The purge of 2012 continues and yesterday I attacked my collection of sterling silver serving pieces.
(Part of my extensive tray collection --in need of a polishing
Turns out I didn't have as much as I thought. I've got a lot of silver pieces, not so much sterling silver
How did I find out this disappointing fact?...
I invited my friend Nan from Silver Magpies over to appraise my lot. Nan is antique and vintage silver expert/dealer/blogger who advocates pulling your sterling out of storage and using every day.
Turns out, most of my pieces were silver plate. I'm fine using silver plated pieces and I do all the time.
I was just hoping to cash in on some things I've had for a while and don't use.
(Nan points out markings that are intended to fool you into thinking it's sterling)
So I'm not going to get rich selling sterling.
But I am going to get rid of some the silver plated pieces I'm not using.
Nan told me what they are worth.
And, Drew and I had fun doing a little demo on a couple salt and pepper shakers
that were is such bad shape, I was advised to just to melt them down.
Not a lot of silver on these weighted babies. This is what they look like on the inside the shape is created with wax or plaster and a very thin layer of silver wraps around it--fascinating.
As Nan says, silver plate is NOT sterling silver's step sister.
It's just not as durable and you shouldn't use it everyday.
Whereas, sterling silver can and should be used everyday and she says to put in the dishwasher.
If you use it everyday you won't have to polish it.
I encourage you to check out Silver Magpies to learn more about
using, buying, appraising vintage sterling silver.