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How to Remove Weighted Sterling Scrap

Some old sterling silver pieces are suitable to scrap for money. Silver is a precious metal and scrapping an old bent piece can be worth the time and money. The weight of most sterling pieces is not accurate if it is weighed as it stands. Much of the weight is not silver weight but plaster, pitch or lead added to the inside of the piece to give it support. Sterling silver pieces are weighted to make them more affordable. The actual thickness of the silver is only .003 inch.

Things You'll Need

Weighted silver piece
Box cutter
Pliers
Sharp wire snips
Digital diet scale

Instructions

- 1
  
  The weighted material is found in the base and stem.
  
  Turn the sterling silver item over to see the base. If the item is a candlestick, vase, salt or pepper shaker or candy dish--to name a few items that are often weighted--the base will have imprinted "sterling weighted." The weighted material is in the base and stem of the piece. If you have sterling knives, the weighted material will be found in the handles.
- 2
  
  A box cutter blade will slice through the silver.
  
  Work from the base first, cutting into it with the box cutter. Slice a cross on the base in the center. With the pliers peel back the four sides. You will see that the silver is thin and easy to peel back. Open the surface all the way. The reason the stems on most old pieces become twisted and crinkled is because the pitch had reduced in volume during the original pouring, then cooled inside the object, creating a void. The pitch is easy to remove.
- 3
  Cut the sides of the stem with the snips. Run all the way along the sides. Peel the silver back with the pliers. Some pieces have rods in them. Often the pitch will fall out in small pieces, as it can become brittle with age.
- 4
  Clean out all the interior matter throughly. With the remaining silver pieces use the digital diet scale or any scale that can weigh in ounces to calculate the weight. The ounces will need to be converted to troy ounces. One ounce is equal to .9114583 troy ounces. Both troy ounces and troy pounds have been the standard form of measurements for silver, gold and platinum since the Middle Ages.

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