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Message:: [QUOTE="rush2112, post: 1255554, member: 25570"]I like this topic....................I made some good finds this summer. $4.00 a pound sounds like a good price for silverplate. The cost to recover the silver plate is usually more than the what the recovered silver is worth. That being said, there are refiners that will refine silverplate but you need a lot of it. I did phone my local refiner and they wouldn't do it unless I had a minimum amount. If I remember correctly, he said minmum was 500 kilograms or a little over 1000 lbs.I still buy silverplate at garage sales, but only items that have a lot of weight to them. I avoid items such as plated copper trays and decorative items. Silverplate flatware usually has marks indicating the amount of silverplate. Just a few are A1 - AA - triple plate - quadruple plate. Anything marked Nickel Silver contains no silver but is a beautiful cream colored alloy. Originally sold as being better than silverplate. Also called German Silver. No silverplate marks on silver items are always interesting. I recently I picked up a spoon with only an inverted LA mark. I later found out it's from the late 1700's and is coin silver. Have several more to research. Have also found a few Sterling pieces of flatware. People won't stick an old silver coin in a garage sale but won't think twice about throwing an old tarnished real silver fork or spoon into a box with a bunch of other junk items. Hope this helps.[/QUOTE]