Silver Electrical Contacts

J

Jaceravone

New Member
My father-law is President of a local coal mine where I live. One day they were cleaning out some lockers and he noticed these three electrical contacts that were on the bottom of one of the lockers. Knowing that I collect silver, he grabbed them for me. He explained to me their use in the mines and that they were made from pure silver which is an excellect conductor for the high electrical volts needed to run some of the mine equipment. Since they were laying there and they had no documentation with them, they couldn't use them because they did not know if they were good or not. He gave them to me to use as I wish. They weight about 5 pounds each. I called several scrap companies and they all quickly hung up on me. It appears that nobody likes dealing with anything that could be perceived as stolen. I assured them they weren't but still, I understand their situation. Can anyone recommend what to do with these? I like to either sell them for their silver or melt them down into a bar. Any suggestions. Thanks.
 
I know someone in Australia, who wouldn't mind them ;-)
There has to be someone who will take them off your hands.

Pictures would be good.
 
Hickson said:
I know someone in Australia, who wouldn't mind them ;-)
There has to be someone who will take them off your hands.

Pictures would be good.
Click to expand...

How do you post pics on this forum? I have pics ready, but they are on my computer.
 
See the top menu.

UPLOAD image.

That will then give the necessary link to copy and paste into your post.
 
6046_img_1624.jpg
6046_img_1622.jpg
6046_img_1621.jpg
6046_img_1619.jpg
 
I believe that is correct. It is almost a weekly occurance over here that someone gets electrocuted for trying to steal copper wiring off electric poles or out of the mines. These contacts are just as valuable and are typically mounted down fairly securely as my father inlaw explains. The voltage that runs through these is really high (don't recall the number told to me), so most theives leave these alone as it is almost always a death sentence if they touch the wrong wires.
 
I have tried doing an internet search for any info on these, but my father inlaw thinks that they were made specifically for the mine and were designed from specific specs. Therefore, I was trying to find the company that made these but did not have any luck.
 
I definitely would be interested in selling them, but would like to verify their composite makeup before I sell them. I would hate to sell them as 100% silver when they may be something else. My father inlaw is pretty sure that they are 100% pure silver. Each one weighs about 5 pounds. Really heavy for these little things that sit in the palm of your hand. My estimates look like there is about 30oz of silver total if my calculations are correct. My wife's work has a postage scale and I will give her one on Monday to weigh. My weight calculations were very primative as I took my weight on a home scale then grabbed the silver contacts and weighed myself again. The difference was 15lbs.
 
there's a thread on here somewhere that tells you how to do a specific gravity test , this may possibly help determine if they are silver or not?
 
Resistance test.

Anyway, if they are solid silver I would definitely not melt them down. They are more appealing than typical bars - Unique.

Technically; they are stolen, since found items not yours are stolen. I would return them.
.
 
hi sulla you handicap too?
yes you read original post and says very clearly...
Jaceravone said:
My father-law is President of a local coal mine
Click to expand...
Does not imply owner.

thanks for post count
 
Water&Food said:
hi sulla you handicap too?
yes you read original post and says very clearly...
Jaceravone said:
My father-law is President of a local coal mine
Click to expand...
Does not imply owner.

thanks for post count
Click to expand...

Implies an officer of the company, in fact the most senior person in that coimpany, who has the authority to make a decision based on the facts at hand.

What a waste of bandwidth this is!!
 
cut one down the middle and do an XRF, icp,aa or ftir test on it. should give you a rough idea of the purity of it.


Then you only have two which makes them 66 % rare and more valuable.
 
Wow these are excellent. Proof of the low electrical contact resistance that that I've read silver possesses. If you're in the USA I can't see the practicality of a few of the suggestions here for disposing them.

If I owned them I would not melt them down as they have a novelty appeal that should appeal to someone - you just have to be patient & find your market. Is there something like the Silverstackers monthly meets, that we have here, over there?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top