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Costume Jewelry History
And Jewelry Marks


September 9, 2014

Make Easy Money With Sterling Silver.....

Do you hit the brakes every time you see a rummage sale sign? I have to say I'm an addict. I recently moved at bigger city and I have to say coming from a small town, that I love the the rummage sales!! Not to mention I have at least half a dozen thrift stores within a 20 min. drive. Even if you only stop occasionally to browse a rummage sale or thrift shop, finding easy money can be a lot easier than you think. Vintage jewelry is my passion but I have made a bit on sterling silver finds. It only takes a second to pick up a silver piece and check the bottom for the worn sterling mark. Most recently I went to the post office to ship some packages and right next door was a house with year round rummage sale inside 4 days a week. By now I have developed an eye for silver and sure enough I noticed a pedestal compote dish with what looked like sterling on the bottom. I purchased it for $7.50. I brought it home and when I had some time I grabbed a magnifying glass and jewelers loupe to read the markings. I went to the sterling silver website listed in my blog to match the marks and voila!! HUNT STERLING COMPANY. Based in the 1920-1930, hunt sterling company specialized in making sterling silver weighted items. Yes, this compote dish was weighted (meaning it wasn't 100% pure sterling) It weighed in at 7.9 OZ. That's over $100!!!  Remember that this piece is weighted so you shouldn't expect you sell it for that weight. I have to say quickly that I have come across many sterling silver weighted candle sticks that look like they were ran over by a car...are they still valuable?? Of course!! People sell these all the time assuming it's junk because no one would use it on there mantle at home because on the condition. The easiest way to sell these pieces at get the best value is to take your pictures first of course, so you have the maker's marks, then strip the silver off the weighted candle sticks, ect...then weigh it up and take pics of it right on the scale for buyers. By stripping the silver and removing the weighted (cement like) interior, you can get the correct sterling weight (this makes it easier to get the exact value of the piece and many buyers love it because you did the work for them and you nor the buyer have to guess at what the piece is actually worth). My particular piece was in such great condition and was a nice collectible piece so I didn't want to dismantle it. (A compote dish is a bit more desirable than sterling candle sticks) so....after researching the maker's marks I was half confident that it was original in age, and the condition was very nice, I decided to list it in one piece and hope for the best. In the end I made $67.00!!. You can list 50 items free every month on EBAY, so even if you just want to sell a couple things here and there it's free!! To find the value of your sterling silver weight, just google sterling silver calculator and it will bring you to the live silver prices for the day. Just enter your weight and either grams or ounces and hit enter to find the value of your sterling treasure!! Here's a picture of my treasure.....