Good Morning, I thought I would chip in on the silver plug train of thought. $10 silver strikes have a center plug, that on average may way abour .60 of an ounce. On paper, with silver at $13.50, thats $8.10. Where do you go with it though. I own Rio Rancho Rare coins, and if I am offered unmarked silver, I'm not interested. The stuff has to be melted and assayed. Here is a copy of what my refiner does. SILVER REFINING.ADVANCES AT 1% FEE. ADVISE MELTING MIXED COINS, JEWELRY,
CUTUPS. PAY RATES ARE BASED ON THE ASSAY OF THE LOT, PAY MORE FOR HIGHER
GRADE AND LESS FOR LOWER GRADE LOTS. THE CUTOFF POINTS ARE:
ASSAYS OVER 98% WE PAY 98% OF THE CONTAINED SILVER AND CHARGE .15 PER OZ
ON THE INCOMING WT. ASSAYS OVER 88%, WE PAY 97% OF THE CONTAINED SILVER
AND CHARGE .20 PER OZ ON THE INCOMING WT. UNDER 88% AND OVER 50% FINE, WE
PAY 95% CHARGE .24 TO .50 OZ INCOMING WT. $35 LOT.
28 BIZZ DAY SCHEDULE ON MOST SILVER. YOU CAN PRICE ANYTIME.
So, don't count on getting full value for whatever it is, in fact, figure the best you can do is 80-85%. Hope that helps, Peter Bilan