Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with silver

How do I clean my silver and pearl bird's nest necklace?

pluckemin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:55:55 -0800

How do I clean my silver and pearl bird's nest necklace? I have a bird's nest necklace made out of silver wire with pearls. After wearing it every day for, oh, about a year, it's not looking so good. Not only is it really tarnished, it also looks kind of gunky, probably from my sunscreen. (Side question: is it just me, or does silver tarnish crazy fast in Chicago?) I can't even wear it anymore because it looks so grungy.

But I have no idea how to clean it! I can't dip it in silver polish because of the pearls; my silver-cleaning cloth is of no use because it only rubs the very exterior of the nest and doesn't get into all of the little nooks and crannies. Is there some kind of pearl-safe silver dip I can use? Can I take it to a jeweler and let them deal with it? Or is this just a necklace with a limited lifespan?

Value of 1965-1970s quarters?

fogster — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:21:48 -0800

I have a bunch of (US) quarters from 1965 to the mid-70s that sound and feel different than regular quarters. What are they? Are they worth more than face value? I have a couple dozen quarters that I kept setting aside because they felt different and sound different from contemporary quarters if you drop them. I had assumed they were silver quarters. They're from 1965 to the mid-70s. My research indicates that silver quarters haven't been made since 1964, and that the same material has been used from 1965 to present... So why do these coins feel different? Are they worth more than 25 cents, or should I go ahead and use them in the laundromat?

Give me your old coins!

MayNicholas — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:07:31 -0800

Looking for junk silver coins in or near Richmond Va or Front Royal Va. Willing to travel 35-45 miles from either location. Website recommendations welcome as well. Thanks!

Classy fashion-y silver or white gold rings between $100 and $300?

NHlove — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:55:54 -0800

Classy fashion-y silver or white gold rings between $100 and $300? My mother has been trying to buy me a graduation present since May. I can't find anything for her to get me! She's set on a ring because she wants to get something nice and meaningful and thinks mine need to be replaced.

Right now I wear a couple of $15 silver rings from American Eagle years ago. I'd like to upgrade to something more grown up, but have very bad luck with rings, as I'm not very dainty. I've had amethyst rings that have gotten all scratched up and ruined.

I am looking for an everyday ring either in white gold or silver. I feel like most everything I have seen in stores is either super expensive or super tacky. I like the style of some Tiffany rings but think it's crazy that they sell silver for so much money. I know you all have excellent taste so I am trusting you to help me out!

Requirements:
-between $100 and $300
-simple design, but not as plain as a wedding band
-either no stone or a stone with a high Mohs rating like ruby, emerald, alexandrite, sapphire
-available either online or in the Boston/NH area

Some designs I have seen that might work:

1 2 3 4

Thanks!

A ring....

tropikal — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:41:09 -0800

OK, I've searched all over the internet, MeFi and tons of blogs. I've learned a lot, but I haven't found what I'm looking for. I want to carve a simple ring design for my girlfriend, out of jewelers wax, then send it to a professional silversmith and have it cast. Now I could do it myself, but I neither have the space nor the equipment to do it properly. So yes I have seen and read just about every tutorial about DIY casting. So...anyone out there know where I could find an actual silversmith, only found one, they want a minimum of 25 pieces....

Help us identify this plant!

pghjezebel — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:52:46 -0800

IdentifyPlantFilter: A new plant has sprung up in my Mother's rock garden this year. She loves it, but had no idea what it is! Can you help us identify it? IdentifyPlantFilter: A new plant has sprung up in my Mother's rock garden this year. She loves it, but had no idea what it is! Can you help us identify it?

Characteristics:
Perennial
Tall
Silver somewhat fuzzy leaves
Spreads (in clumps) easily
Pink Flowers

I've upload a few photos of it over here on Flickr.

Un-matting a Faux (Fake) Wolf Fur Lined Hoodie. Please Help! Details inside.

xdeliriumx — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:12:57 -0800

Un-matting a Faux (Fake) Wolf Fur Lined Hoodie. Please Help! Details inside. Last year I finally found the perfect sweatshirt from me. Here is the same one (Silver Strand Hollister Hoodie). So I wore it for quite a bit and then I got it extremely smokey and was forced to give it a thorough cleaning. The instruction inside say, "Do not dry clean. Wash cold - Tumble dry low." I followed the instructions EXACTLY and of course all the faux fur around the hood was matted together and hideous looking.

Does anyone know of a good way to unmat the hair? Any good solutions out there? I took it to the cleaners and they said there was nothing they could do. Brushing it out doesn't seem to work.

Anyone have this sweatshirt and looking to get rid of it?

I talked to Hollister representatives and told them that I followed their instructions exactly and it ruined my hoodie and they will not do a single thing for me at all.

Please help!

Please help find silver drinking straw!

Flamingo — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:27:36 -0800

I need help finding a silver drinking straw for a friend. I really want to get my friend a fancy silver drinking straw as a going away gift, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding something adequately fancy and attractive.

My ideal straw would be this silver monkey straw from Tiffany's, but clearly, they're no longer sold. (I've also checked eBay, to no avail.)

I've googled a fair amount and I've only found this site, which is so far my only somewhat reasonable option.

The gift will be needed by the end of the month, or roughly within three weeks.

A gift set of silver straws or even attractive glass straws would also be of interest.

I am located in the DC area, if anyone knows of a brick and mortar store that offers something like this.

Thanks for any help you can give!

Don't be yankin' my chain

mippy — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 07:43:48 -0800

I have this necklace, a silver pendant fixed to a snake chain, rather than threaded through. The chain has snapped on one side. Where can I get it replaced in London? I do work close to Hatton Garden, but nowhere there will repair silver. Ideally I'd like somewhere that can do it on the spot or with whom I can trust to leave it, as it has a lot of sentimental value.

How to test silver items

Joe in Australia — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:33:04 -0800

I want to test the silver content of some items. What should I buy? I see people offering silver testing kits on Ebay. Are these a good choice, or would I better off buying the reagents themselves? If so, which ones?

How much is my coin worth?

saoyama — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:53:06 -0800

How much is my silver coin worth? Should I wait to sell it? I was given this silver coin a long time ago but now I want/need to sell it for college expenses. It reads "United States of America One Pound Fine Silver" on one side, and "Liberty/In God We Trust" on the other. It was made in 2000. From googling I learned that it is a Silver Eagle Coin aka, I think, a bigger version of silver dollars. Knowing nothing about coins or the precious metals market, I'd like to know a) how much is my coin worth and b) is there going to be any type of increase in demand for this coin in the near future.

Silver Teapot Analysis Paralysis

whuuuu — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 04:42:19 -0800

I'd like to buy Mrs. Whuuuu a silver teapot/tea service/something similar but I don't want to get taken for a ride. I know, to a first approximation, zilch about antiques, vintage, teapots, or silver. I'm not looking for a lost treasure by a famous master or anything like that, I just want it to look nice in that sort of old English ornate way, not be broken, and be made of silver. To clarify it doesn't have to be old, just look like an old teapot.

These are about the right style, especially the last on that page.

I think, based on Googling, that I want solid silver and not plate but that's all I know. I'm in NYC and I have a budget of up to a few hundred dollars for the right one. Really all I want is the teapot itself but if there's some unbeatable value I'll find room for the rest of a service.

It's for Christmas but we don't take it too seriously so if it just won't arrive by then it's not a deal breaker.

Can you help me find where my edgy target market shops for jewelry?

Redruin — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:27:18 -0800

Help me find places in the Washington, DC Metro area to sell edgy men's jewelry, and discover where my target customer shops. I have recently decided to start an high quality silver jewelry brand to cater to an upscale but "edgy" underground or indie crowd, and now I need to figure out where to sell it. Can't start my own (brick and mortar) store yet, so I would love advice on shops/boutiques that might sell this kind of thing in the DC metro area.

The aim of the brand, which will become more evident as the designs mature, is to offer fashionable non-boring jewelry that men can wear, and that rises above the cliche of skulls and/or snakes that dominates the biker/rocker jewelry tradition. I think I can provide a higher-class and higher-quality alternative without being cheesy, bringing more of a luxury fashion experience to those with less straightforward tastes.

So does anyone know where the slightly more affluent and discerning eccentric would shop in DC? I would love any info on the process of how selling in someone elses shop works, though I'm sure I'll learn along the way. Also any especially good places to advertise would help, like niche magazines, websites, etc. I am somehow out of touch with this demo in the area where I now live.

I'm sure it's not an easy question, but I will love any info you can give me! Feel free to buy the stuff too =)

Can you recommend places in San Francisco or online to buy interesting silver+gemstone jewelry?

otherwordlyglow — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:29:50 -0800

Can you recommend places in San Francisco or online to buy interesting silver+gemstone jewelry? I need a necklace (preferably with matching earrings) for a special occasion. I'm thinking that something silver with some color, maybe semi-precious gemstones in various colors, would be nice. Something feminine and somewhat delicate. Could be vintage, could be modern.

I've been looking around Etsy and found some that are close to what I'm looking for but none is exactly right and I find it really difficult to browse in any efficient manner on Etsy. Any other ideas?

If there's a place in San Francisco that I should check, I'd be open to that, too but my time is limited so online might be better.

Sell my booty!

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:52:59 -0800

How to sell a large-ish quantity of silver bullion and gold coins? A relative recently gave me a few hundred ounces of silver bullion, about a hundred silver half-dollars and some gold coins, mostly American.

What is the best way to sell? From previous questions I take it that finding a coin dealer via the American Numismatic Association is the way to go to sell the bullion. But what about the coins? I see a wide variation in the selling price for some equivalent coins on Ebay. Do I go to a dealer for these as well?

Bonus question: Does the IRS automatically find out about this?

Olympic number crunching.

markkraft — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:02:59 -0800

How do you rate which country is "leading" in the Olympics? I ask this, because the latest figures are as follows:

Gold Silver Bronze Total
1. China 46 15 22 83
2. United States 29 35 34 98
3. Great Britain 17 12 11 40

results.beijing2008.cn

I assumed that the overall rating was based on 3 pts for a Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze, which would mean that China is at 190 points and that the U.S. is at 191 points.

So, what gives?! Is there something offficial out there from the Olympic Comittee -- or a historical example -- of how the rankings are reached? If so, who's in the lead currently by how much?!

Test their medal.

furtive — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:07:14 -0800

Who's the first person to bite their medal (photos or it never happened) during the Olympics? The earliest one I know of is 1988 but the practice must go back way earlier than that?

A rubber-stamping solution that's suitable for silver CD-Rs?

porn in the woods — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:17:08 -0800

Started up a DIY record label with a friend a while back. I'm looking for a rubber stamp that will be suitable for using on a silver-topped CD-R. Our first release was on inkjet-printable discs, which looked great but took ages to produce. Looking at this thread points me towards some vendor choices for the stamp. Anyone tried this method of disc identification?

An Ill Volvo

thesiameseffect — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:32:12 -0800

Los Angeles Volvo Filter: Does anyone know of an auto shop that specializes in Volvo service? I am looking specifically in the Silver Lake/Los Feliz area. However, I would be willing to travel outside that area for somewhere decent.

My '96 850 GLT needs a tune up and some new brakes!

Looking for a good silver polish

herzigma — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:59:52 -0800

We need to polish some antique silver, but are afraid of ruining it or removing too much metal. We're talking about flatware, cups, serving dishes, and other tableware. Ideally we'd like a method that: damages the silver as little as possible, provides a long-lasting shine/reduces future tarnish rate, won't kill whoever eats with them. Our experience seems to suggest that with some polishes the tarnish returns more quickly, and that with some polishes silver plate is worn away more quickly. Neither one of those is any good.

Is silver a good investment?

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 06:40:17 -0800

With the US economy apparently getting ready to go 'foom!', a friend of mine has become very excited about silver as an investment. So apparently the great thing with silver is, it's seriously undervalued at the moment, due to ages of behind-the-scenes manipulation to keep the price artifically low, which is now getting ready to 'splode and send the price from $14/oz to $100/oz or more, and furthermore even if it doesn't, it's certainly not going to get any cheaper, so the worst possible scenario is breaking even. Plus the fact that it's hard value and not "fiat currency", and it's necessary to get the hell away from US dollars and the stock market, because everything's going to burst into flames any day now, he says. He's in the process of converting his savings into a safe-deposit box full of silver. Though I sound flippant, he's actually very convincing... but he's self-educated in these issues, so I'm hoping AskMeta has some more experienced economists.

At the moment, I have no retirement fund, but I do have about $23 grand in a mutual fund. I'd been thinking about cashing out some of it to start an IRA anyway, but given the current economic situation, what should I do? Should I get my money out of the fund and away from the stock market? And do what with it? IRA? Is an IRA safe if the US goes mega-inflation? Is that likely to happen? Should I buy a pantload of silver bullion and bury it in the yard? I don't know anything about any of this grown-up crap. Help!

(posting anonymous for reasons of not discussing my finances with strangers)

Lapel pins...a worthy fashion accessory?

Phyltre — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:06:53 -0800

I'm looking for distinctive lapel pins, preferably silver. Help! I'm sure we've all seen the movies where that one guy wears a cool but subtle pin on his lapel that doesn't seem significant until the end of the movie. Well, I'd like something of that nature! I think silver (polished) would probably be a good medium here, preferably, since it rules out the very cheaply anodized ones that rust and flake. Preferably all silver, black is fine as a secondary color but others would probably clash.

So far I've come up with one I really like( Shin-Ra Pin) but I'm curious what's out there. It doesn't need to be actually meaningful, just good-looking (in fact, this is what makes lapel pins hard to search for...the really cheap ones, and the ones for specific organizations that wouldn't make sense for just anyone to wear!).

Hope you guys have some sources or ideas, thanks!

A magic silver bullet for smelly fridge?

Rabarberofficer — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:01:48 -0800

Putting silver into the fridge - good idea or bad idea? I've recently become acutelly aware of some nasty smells in my fridge. When I was cleaning out the whole fridge, I found myself thinking: some of the modern fridges contain silver to reduce smell and growth of bacteria. So, hmmmm - can I harness the smellreducing power of the silver?

Would it be possible to put any silver-object in a fridge to reduce smell? Would the surface area have to be big? (How big - a chandeleire or a tray?) Would the silverware require special treatment (regular cleaning, perhaps)?

Are there any downsides to my smell-reducing fridge-plan? Am I poisoning myself and the lettuce?

Body chemistry changing? Why is my silver jewellery tarnishing overnight?

slaknitter — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:24:18 -0800

I've tried Google and cant get a good explaination yet. In the last 6 months or so, my silver jewellery gets badly tarnished (read black) overnight. I can clean it, put it on before bed, and wake up with my necklace and rings tarnished badly. I havent changed my vegetarian diet (that I'm aware of), my environment is the same, and I dont wear creams/cosmetics before bed. I've tried changing to different soaps in the shower to no avail I feel its something in my body chemistry that has changed - has anyone got any ideas??? Could it be stress? Thanks!

Trash or cash?

Mister_A — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:10:35 -0800

How can I go about getting an assortment of old books, jewelry, silverware, furniture, coins, currency, and papers assessed? I came into possession of a sizable lot of old things, some possessing obvious value, a few obviously junk, and most in the middle somewhere. How to go about assessing this motley assortment? Note that I don't have an unlimited budget, and I'm in Philadelphia. Bonus points for hot info on old stock certificates.