I think I’m going to try a new (old) style of blogging. Back when I started this in 2012, I just posted whatever it was I found that day or week. I was an amateur trash picker back then, and I was just having a fun time posting my finds. I didn’t know much about anything, my pictures weren’t great and neither was my writing, but no one was reading my blog so what did it matter? Anyways, as I got better and better at trash picking (and it became an actual job), I found more and more stuff, and documenting it in the same way became impossible. I burnt myself out repeatedly trying to keep up. So I think I’m going to focus more on sharing the best stuff in a timely manner. I’m hoping to get back to up 2-3 blog posts a week, but we’ll see what happens.
For now I’ll share the highlights from my exceptional haul a few weeks ago. I stopped at a lightly intriguing trash pile, and was greeted with a bunch of interesting metal junk when I opened the bin. I dug all the way to the bottom, finding all sorts of fun treasures along the way.
I saved 18 of these skewers (6 each, of three slightly different styles). They looked to be hallmarked, but it was hard to read them in the dark. I was able to take a closer look when I got home, and found that they were .800 (80%) Egyptian silver.
At current silver prices, the scrap value of 740 grams of 80% silver is just shy of 900$!
But I wasn’t done yet. I also found this piece of a hookah/water pipe. I thought it looked nicer than your average silver plate, but I left it in the car overnight with some other miscellaneous junk. When I looked the next day, I found a .900 Egyptian silver hallmark on a couple of the components.
I acid tested the other parts, and it seems to be solid silver. I don’t think it’s weighted either. If so, at 770 grams, this hunk of silver is worth a bit over 1000$ for the weight.
Oh, and I also saved these cute little dishes. Egyptian silver again, 90% fineness. At 110 grams, that brings the total silver value to a little over 2000$.
This was one of my best silver hauls in years. Rarely are people this clueless about their precious metals. I found some other fun stuff that I’ll save for a part two, but unfortunately this is looking like a “one-hit wonder” spot for now. However, I’ve been pretty lucky lately. Someone else decided to toss some exceptional stuff, and I hope to share those finds soon enough.
Links
1. My eBay listings. Sign up for eBay (Canada, US). Search for something you want / research something you have (Canada, US). — These are Ebay Partner Network links. If you create an account or buy something after getting to eBay from these links, I get a small cut of the profit!
2. “Things I find in the garbage” on Facebook
3. Follow @garbagefindssells on Instagram (this is managed by a friend, I’ve quit Instagram for the time being)
4. Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. Note that I really suck at keeping up with my email.
5. Help support the blog, or just buy me a coffee! PayPal link below.
Always enjoy your postings. Interesting stuff. Those little dishes with spoons are probably salt cellars? Anyway, post when you can.
Good for you! A good haul indeed! May I ask where do you sell your silver?
If it’s hard to sell for above scrap value, I bring it to this local antique guy who gives good prices. If’s worth more than scrap: eBay, a friend who sells some stuff for me on Facebook marketplace, and occasionally vintage sales.
Wow! Great stuff! As for blogging, anything you can do to make it more fun for yourself will be the best choice.
Excellent advice!
Thanks for the post, enjoyable as always 😀 ps. The donation button doesn’t work for me …
Hmm, it works for me… If you’re Canadian you can use my email for an e-transfer.
Yay for this haul of Egyptian silver! I will be happy to read whatever you write whenever you are moved to write something. Thank you for all the important work you do!
I’m happy to read all your posts, in whatever style or length you wish to write them.
Zowieeee … those are massive skewers! 😀
I’m excited when I see a new post from you. I know it’s going to be good. Great haul.
Always excited to see a new posting from you! Cheers from NY! xx Liz
Scrap silver is the way to go, we made 1k in a haul of flatware from goodwill, sure there was lots of stainless and junk but there was some large serving spoons and some salt servers. We found a Tiffany cigarette holder, the coffee table type, it has more value in silver than as an item. Hoping silver goes up soon.
Me too. Gold prices are near all-time highs, but silver is still a fair bit below highs from around 2010. It’s also about twice what they were in 2018 when I found some other big silver items, so I can’t complain too much.
If you do regular scrap metal, some of that silver serving stuff is plated brass or copper, which is 2-4$ a pound or so. Sometimes easier to sell for scrap that than it is to try to sell it as is, especially if the plating is all worn out.
So excited for you! You deserve an excellent score. Thanks for letting us see it.
Congratulations Martin!! What an amazing haul. I hope it provides all the boost you need to keep you picking – and blogging – enthusiastically. So happy for you, and also so amazed at how you were able to research those Egyptian hallmarks, which are not something you see every day, I imagine. I am sooooo looking forward to Part II to see the other things you found at this spot.
That is great news!
Great haul, Martin! Yes, keep doing what works best for you and don’t worry about anything else. I’m constantly amazed at what you find, and admire your skills at finding markets for this stuff. You also educate us—who knew about Egyptian silver?!