A neighbor of mine has an elderly friend near Boise who has a large
piece of sterling in a safe in her basement. Her husband, a coin
collector, died recently and it belonged to him. It is a bit larger
than a shoe box and is solid. The woman in Boise or her son, in
mid-fifties, cannot lift it. Does anyone in Orchid know a trust
worthy jeweler, collector, or refiner who would help locate a buyer?
I am wondering if Hauser & Miller in St. Louis or Stuller would be
the place to contact. Would be grateful for any suggestions. Thanks.
They will get the best return dealing directly with a refiner.
Hoover and Strong, David H Fell, Pease & Curran, United Precious
Metals, Hauser & Miller etc. Contact several of them and get the
return rate on silver at that quantity It will be good if they can
get it weighed so that they can get a accurate quote. If it truly is
solid sterling silver and the size of a shoe box it will be quite
heavy so they will probably need a trusted person to help them move
it for weighing.
Hauser & Miller in St. Louis would be perfect. Suggest you call them
at 1 800 462 7447 and ask for Richard A. Wuennenberg, President. They
are wonderful people with whom to work. They have been extremely
supportive of our metalsmithing guild in St. Louis.
They will get the best return dealing directly with a refiner.
Most refiners do not deal directly with the public, so your friend
will probably need a middleman in the jewelry or precious metals
business who has an account with a refiner or qualifies for an
account. I believe they do this because they don’t want the liability
of dealing directly with materials that may have been stolen. It
probably also insulates them from a lot of too-good-to-be-true
precious metal finds like the guy who had several hundred pounds of
lightning rod wire that he was sure was platinum. Or the guy who had
a coffee can full of electronics leads that his father had brought
home from work over the years. Anyone who buys precious metals from
the public can give you scores of stories about stuff like that,
either junk mistaken for treasure or from sources that are too shady
to get involved in.