sweet thread thanks dude, can u save the copper as well?

Awesome i am going to be trying this for sure, can you tell me though could you use other objects other than coins??

And what if the objects happened to have more than silver/copper contained in them? say for instance brass or nickel etc could you still use your process??

Thanks again really good thread i have always said a day will be coming when precious metals gold silver etc will be the new currency, especially when all they "cash for gold adverts" came about. Please reply because i would like to give this a go thanks mate.

Originally posted by DocHolidaze
sweet thread thanks dude, can u save the copper as well?

I suppose you could but honestly, the time, trouble and resources required would involve more cost than you would recoup from the copper itself.
In fact, the process actually requires you to "sacrifice" some copper in order for the silver to be precipitated back out of the solution.

Originally posted by Vaxar
Awesome i am going to be trying this for sure, can you tell me though could you use other objects other than coins??

And what if the objects happened to have more than silver/copper contained in them? say for instance brass or nickel etc could you still use your process??

Yep, the process would still work just as easily.
The purpose of the nitric is essentially to dissolve not only the silver that we're interested in, but also any other metal such as the ones you mentioned. Once all the metals have been dissolved, we then selectively recover the silver back as a solid whilst the "unwanted" metals remain in solution.

reply to [url=http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread810904/pg1#pid13504096]

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One 'Problem', many countries, (U.S. included) have 'Laws' against 'Destroying Currency' that U should look into B4 undertaking this task.

Ok, ive amassed all the materials required since the posting of this thread. I have diligently followed the instructions provided and am reasonably confident that I am doing most everything correctly.When I get to the final stage of melting the powder down 2 things are happening to me.

1. I cant get 'smooth buttons' - all my pieces are coming out in rough rock like pieces.

2. I keep getting 'impurities' from burning on the potato, i.e the burnt carbon from the potato is being pushed around by the air of the blow torch and thus landing back on my silver creating impurities in the final pieces.

Any tips on how to make this process a better success?

I have also found that it can take a few attempts of straining the silver powder back and then putting a piece of copper back into the freshly strained solution to gather more silver back onto the copper. Actually I have been filtering more than once on every step to ensure a more pure final product, and to make sure I am getting as much of the silver recovered as possible.

Thanks for the how to guide though, so far I have had a blast and even made a few dollars purchasing some deals on silver.

Originally posted by phishfriar47
Ok, ive amassed all the materials required since the posting of this thread. I have diligently followed the instructions provided and am reasonably confident that I am doing most everything correctly.When I get to the final stage of melting the powder down 2 things are happening to me.

1. I cant get 'smooth buttons' - all my pieces are coming out in rough rock like pieces.

The "roughness" is a good indicator that the silver is not being heated to a high enough temperature.
You need to continue heating the silver until it becomes completely liquified and the pressure of the flame causes it to easily wobble and move around like jello. At this point, surface tension will immediately pull all the silver together into a perfect circular/round shape.

Also, don't try to make the "buttons" too big as this will prevent even heat distribution as the silver melts, resulting in that "rough" look. Go for a max button size around 2 or 3 times as bid as an M&M.

2. I keep getting 'impurities' from burning on the potato, i.e the burnt carbon from the potato is being pushed around by the air of the blow torch and thus landing back on my silver creating impurities in the final pieces.

The carbon should remain on the surface of the silver and will not combine with it.
Hint: Once completely cooled, use a piece of "soapy steel wool" (used for pot cleaning in the kitchen) and give the silver a good scrub with it. This will easily remove all surface discolourations and bring up that nice "silvery" shine.

Ahh thank you, as of right now I have 2 pieces, one about the size of a quarter across and the other almost 2 ounces solid. The first one I thought was rough because of improperly following the instructions, but I guess I need to keep going a little longer.

Would it be ok to 'break' my big pieces to get them small enough to melt smoothly?

Thanks for the quick response, I am about to go work on my smaller piece now and see if I can break make that one smooth. It weighed about 8 grams

Ok, heres an update.

Unfortunately i was unable to break my large piece, so I started to heat it and hammer it into as flat of a disc as possible. Once it was flat I just simply took it and washed it with some warm soapy water and a steel wool and it turned out reasonably well.

The small piece I was able to make most of the way smooth by remelting it and again washed away all the discoloration and impurities from the potato.

Overall I would say this is a pretty neat little method to recovering silver out of anything other than Pre-65 US coins. I would advise leaving any coin that is prior to 1965 and is a US coin out of this. They are super easy to determine value on and no real reason to melt other than to try this little procedure out. I was mainly using Sterling flatware I picked up at a local antique store/flea mall. My reason for using those was to obtain the pure silver and to then make it into a more tradeable form, such as those buttons you are making.

Thanks for the tip and how to guide. I might try the gold one next, but im too afraid to lose even a minuscule amount of that, gold is too expensive to play around with until ive perfected the silver method first

Thanks again

1 question, how much nitric acid would i need to for refining a kilo of sterling silver or do i just have to make sure the silver is completely cover? Thanks for the info cant wait to have a go at it.

I was thinking of picking this up as a hobby. One question I would like to know, maybe its been asked and buried in the thread, would it be alright to leave the silver in its powder form for a long period of time?

I remember reading and taking notes when this thread was put up, but I can't remember if i've asked this question already lol.

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