How long does refining precious metal take - from the time you receive the metal until the check is mailed? What are the steps involved? From Lee in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Hi Lee,

Thanks for the question! Because of how time sensitive precious metal prices can be, we do our best to ensure quick turnaround times to our customers. We try to give our customers as much information before they ship to speed up the process and so that all questions are answered beforehand.

For a more efficient process it is beneficial to do the following:

1. Include a packing slip
2. Include any copies of emails you may have had with a representative.

Our Process

Also it depends on the type of materials you are sending. If we will have to run tests to check the purity of your items, the process may take a bit longer. If you are sending in marked items of silver or gold we can get your items refined quicker.

We normally can return in 3 business days of receiving your material. If additional testing and verification is needed it can take 5-7 business days. We will use the precious metal price of the business day that the material arrives at our facility. You can find a step-by-step process about how to ship precious metals on our website.

Hope that helps!

I Have a set of - 1847 Rogers Brothers Silverware with The Letters “IS” and “Eternally Yours” printed on each piece. What is the value of this set? From Patsy in Richmond, Virginia.

I have 4 pounds of 1847 Roger Brothers IS. I was just wondering what it was worth. I would like to know more about it before I decide whether or not to sell it? From Tim in Pacific, Missouri.

Hi Patsy and Tim,

Since you both have 1847 Rogers Brothers IS Silver, I wanted to address your questions together. There are a few main points that we try to address when talking about Rogers Brothers:

“1847” and “IS” Marking on Rogers Brother Silver
The first thing we tell people about 1847 Rogers Brothers Silver is that the 1847 is NOT the manufacturer date. This is the founding date of Rogers Brothers that they include in the hallmark of all their silverware.

The “IS” stands for International Silver who has owned Rogers since 1898.

The point is that neither of these markings gives any indication about the purity or value of the silver.

Rogers Brothers is NOT all Sterling
Make sure that you are aware that NOT all sets and pieces by Rogers Brothers are sterling. Some pieces are silver plate. Sometimes people automatically assume that old silver pieces are sterling, but silver plating techniques have been around since the 1800s.

Selling Rogers Brothers Silver
The most important item to know is whether or not your silver is sterling. No matter who you sell to, usually sterling silver is more valuable than silver plate, stainless steel, copper or some other non-precious metal.

If you have sterling, check to see if you have a complete set and if any pieces are broken or damaged. If you have odd and end pieces Arch Enterprises, precious metal refiner will pay for the silver.

Otherwise for non-sterling, check to see what items are going for on eBay to get an idea about the value. The prices on eBay we found for “Eternally Yours Rogers Brothers Silverware” range from $235 -$295. But also keep in mind that these are large 52 piece to 72 piece sets in good condition, and some of them in their original boxes which makes a difference in their resale value.

*Image displayed is only a representation of the items described in this blog post and may not be true images of the items in question.

I have a large amount of silver oxide watch batteries that I would like to have refined for the silver. We are talking several hundred pounds of this material. Can you give me a price per troy ounce or price per pound? From Jim in Houston, Texas

Hi Jim,

Silver has been in the headlines as the price has reached $36 USD per troy ounce for the first time in 30 years. So now it a great time to have silver oxide batteries you have refined. When you say “several hundred pounds” are you sure that they are all silver oxide batteries?

Other batteries that may look like silver oxides are lithium or alkaline batteries, that are not manufactured with silver at all. Though it is still a good idea to recycle these batteries in an environmentally friendly manner so the toxic contents of the batteries do not leak out into the earth, we will not be able to offer a return on non-silver batteries.

It saves us time and money if you have already sorted your batteries. However, if you have a comingled lot we can discuss our sorting fee if you would like. Also because you have such a large amount, we can quote special pricing for you.

I have some silver flatware marked 70%, and one marked SSS. Is there ANY value at all ? From Gwen in Salem, Oregon

Hi Gwen,

We are not familiar with the marking SSS as an indication of the grade of silver you have. Usually sterling silver is stamped with an S or SS. An SSS might mean your item is stainless steel. Do you have any other information about this flatware piece?

To sell sterling silver, it must be 925 or 92.5% silver. All other markings mean that it is some other type of silver. Different markings can indicate that it was made somewhere else since each country has their own system for hallmarking precious metals manufactured in that country.

Is it an exact “70%” that is stamped on your silver? Or does it look like “.700” or “700?” All of these could mean that you silver flatware is 70% silver alloyed with 30% of some other metal (s). For items that we are unsure about, we run XRF analytic tests to determine how much silver, if any, is available to refine. If you have a large amount of this material, we would recommend sending us an item that we can test before you send the whole lot.

I have 193 troy ounces of silver electrical contacts to recycle. Can you refine this? Thanks from Don in Salt Lake City, Utah

Hi Don,

Silver has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal. That is why it is used in a variety of industries and applications. Silver electrical contacts are commonly used in circuit breakers, relays, switches and electrical discharge machining (EDM) applications.

We do refine silver electrical contacts.  This material typically comes to us in gallon size buckets or drums and we pay about $10-$15 per pound depending on the quality and amount of silver they contain. The silver is refined and put back into industries that need it.

Based on a conversion rate of 1 pound to 14.5833 troy ounces, we estimate that you have about 13 pounds of silver electrical contacts.  As such, we could return about $132 - $198 for your silver material.

Thanks for your question and thanks for recycling!

Hi, I am wondering whether there is any value in recycling flatware that’s marked nickel silver, Panama silver, Brazil silver, Yukon silver, or Alaska silver? From Brandon in Wichita, Kansas

Hi Brandon,

Thanks for your question.. Nickel silver is named for its silvery appearance, but ironically it actually contains no elemental silver.

Nickel silver is different from plated silver in that nickel silver is not plated with silver and does not contain any real silver at all. Plated silver is metal that is actually covered in a very thin layer of silver. EP and EPNS are other markings that indicate plated silver.

Given that nickel silver has no actual silver content, it is not worth anything to precious metal refiners. Unfortunately, there is nothing of value to extract. With that being said, your pieces still might be worth something if you try to sell them on eBay or to a scrap metal dealer. Good luck!

If you have questions about silver war nickels visit our blog post “Silver Recovery from War Nickels”
Or visit our website for silver items that are valuable for their silver content on our Silver Refining webpage.

I have a sterling silver plated large serving tray and 2 wine goblets. What would the dollar valve be? From Karen in Southern California

Hi Karen,

I am sorry to tell you that we do not buy plated silver items because the silver is plated too thinly to return any money based on the precious metal content. You would be better off trying to sell these items as a serving tray and goblets.

Silver plating techniques have become very advanced so that the plating manufactures use the smallest amount of silver possible to get the desired silver sheen. Many times the silver plating is so thin that it can be scratched off by hard objects such as a coin or paperclip.

If you have a silver item that you don’t know is plated or silver, we recommend running a strong magnetic over the items. Precious metal is NOT magnetic, so if the magnetic sticks then your items do not have value based on their precious metal content. Find out more about our silver refining services on our website.

I watch gold fever on the outdoor channel on Saturday morning. If I had the supplies, I think I would try panning myself. I asked the pawn shop if I could bring it there if I found any gold. She said they could test it but didn’t say if she would buy it. Do I deal with a pawn shop or you guys with raw ore like that? Giving 1 oz as an example, and todays prices, how much does testing cost and the net cost after testing? — Sue

Hi Sue!

You can send us samples of the raw ore and we can analyze them for $75-$150 depending on the size of the rock you send us. If we end up refining it we will not charge you the fee for testing. We can return to you a large percentage of gold value after refining but the exact amount will depend on the quality and volume you find.

Be careful when dealing with pawn shops and selling raw gold to them. Because they will most likely sell the gold to a refiner like Arch Enterprises themselves, it’s in your best interest to sell directly to a refiner without middleman pawnshops. Hope this helps, good luck panning.

Thanks!

I have a 14 karat gold ring that weighs 0.3 ounces on my postal scale. Can you tell me what the value of gold in this ring is and what I should expect to get for it from a refiner? - Bob in Columbia, MO

To determine the value of gold in your 14K gold ring, there are a few issues to consider:

• Weight - Unfortunately postal scales are not accurate enough when one is considering the valuing of a gold item, but in this case, we measured the ring that you sent in and found it to actually did weigh 8 grams or 0.2822 ounces.

• Percentage of Gold - 14K Gold is supposed to contain 58.24% gold while the rest is typically made up of copper, zinc, nickel, and other metals.  We ran your ring through our X-Ray analyzer and found that it actually contained 66.89% gold.  See Video Clip.

• Price of Gold - On July 22, the price of gold closed at $951.42 per ounce.  Keep in mind that gold is valued in troy ounces and Americans typically think of an ounce as what is termed a avoirdupois ounce.  Troy ounces actually weigh a little more than avoirdupois ounces so you actually have less than .2822 troy ounces of gold.  To get your value in troy ounces, you would actually have to multiply .2822 avoirdupois ounces by .912.

So, the amount of pure gold in your particular 14K gold ring weighing .2822 avoirdupois ounces with a gold percentage of 66.89% was 0.18877 ounces.  To figure out its value in troy ounces, we mulitplied this number by .912 to get 0.172 Troy Ounces.  Mulitplying this by today’s rate for gold of $951.52 and your gold is worth $163.79.

Of course, the refiner needs to melt this into a form that someone wants and make a profit so you should expect anywhere from 70% to 90% of this value from a refiner.  Most refiners won’t deal in quantities this low.  At Arch Enterprises, we do, but we pay on a scale that ranges from 80% for those who send in less than 1 ounce of pure gold to over 90% for those sending in over 2 ounces.