Category Archives: Silver

Question: How much are silver strike coins worth they say .999 pure silver on them and they weigh 1 oz each. They are from casinos in Las Vegas. – From Lou in New York.

Hi Lou,

Even though your silver strike coins weigh 1 ounce each, only the middle of them are actually silver which usually accounts for about 60% of the coin. As precious metal refiners we only give returns based on the amount of silver available in the coin. We usually payout 90% of the silver value back to you. Most often the outside of the coin is made from brass that we would recycle but the amount is so small that we do not offer a return on the brass.

We would recommend doing some research first, because many times silver strike coins from Las Vegas are collectible and sought after for more than their silver value. It really just depends on how rare the coin it is, from which casino and from what year.

It is important to note that coins that have experienced significant wear often have approximate a 1% drop in silver weight. Arch Enterprises can refine the silver from all types of silver coins.

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

I Have a set of – 1847 Rogers Brothers Silverware with The Letters “IS” and “Eternally Yours” printed on each piece. What is the value of this set? From Patsy in Richmond, Virginia.

I have 4 pounds of 1847 Roger Brothers IS. I was just wondering what it was worth. I would like to know more about it before I decide whether or not to sell it? From Tim in Pacific, Missouri.

Hi Patsy and Tim,

Since you both have 1847 Rogers Brothers IS Silver, I wanted to address your questions together. There are a few main points that we try to address when talking about Rogers Brothers:

“1847” and “IS” Marking on Rogers Brother Silver
The first thing we tell people about 1847 Rogers Brothers Silver is that the 1847 is NOT the manufacturer date. This is the founding date of Rogers Brothers that they include in the hallmark of all their silverware.

The “IS” stands for International Silver who has owned Rogers since 1898.

The point is that neither of these markings gives any indication about the purity or value of the silver.

Rogers Brothers is NOT all Sterling
Make sure that you are aware that NOT all sets and pieces by Rogers Brothers are sterling. Some pieces are silver plate. Sometimes people automatically assume that old silver pieces are sterling, but silver plating techniques have been around since the 1800s.

Selling Rogers Brothers Silver
The most important item to know is whether or not your silver is sterling. No matter who you sell to, usually sterling silver is more valuable than silver plate, stainless steel, copper or some other non-precious metal.

If you have sterling, check to see if you have a complete set and if any pieces are broken or damaged. If you have odd and end pieces Arch Enterprises, precious metal refiner will pay for the silver. We would need to know the exact weight of your sterling silver. That means if you have knives or weighted serving wear, we would want that weight separate. Please feel free to start the process and fill out our Request Estimate Form.

Otherwise for non-sterling, check to see what items are going for on eBay to get an idea about the value. The prices on eBay we found for “Eternally Yours Rogers Brothers Silverware” range from $235 -$295. But also keep in mind that these are large 52 piece to 72 piece sets in good condition, and some of them in their original boxes which makes a difference in their resale value.

_{* 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 antique dealer and cannot give estimates based on the value of collectable, rare or vintage antiques. As a precious metal refiner, we only give estimates based on the weight of items and the amount of precious metal available for recovery.}}

^{_{* Blog estimates are given on a case by case basis and are not Arch’s final settlement price. Any prices or estimates in blog articles are based on the precious metal prices at the time of the post and can change on a daily basis as the price of precious metals change.}}

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What is a good place to sell silver electrical contacts? Do you all do this? How much silver is in electrical contacts? Thanks! From Dan in Waterford, Michigan

Hi Dan,

Thanks for contacting us!

You will be happy to know that you have come to the right place. We can refine silver electrical contacts. In our experience of refining electrical contacts made from tungsten silver, they can contain between 25-30 percent silver.

Refining this type of material is ideal because of the significant amount of silver to extract. How much of the silver material do you have? We can help arrange freight if you have a very large shipment.

Find out more information about electrical contact from relating blog posts here:

• https://www.precious-metal-refining.info/quote-for-electrical-contacts-from-busbars
• https://www.precious-metal-refining.info/silver-electrical-contacts-to-refine-precious-metal-refining-blog
• https://www.precious-metal-refining.info/electrical-contact-for-silver-refining

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

I have 20-30 lbs. of silver watch batteries. I have already hand sorted since these were still packaged and I have maybe a pound or two of the lithium batteries. What are you currently paying and how do I ship these. From John in Des Moines, Iowa.

Hi John,

Thank you for submitting your question.

It is great that you were able to separate your silver oxide batteries from your lithium batteries. This saves us time when it comes to the refining process.

Because you are shipping used batteries you should be able to ship in a cardboard box. So the batteries do not shake around, you might want to fill with newspaper in the box, but that is up to you.

We are paying around $30-$40 per pound of silver oxide batteries with the silver price being around $35-40 per troy ounce. However, this pricing is subject to change according to the fluctuation of the price of silver. If you call us on the day that you ship we will be able to give you a more accurate quote given the amount of silver batteries you have and the spot price of silver.

We have recently increased our capacity for refining silver oxide batteries. Check out our latest press release for more information.

* Price quoted is based on the daily market price of silver the day this blog post was published and may not be the current price viewers are reading this posting.

I have a collection of sterling silver belt buckles. I bought them based on being sterling. Some of them have gold and are marked, e.g., 22k Gold on Sterling, 1/10 10k Gold on Sterling and so on. How can I tell the value of the gold parts? Thanks, Rod from Cleveland, Ohio.

Hi Rod,

Thanks for your question! The markings on your sterling silver belt buckles indicate the purity of gold and silver used to manufacture the items. However, it does not tell us how much gold would be available, if any to recover.

Most of the time we are not able to refine any of the gold from these belt buckles you have described, because the amount is so small. If you cannot physically separate the gold from the silver before the melting process begins, then there is no way to recover the gold from the silver.

Also the marking 22k gold on sterling sounds like they used a 22k gold plating material over top of a part of the buckle. Like we say to people with gold plated silverware, the plating technology has advanced to the point where the gold cannot be recovered and separated from the silver during the refining process.

If you can separate the gold from the silver before you ship, then we would run tests to determine the purity of the gold and the silver, then refine and melt them with separate refining methods.

You can go to our website to learn more about the ideal types of silver to refine. Hope that helps!

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