The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1889-11-15
PRECIOUS JUNK.
FATE OF ALL THE UNFAsHIoN-
ABLE GOLD JEWELRY.
The Melting Pots Swallow 1t Up,
and There is as Much of 1t An
nuaIIy as All the Mines
Now Produce.

tons. Indeed, it is one Of the greatest
in the country, and, in fact, in the mag
nitude of valuation involved, it surpasses
everything known, excepting the direct
coming of money by the mints.
Every small jeweler, the great dealers
in manufactured gold, and the pawnbro-
kers, all buy old gold, but they are
merely the collectors of this valuable
material, for they in their turn must go
to the bona-fde dealer in old gold who
makes an industry of it, the merchant
who makes it his speciality, like the dia-
mond merchant, and who refnes it.
The jeweler gathers queer collection
of gold and silver junk in the course OF
a year. In speaking of the subject one
said: "There are many sources from
which we get old gold. It accumulates.
II you don't get nd of it as it comes in,
you will be astonished. to find what a
stock of it you have on hand at the end
of a year. One cause that brings much
of it into our possession is the frequent
changes that occur in the styleof ieYs' ~
and the changes are always so pro-
nounced. Now, take the great barbaric
rings that our beauties carry in their
ears; the peculiar chains that are affected
by men; the little bail and chain, min
iature emblems of the chain gang service,
now attached to ladies watches and the
bunch of wires and clusters of bangles
for bracelets, where will they be classed
and how will they look when they once
get out of style2 People would look
ridiculous with them about their persons,
so they would have to get rid of them.
aOur grandmothers and grandfathers
held on to their ancient jewelry to the
last, and now their grandsons and grand
daughters bring the queer odd bits of
style in as old gold. We don't want jew
elry once it IS out of fashion any more
than they do, unless it comes to US as old
gold, and the pieces are worth just the
same to US whether whole or chopped up
or melted into a lump, for whole or
broken, they go to the refining pot. Take
the long neck chains, with broad ratchet
pin ornamented with fringe, which our
great-grandaunts wore attached to their
watches-what earthly use would they
serve now2
Sometimes we come across string of
the old-time gold beads worn by the
bellies of a century ago. They are con-
sidered relics, but we don't place too
much confidence in relics. Everything
is odd gold with US. Those beads being
very thin, and merely stamped out of
very thin sheets, like half CT egg shells,
and then two halves are soldered together
to make one bead, they are very light,
and as whole string will not weigh more
than eight or ten pennyweights, and
would bring as old gold generally about
S., we sometimes hold back on them in
the hope of running across some relic
hunter; but as q rule, antique or other
wise, it all goes as 'old gold
"Quite often customers come in to have
an old watch repaired. In the course of
the conversation that ensues he learns
that the ancient works of his watch are
not worth tinkering up, and we talk
trade. Eventually we give him a new
suaf@h-fes-his- A.ld-aaa- a certain
amount to boot. We take tic -o-.1,--,,.s,,s
from his time-piece, place them in a
secondhand silver case and sell the com
bination at a fair bargain. The old
golden frame We put in our scrap box,
and once a month, probably once week,
sell the lot to the gold merchant, who
pays much better figure than we do.
We buy old gold at a guess, leaving
big margin of chance in our favor, of
course.
'sWorn out finger rings, broken jew
elry, odd bits and odd pieces, where por-
lions of a set have been lost, marred and
disfgured pieces of solid silver and gold
ware, come in daily and are exchanged
for good jewelry. Often old jewelry
comes to be repaired, but the result is
generally a surrender of the broken piece
and 8 purchase of something new
Medals, prize trophies and awards of
merit, when cast in the pure metal, are
finally entomed in our old gold box.
Everything of that nature finds its way
to the old gold dealers hands.
probably it would surprise you to
learn that more than one-half of the en-
tire gold product of the United States for
1888, according to the late report of Sec
rotary of the Treasury Fairchild, was de-
rived from the refining of the old gold
Of the country. The report says; THE
produce of gold from the mines of the
United States during the calendar year of
of 1888 was 81 GOA, S41 fine ounces,
valued at S33, IFS, 600, while the product
of thirteen private refneries in the coun-
try manufacturing fine gold bars, includ-
ing the unrefned gold deposited at the
United States Mint and assay offices,
to 81, CSC, sos fine ounces,
valued at S34, 451, 000.' Now let me in
form you that the reference to 'unrefned
gold at the minis and assay offices means
the old gold that is sent there by dealers
who do not refine themselves. "
Where do the thieves of the country
unload their gold and silver plunder2
"Aheml Well, there are some dealers,
suppose, who are unprincipled enough |
10 deal with such men. OF course, the
after hammer their golden 'swag' into
such a mass that the man isn't born who
ever could recognize or identif,5t;-or
hey may melt it up into solid lump.
Dealers never ask where it comes from,
lnless they have reason to suspect some
hing wrong. But the professional thieves
know better, surer and safer customer
o deal with than any pawnbroker, jeweler
II merchant dealer in old gold-that is.
he Government of the United States.
THE big thieves, who know anything,
end all their gold and silver stocs to the
United States mint by express, and the
Government returns full value for it. No
questions are ever asked. Nobody is seen
n the transaction between the thief and
he Government, and once the property
alls into the hands of the Government,
10 man can claim it, nor can it be got at
lnder any law"
Remnants of n Glacier. in Idaho