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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ZoidMeister, post: 26640752, member: 114169&quot;]<p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1699275[/ATTACH]</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Need advice on my silver balls . . . . . <b><i>but first the backstory.</i></b></p><p><br /></p><p>These balls have been in my family since I was a kid. My father purchased them from a jewelry store owner probably around the mid-1960&#039;s. Dad kept these in the bottom of a freshwater aquarium for years thinking that no one (if they broke into our home) would think of looking in an aquarium for &#039;precious metals.&#039;</p><p><br /></p><p>My father mentioned that he bought them as &#039;scrap silver&#039; from the jeweler. I don&#039;t know why a jeweler would look to sell scrap, but then rethinking the time period, I think I understand how and why the jeweler chose to &#039;create&#039; these &#039;ingots&#039; for sale.</p><p><br /></p><p>Back in the 1960&#039;s my father would have been in his mid 30&#039;s. This country was still under Executive Order 6102, the 1933 order that effectively banned individual ownership of gold coins, gold bullion, and / or gold certificates by US citizens was still in effect.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 1965, the US removed silver from our circulating coinage as you know. I theorize my father and his jewelry friend were concerned about a secondary Executive Order banning and confiscating silver circulating coinage just as the government did with gold circulating coinage.</p><p><br /></p><p>It was legal for jewelry stores and makers to own limited quantities of gold for their trade use. I am wondering if my dad&#039;s jeweler friend didn&#039;t take a bunch of circulating coins and melt them down out of the fear that silver would be confiscated in the same manner as gold? As such, I really don&#039;t know the actual composition of these little silver orbs. My assumption is they are 90% silver, but if there is any scrap sterling mixed in (or gold), who knows? Each weighs in at about 650 grams and is the approximate size of an orange (as pictured).</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Now the question:</b></p><p><br /></p><p>Does anyone have any experience in getting &#039;scrap metal&#039; such as these assayed? How much should I expect to pay to get an assay / analysis of the metallic content? Any warnings or &#039;heads-ups&#039; in seeking out these services?</p><p><br /></p><p>When silver was hovering around and below $20 per ounce, I didn&#039;t think much about pursuing having them melted down and exchanged for equal / similar quantities of refined metal(s), but with today&#039;s &#039;enthusiasm&#039; for silver, I would be an idiot not to.</p><p><br /></p><p>What say you?</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks in advance for any and all sage advice.</p><p><br /></p><p>Zoid[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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