/biz/ - Business & Finance

I visited the LCS for the first time since 2019 and bought 21 mercs for $60, an absolute rip-off but I've been spoiled by cheap scrap and wanted to see what it's like being a clueless normie.

Unsurprisingly it feels pretty stupid to pay normie prices; I'll let the redditors pay the 'tard tax premiums and continue stacking below-spot cheapies while one still can.

>>27816658
>Also betting money you can't afford to lose

I put the money i can't afford to loose into below-spot Silver. I have like $90 in my checking/savings right now lol. Gambling money goes into mining companies; shout-out to TAanon for recommending Manganese X and smallcap anon for Vangold, I'll be sitting comfy this year.

>>23631778
La Pierre is the best weighted stuff, Gorham is usually quite good thick gauge quality too. Usually weighted cups/sugars/creamers or shakers that are only weighted in the bottom yield pretty well, in the 40%-60% range but be conservative so you don't get burned. Also some candelabras are quite good but it's hard to explain or give advice without pictures because others suck ass.

>>23175805
>Is it really that easy? How many fake sterling silver items are there coming from China?

Basically that easy, though beware of "weighted" or "filled" things like candlestick holders, they are just thin sterling sheet metal filled with pitch or cement and yield 10-15% sterling, rest is filling.

The Chinese (and Italians) do make fake sterling, but it's basically all jewelry. I usually avoid fiddly jewelry anyway as sterling tableware and other antique items are legit and much heavier.

>>23175821
>Are pewter items marked?

Yeah, just like sterling. Pewter items are stamped "pewter" or "xx% Tin" (Or "Zinn" for german pewter) so it's pretty easy. Pewter is a rather distinct and memorable sort of alloy so it's extremely easy to identify even across a room after handling it a bit.

>>23133558
Stripped them down and the yield was 440 grams! $300+ worth, definitely not bad. Peruvian sterling displays low quality craftsmanship but is usually quite thick gauge and deceptively heavy, so keep your eyes open for similar Peruvian good deals when out hunting. Others may assume it's typical weighted foil-gauge stuff yielding 10%-15% but don't overlook it yourself.