These Precious Metals Items Are Worth More than They Look

How to ScrapPrecious Metal InvestmentRecycle Precious Metals

Jan 31

. . . Maybe a LOT More

A few years ago, a man looked down at the bottom of a stream in northern California and saw something shiny poking out from the sand and gravel that surrounded it. He pulled it out and it was a gold nugget. It was absolutely beautiful!

The gold that people occasionally find in settings like that is usually beautiful, because gold does not tarnish. It looks beautiful, and it can have extraordinary value, because gold that is found in its natural state is generally pure 24K, unlike the gold that can be found in old jewelry and scrap, which is usually comixed with other metals to change its color, make it more scratch-resistant, or simply to make it less expensive.

But let’s face facts. If you go looking for precious metals by searching for beautiful items, you are going to miss a lot of pieces that are worth a lot, even though they look unremarkable.

Here’s our list of high-value precious metal items that are not beautiful.

Used Platinum Laboratory Equipment

Platinum resists corrosion, true. But it does become discolored when it is heated to high temperatures, especially when it is exposed to other heated chemicals. But make no mistake about it – ugly, discolored platinum lab vessels are still made of pure platinum and are worth much more than they appear to be.

Used Platinum Sponge

Platinum sponge that has been used in manufacturing often doesn’t look like platinum at all. It looks like crumply black powder. But when it is heated in a refining facility like ours, impurities are removed, and the platinum reveals its beauty and becomes bright and shiny again.

Gold Plating Supplies

Gold, as we said at the start of today’s post, is usually bright and shiny and beautiful. But when small quantities of it become mixed with other chemicals and powders, it can be hard to see. That is especially likely to happen in the filters and pipes that are used in tank plating processes. So if you discover an old plating or jewelry factory, don’t overlook stuff that looks ugly. Its beauty could be hiding within.

Catalytic Converters

Everybody knows they are ugly. But if you can collect 500 or more of them, their value can be extracted by a qualified precious metals refinery like Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners.

Floor and Bench Sweepings

Depending on where you find them, these industrial byproducts can be worth a lot. If they come from a factory that made products containing gold or platinum, for example, they can be worth real money. The same is true for silver items – most often bits and pieces of welding electrodes and fluxes – but because silver is worth much less than other precious metals, you need to collect a lot of them if you want to receive a big payout after recycling them.

Again, these items are ugly and easy to overlook, but don’t write them off in your search for valuable precious metals.

Used Cadmium and Other Medical Testing Supplies

The little tips that are used on testing probes are worth more than they look. If you collect a large number of them, their value can quickly add up.

And remember that today, many diagnostic tests are being performed on people’s pets, not only on themselves. A veterinary hospital can offer you a small, but steady, source of these items.

Find Ugly Items? Call Us to Learn How Beautiful They Really Are

We are here to answer all your questions about precious metals – the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. Call us at 800-426-2344 to learn more.

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Barry Lenson

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