Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-02-07
OLD GOLD AND SILVER
How the Melting Pot is sunnIioe
Fine Heirloom in Danger

"Best prices paid for old gold ana :,
YER" is sign which cin be s.en a. "
the windows of the Third A,enro - y,
waited cars, painted over the door 81 ~.
gloomy looking shop not far from y q
entrance to the East River Bride NO y
reporter entered this place one dsy H., =
week, and as he did so, a crack .yo; 10y
bell over the door made such acoI;e o
that it woke up a red headed parrot az u
perch behind the counter, and m. =
him screech in sympathy. A little y
derby man, the proprietor of the sb~
then came forward TO inquire the u
itors errand. The reporter explsinss
that he wished to find out what sort Il
people sold old gold and silver, and tbs
kind of articles they had for sale.
"There IRE so many kinds Of peo,.|
who deal with me, said the shopEeens,
that / have never attempted to clasgl,
them. My customers are rarely finn
the wealthier classes. You would na,
urally reply, OF course not, but wealth,
people become pressed for money N
times, and when they do their ieTer|
or plate generally goes first. The pawn.
shops get more of this class Of tadA|
than we do, for pawnbrokers will nav
more as a rule. There is one ebaracsi.
istic of my patrons which is very hot
iceable, aud that is that all of them n.
variably believe they should get twice a.
much for their articles as they an
worth. They almost always sell, but|
generally look as if they thought ther|
were being cheated. We sometimes ri
hold of articles the workmanship n
which is exquisite, costing originaIy
many times moro than the metal itsef
Unless, however, we are pretty confdent
that we eau sell them at good price On +
account of their beauty aud antiquity.
they go into the melting pot with ito /
rest. Once in while l keep an artcls
which it seems almost pity to melt
Such one is TIE scabbard OF sgonl
which q gentleman brought in here %,
day. 1t is solid silver sud most bpau6.
fully engraved and chased. He told ne
that it was family heirloom, which had
descended to him from his greatneat
grandfather. Absolute necessity CON.
PEELED him TO part with it, he added,
but he begged me to keep it awhile, IS
he hoped to be able to redeem it Hs
seemed to feel so strongly aboutit that
/ promised, but he has never been after
it, although it was five years ago that he
brought it here. paid him about
$50 for it, its value as old silver, al
though it must have cost between 500
and $500. | suppose l shall melt itup
before long now"
"Do You keep intact much Of the stuff
You buys"
"Not much Sometimes friend asks
MS to save set of spoons or forks lg
him; but usually everything goes ipD
the melting pot. Sometimes, in buying
lot of old silver, plated articles ana
mixed in among the real, butwe are uot
often deceived that way. | can tell
you, though, that some of the paed
spoons t,lat our grandmotheS used
would almost take in az expert, sothcE-
ly are they coated with silver. They
made things to last in those days You
know"
elbow can you tell whether an article
is silverl'
"By its light, principally, and BY
its general appearance, When one h,s
handled gold and silver for any length
of time, it is pretty hard to deceive
him. Gold articles are tested with fcds
Most af our customers are men-taat
to say, they are the ones who bring u
any considerable quantities. Wonea
naturally bring more iewelry; but even
when they have that to dispose oil, taeI
will send man with it in niue casa
out OF ten. ~ \. Post.