Hello SilverStackers, I've been lurking for a few days, and after reading a couple of threads to which I wanted to comment, I've joined the forum. And thought I should also introduce myself. I see most introductions are much shorter than this, but since I'm not expecting to be a very frequent poster, I'll just say most of it here... I've recently started refining gold recovered from old computers, and while researching that subject, became aware of widely held concerns that financial S might HTF in the not too distant future, and that silver is a currently undervalued store of wealth that one would be prudent to accumulate in case of said S hitting said F. So I extended my refining activities to include silver also, beginning first with some round 50c's and pre-decimal coins that I already had. Then I started buying old silverware and processing that. So now I'm a stacker! However unlike most other forum members, I'm a silver-is-silver kind of guy, and have little interest in how it is marked, or by whom (unless by me maybe). I just love the metal, in its various forms. Consequently, my small but growing stack contains no stamped bars. It's all just hand poured, unmarked ingots made by a backyard refiner. Some pictures of my stash:- As ingots, 5 x 312g bars In a previous form, before I went for the exact weight bars above [imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/17223_ingots.jpg][/imgz] Some fine crystals, about 194g [imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/17223_crystals.jpg][/imgz] Some "shot" or "cornflakes", about 240g [imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/17223_shot.jpg][/imgz] And worth several times all the silver above, my gold. About 79g [imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/17223_gold.jpg][/imgz] That wasn't such a good melt, this is what it was [imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/17223_golda.jpg][/imgz] I believe all of these to be at least 995+ purity. In fact a couple of quick XRF tests by bullion dealers said even better (like 9999) but I'm a little skeptical of that... But I'd like to strive for perfection, and at some point I'll re-refine the gold and some of the silver, to see if it comes out looking any better. Oh, almost forgot. I actually do have a little marked metal, given to me by my neighbour next door. [imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/17223_coins.jpg][/imgz] I hope my stay on this forum will be an enjoyable and informative one...
Welcome Some nice work there. Plenty of Melbournian stackers on here so keep an eye out for the meetings.
Hi All, Thanks for the welcomes and nice comments. Boyscout: "How many pcs did you go through to get that gold?" None! This gold came from just 2 computers, and there should still be this much again left to extract. Plus I've already extracted several ounces from them, many years ago. The computers were IBM mainframes made around 1960. Back in the 1980's I scrapped several such beasts. The gold in the pics is from the last parts of the machines, which I've had lying around for decades, but only just recently found a reasonably good way to get it out.
