COINS, RELICS & PRECIOUS METALS > back
Following are links to articles and websites that have information on coins, relics and precious metals. For identification, buying, selling, cleaning, preseving and collecting. Please email me any helpful resources in this category. Thanks
Note, links to outside websites open in a new tab so you don't lose your place on Grahique Du Jour
Consumer Awareness When Buying Coins By Tony Swicer: Tony Swicer has been the president of the Palm Beach Coin Club for 32 years in a addition to many years experience buying and selling coins and precious metals for Rechant Precious Metals in Palm Springs, Florida.
Methods for Conserving Archaeological Material from Underwater Sites: Conservation Research Laboratory Texas A&M University (pdf)
Tannic Acid Coating for Rusted Iron Artifacts: Canadian Conservation Institute
Selling your gold and silver finds: Small electronic scales are very affordable and well worth the investment. Remember to weigh silver and gold in Troy weight which is different from our usual ounces or pounds.
Troy weights are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and the troy pound (12 troy ounces). 16 ounces Avoir are equivalent to 14.5833 ounces Troy. Use an online avoir to troy calculator if needed for accuracy. Find a Gold & Silver Calculator here where you can choose the spot price, weight and purity to determine the value of your precious metal finds.
PG&G Refinery If you have a large amount of silver jewelry, it is difficult to sell locally to a precious metals dealer. Pour out several pounds of broken and sometimes corroded silver jewelry at the precious metals dealer and you will get mixed reactions. It is not worth their time to test every item for silver content. Additionally they will pay a much lower price because they send it out to be refined and pocket the difference.
I found I could bypass the precious metals dealer and go straight to the refinery myself. I used PG&G Refinery to refine my silver finds. As noted above, I had several pounds of rings, chains, earrings, along with some very corroded silver coins. I followed the instructions on the website, shipped the package by insured priority mail on a Thursday, it was recieved on Monday and I had a check by the end of that week. I weighed the lot and calculated the silver content against spot and approximated what I should get paid. Prospector Gold & Gems were very accurate and reliable.
Gold is easier to sell to a local precious metals buyer. Know what karat purity you have, what the spot price for gold is when you are planning to sell, remember to weigh in Troy weight, find out ahead what the dealer will pay below spot (might be 15-20%). You may even wait till the spot price is on the rise to get the most out of your booty. Be an educated seller of your precious metal finds.
Coming: Online Coin Guides, coin cleaning, cleaning and preserving artifacts, facts and information regarding precious metals, selling your finds, etc. |