PJ said he wants to sell pair of candlesticks that don’t match his wife’s taste. He inherited them from someone he had little connection to. Their significant heft made him mention that the silver price today is $23.83 per troy ounce. PJ wants to know how the resale market works in regard to selling a true fine antique piece of silver versus melting down.
Because these candlesticks weigh so much PJ wants to sell them to a scrap dealer, and make a large profit! His question: what is the relationship of the scrap versus the antique value?
Weighing the candlesticks and multiplying this number by the “spot” price resulted in PJ’s estimate of value. He points out that pawn brokers, coin dealers, online smelters, and bullion companies, all buy to melt down. But he didn’t considered the base material of the candlesticks: they are “weighted,” as we will see, by a material, not sterling, that makes them heavy.
Candlestick Challenge:
Is the value of the antique piece of silver worth more than the scrap value? The candlesticks are not solid silver, so their weight includes the plaster of paris used to form the weight.
I asked PJ to send me the markings on the base. Unless these sticks are sterling, they’re not worth selling. People find silver plate hard to sell. I advised him to look for the British sterling markings, four “touches” (stamps) that include a lion. If American look for “sterling” stamped on the piece, or ‘.925’ stamped which means the piece is sterling silver at 92.5% pure silver over a base metal, often nickel or copper.
Test Case for JP’s Candlesticks:
Stamped on the bottom I see ‘Shreve & Co., San Francisco,’ and also ‘weighted.’ These candlesticks date, judging by the design, from the early 20th century. Shreve & Company manufactured and originally sold them in the Shreve & Company jewelry store in San Francisco. Shreve & Company became known for their great designs, especially in tableware, and considered unique because they designed for patrons on the West Coast.
Founder George Shreve (1828-1893) and his nephew Samuel sailed for San Francisco at the height of the California Gold Rush. On their arrival they established a jewelry shop, the first major jewelry concern on the West Coast. Shreve Jewelry Company sat on the corner of Montgomery and Clay streets. True to their Gold Rush roots, citizens of San Francisco commissioned Shreve & Co. to design a ten-inch-tall solid gold Teddy Bear as a gift for Teddy Roosevelt.
Samuel, the nephew, died shortly after the establishment of the concern. George then led the company when these sticks were purchased at the shop located at 150 Post Street and Grant Avenue. No doubt the family travelled from Riven Rock to this store to purchase these candlesticks in 1910 or thereabouts.
By the 1860s Shreve & Co. established a reputation as the finest silver and goldsmiths on the West Coast. Prominent families collected many of the company’s spectacular pieces. Indeed PJ’s family was connected with the McCormick family, who had an estate in Riven Rock in Montecito.
I receive many questions about the value of weighted candlesticks, and the least valuable pieces of sterling are usually these weighted candlesticks. Significant exceptions include anything in sterling crafted by Tiffany, and most pieces by Shreve. As for British sterling, the older the better, so look for 18th century candlesticks which may be solid sterling, and look for chambersticks, usually a single candlestick of solid silver.
The value of PJ’s pair of Shreve candlesticks is $700 antique value—but far less for scrap value.
Of course these are Sterling, it’s what Shreve did. Generally candlesticks are not worth melt but they are not worth much more unless their design is unusual or impressive.
Using the word ‘profit’ for an item that was a gift or inherited is distasteful, in our view.