Saturday, March 28, 2015

intrinsic value

I just finished melting down a set of sterling flatware I bought on Ebay in late 2013.  It was a rather common pattern called French Provincial by Towle.  The set consisted of 12 salad forks, 12 dinner forks, 12 dinner spoons, 3 large serving spoons, 1 large serving fork, a pickle fork and a cocktail fork.  There were several knives included but they have very little value as there is only a foil-thin layer of sterling on the handles and the blades are all stainless steel.  My finished nuggets weigh in at just a hair over 4 lbs.  The melt value of the pile in regard to the spot price of silver at the close of business on Friday is $923.86.
There is something very satisfying about the weight of a precious metal in regard to its' value.  The paper money and coins in your pocket only have imaginary value printed or stamped on relatively worthless material.  The demand for precious metals is driven not only by their practical use but also by their role as investments and a store of value...this fact compounds its' intrinsic value once minted into custom limited edition Field Lab coins.  79,86,47,0,C 
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10 comments:

  1. Margery BilldMarch 28, 2015 at 7:01 PM

    The pieces are all so shiny. It makes me sad to think that years ago I might have longed for and saved for and been so proud of a set like that and prized it and then you just melt it down. Unthinkable. :-) That's valued at a lot of money though.

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  2. HordeHeyMarch 28, 2015 at 7:58 PM

    Very cool. Its got weight, feels like its worth something vs a paper with a number on it.

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  3. Hat BaileyMarch 28, 2015 at 11:09 PM

    There's something really deep within me that is very drawn to the shimmering whiteness of silver. A metal, that like a living thing, is so sensitive to light, so pro life, that it is a menace to dangerous or life threatening bacteria and viruses, yet harmless to those that are harmless and even helpful.

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  4. UnknownMarch 29, 2015 at 12:47 AM

    You take a useful piece of metal an melt it down to make a useless piece of metal ,just a thought

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  5. DougMarch 29, 2015 at 5:49 AM

    MY precious metals consist of steel.lead and brass with a fair amount of walnut

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  6. John WellsMarch 29, 2015 at 1:35 PM

    justastick...send me some silver coins and I will melt them down and make a fork for you.

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  7. ZoleMarch 30, 2015 at 3:25 PM

    tou·ché

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  8. Rev.jimmyleebobMarch 30, 2015 at 8:05 PM

    Excellent sales pitch...I just have a small issue as to why you are going through all that work and trouble to convert it back to to imaginary value and
    relatively worthless materials. BTW, I'm with Doug......

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  9. UnknownMarch 30, 2015 at 10:06 PM

    Now, knowing the value, i feel embarressed that i only offered 4 salad forks for a coin. I'll go a bakers dozen.

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  10. ZoleMarch 31, 2015 at 7:39 AM

    John sells the coins to offset his costs of feeding Ben and Bud.

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