount estimate at this time. But it sounds like what you have is ideal for a precious metal refinery.

*Images displayed are only a representation of the items described in this blog post and may not be true images of the items in question.

Question: Do you buy the gold ore that has been processed into coin size pieces? It is gold “mined” by family and friends. I have about 4.1 troy ounces of this 22 kt. Gold. From Virginia in Las Vegas, Nevada

Hi Virginia,

Yes, we do buy gold ore. Do you have any documentation about the purity of your gold ore? If not we would run some tests with our XRF (X-ray fluorescence) equipment to find what the percentage of gold is in your ore.

To get a general estimate of your gold ore I would recommend going to our gold conversion calculator. By plugging in the weight (4.1 troy ounces), purity (22 kt.) and daily gold price ($1,725.90 today) you will get the market value of your gold items. Arch could pay more than 90% of the gold value back to you if you have over 2 ounces of pure gold available from your ore.

Thanks for your question!

*This price may not reflect the current price of silver when this blog entry was posted. The output from the calculator is not a confirmation of the purchase price from Arch Enterprises.