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Tonight's Auctions 

By: De_Composed in GRITZ | Recommend this post (1)
Sun, 03 Nov 24 3:56 AM | 22 view(s)
Boardmark this board | Grits Breakfast of Champeens! 		Msg. 00162 of 00701
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Re: “Actually, this is an example of the auction house being totally clueless.”It turned out that I'm the one being clueless. Happily so. I'm learning good stuff without paying any price for it.

Both of the baby cups picked up today, cups 885 and 500, are sterling silver - 92.5% silver. The numbers I thought represented the silver content of lesser alloys are actually the two manufacturers' cup pattern numbers. Based on the price I paid, the other auction participants were evidently as in the dark or worse as I was. That's worth learning too.

Below, I've posted a photo of one of the two cup models, the 885, currently available (from someone else) on Ebay. The manufacturer, W.H. Manchester & Co., did business in Rhode Island between 1887 and 1904. Although the cup is listed for $85 on the screenshot below, if you look closely you'll see a second cup of the same pattern being sold for $39.99+$5.43 shipping.

The second cup, not shown here but it was in the original post, is from Frank M. Whiting Co and is also selling on Ebay at practically the same price: $40+shipping.

That suggests that these two cups would be sold in a store for at least $80. Based on silver content alone and Friday's closing price on spot, the two cups are worth a minimum of $61.98. I paid $21 + the auction house fee.

I've weighed the cups. They mass 33 and 34 grams respectively. A troy ounce is about 31 grams.

The Ebay screenshot follows.



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