Category Archives: Silver
Information on Silver Refining
Sell Scrap Gold & Silver Jewelry Direct to the Refiner!
Written on November 26, 2013, by Arch Enterprises
Needing some extra income before the holidays?
Clean out those old jewelry boxes and let us know if you have any scrap gold or silver jewelry to sell. You will never find the match to that gold earring that you have been holding on to and that gold necklace won’t fix itself! Turn these things that are just collecting dust into holiday smiles!
Contact us and let us know if we can help.
Recover Silver from Black and White Photo Film
Written on June 20, 2013, by Arch Enterprises
I have tons of old negatives and was wondering how much it takes for it to actually matter. Also if we don’t have enough where would we take them to dispose of them. Thanks from Tori in Juliet, TN.
Hi Tori,
By a “ton” do you mean hundreds of pounds or truckloads? Some people’s perception of having a “ton” of photo film is very different. We would recommend having at least 300 lbs of material. If you do not have this much, you could still send it to our facility and we could recycle the material for you, however would not be able to offer a return and you would still have to cover the shipping fees, which may not be cost effective for you.
Other places you could try if you do not have enough, might be a local recycling company or even a school. Our advice would be to call around in your area to find out.
If you have more than 300 lbs., let us know and we may be able to help arrange freight for the material (especially if you literally have a “ton”). Make sure that you have your black and white film separated from your color film, as the color does not contain silver. Hope that helps!
*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.
Silver Recovery from Tungsten Silver Sludge
Written on May 18, 2013, by Arch Enterprises
Hi, we have high silver containing sludge from DE-brazing tungsten carbide mining tools. Do you recover silver from this sludge? From Jain in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Hi Jain,
We do have the capabilities to recover the silver from the tungsten silver sludge that you describe. As a precious metal refiner, our facility is designed specifically to handle this type of industrial material.
It would be helpful to know the weight of your material. We would recommend having at least 5 lbs. of silver sludge material to justify the freight and refining costs. If you are unsure about the purity of your sludge, we can arrange to test a sample of the material before you ship the whole amount.
We would first require a sample of your tungsten silver sludge and then could give a more accurate percentage and price when we know the purity and volume of your material.
What is Silver Holloware?
Written on March 25, 2013, by Arch Enterprises
I have heard the term holloware about silver pieces. What exactly does this refer to? Does holloware have value? From Susan in Los Angeles, California.
Hi Susan,
“Holloware” or “Hollowware” is a term that is basically used to describe everything except flatware this includes serving pieces and tableware such as pitchers, teapots, sugar bowls, butter plates, food covers, creamers, silver artwork and sculptures, cake stands and other similar items.
Like flatware, hollowware can be sterling silver or plated silver, so you still have to be careful to know which you have as it will greatly affect the value. Sterling silver is 92.5% pure silver, whereas silver plated items contain only a very thin layer of silver, to the point where it costs more money to refine plated silver than we can get out. That is why we do not accept silver plated items.
We will however, accept sterling silver holloware items. Make sure that your items are sterling. Note that some of these items can be weighted or contain other materials in them to make them stronger (such as knife blades that are usually stainless steel). If you can find the weight of just the sterling silver material, you can plug it into our silver value calculator for an estimate of the market value of your sterling silver items. We typically pay 75% of the silver value back to our customers. Hope that answers your question!
Sterling Silver Flatware Refining Example | Precious Metal Refining Blog
Written on March 4, 2013, by Arch Enterprises
We’re back and well-rested from our holiday! Please enjoy our blog service and let us know if you have any questions about your precious metals. We’re happy to help you in 2013.
We have always said that sterling silver flatware and some serving pieces need to be weighed separately from forks and spoons because they can be weighted or filled with other non-sterling silver metals and materials. This is why there is very little silver content in one of the knives verses a spoon or fork, which are usually 100% sterling silver weight.
Pictured below is a typical example of a sterling silver place setting knife with a steel blade and steel rod that runs through the handle. The white pile on the left is the cement that is poured into the handle during the manufacturing process. The cement hardens and bonds to the steel rod and the inside of the sterling silver handle.
For a knife like this, it is only the sterling silver casing on the handle that has silver value. The small amount of silver extracted from this knife example is shown to the right of the steel knife parts. If possible, we recommend separating out the silver from the other non-precious metal with pliers if you can. Then you can get a more accurate weight of your sterling silver. If you send your sterling silver place settings to Arch Enterprises we can take these items apart of you, but make sure you know that the weight of your box is not 100% sterling silver.
We hope this helps get the point across about the difference between the cutlery verses forks/spoons in sterling silver place settings.
