serenity · p/stacked · 10/14/2026, 10:19:02 AM

10/14/26- silver is at $58.70 this am

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dickie · 10/15/2026, 1:53:31 PM (edited) · permalink

![image](https://us-lax-1.linodeobjects.com/sojooo/comments/2835/1792072410949-21e8526d6c4ee524.webp)
![image](https://us-lax-1.linodeobjects.com/sojooo/comments/2835/1792072411464-4f7cde19da89c665.webp)
I bought a 160-year-old sterling silver fork to eat Shin Green ramen, without realizing how old it was.  
  
I'd been using a youth-sized silver-plated fork that belonged to my grandmother-in-law, but the plating was wearing off. I wanted a solid sterling silver replacement that was **under 6 inches long so it would fit inside my [Ai Love Peace ramen cooker](https://ailovepeace.com/products/ai-love-peace-ramen-bowl-ramen-cooker-microwave-ramen-bowl-large-noodle-bowl-40-oz-microwave-bowl-with-lid-portable-noodle-bowls-ramen-bowl-microwavable-for-home-office-dorm-room-college-gift)**, which I highly recommend.  
  
In August I purchased one of the cheaper options available for **$65, including shipping**. Only afterward did I investigate its history.  
  
The 5½-inch, 20-gram fork was made or retailed by **Haddock, Lincoln &amp; Foss**, a Boston silverware firm that operated approximately **1857–1865** at 13 Court Square, according to the [American Silversmiths directory](https://americansilversmiths.org/makers/partners/partners_h.htm). Some references extend the firm's activity into the late 1860s.  
  
The fork features the Victorian *Olive* pattern, with detailed leaves and scrolling ornamentation.  
  
Particularly interesting is its **(925)** stamp, an early example of numerical sterling silver marking in American flatware. At the time, coin silver, generally around 90% pure, was still common. [Tiffany &amp; Co. adopted the 92.5% sterling standard in 1851](https://press.tiffany.com/our-story/a-legacy-of-sterling-silver/).  
  
A [2001 silver collectors' discussion](https://www.smpub.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000052.html) documents other Haddock, Lincoln &amp; Foss *Olive* forks with the same marking. The firm's operating years also overlap the American Civil War.  
  
There's even a museum connection. The [Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, owns a Haddock, Lincoln &amp; Foss *Olive* pattern macaroni knife](https://emuseum.mfah.org/objects/49402/), dated approximately 1857–1865.  
  
Despite its age, the fork retains its decorative details, remains fully functional and maintains its shine with regular use. Its 20 grams of sterling silver contain approximately 18.5 grams of pure silver.  
  
I hadn't set out to buy an antique, much less a piece of Civil War-era Boston silverware. I simply needed a solid silver fork short enough to fit inside my ramen cooker.  
  
**For $65 delivered, I ended up with roughly 160 years of history and a better way to eat noodles.**

4 bumps

serenity · 10/15/2026, 10:10:22 PM · permalink

1 bump

chrisvpnet · 10/14/2026, 1:06:22 PM · permalink

Just a reminder that there is a lot of free silver out there, you just have to know what to look for!  
  
Dime (pre-1965): 100% silver, 2.25g = $4.25

Quarter (pre-1965): 100% silver, 5.625g = $10.62

Half dollar (1964): 100% silver, 4.63g = $21.23

Half dollar (1965-1970): 100% silver, 4.63g = $8.68

Morgan/Peace dollar: 90% silver, 24.06g = $45.40

Eisenhower dollar: 40% silver, 9.83g = $18.56

War nickel (1942-1945): 35% silver, 1.75g = $3.30  
  
HOWEVER... some of those are wroth FAR MORE in coin collector value than silver melt, for example Morgan/Peace dollars of certain years.  
1928 peace dollar that was circulated and just in "ok" condition can be worth $250+ easily a nice one sold for $129K a few years ago.  
An 1893-S Morgan in bad condition can pull $3K all day long and if uncirculated... $500,000.  
  
It all comes down to specific dates and mint marks with older coins. So, before you sell any old coins for melt value, make sure you look them up to see if you're sitting on a goldmine!  
  
Years ago I used to hunt for coins for fun. It was something to do while watching TV (pre-doom-scrolling era lol).  
I would go to the bank and buy a box quarters, dimes, half dollars, etc. and just sort through them, pulling out any with silver content, then dump the rest into a rolling machine to roll them. Then, back to the bank to trade them in and get a new box.  
Dimes and quarters are mostly picked clean at this point, but you can still do well with half dollars.  
  
You can do it with pennies too, looking for pre-1982 pennies, which are 85% copper and a LOT easier to find and at copper melt value, are worth about 4.2 cents each. However, it's illegal to melt pennies since 2006, but there are actually a lot of people stacking pennies for their copper content.  
  
PRO TIP: ALWAYS check CoinStar coin return slots!  CoinStar is designed to reject coins that don't weigh the standard weight, which includes all of the silver coins, because they have a different weight than their modern counterpart. I have found at least 5 silver dimes and 2 silver quarters in CoinStar returns lol.

13 bumps

dickie · 10/15/2026, 3:46:42 AM · permalink

My favorite silver coin is the trime, the tiny three-cent silver piece minted from 1851 to 1873. It's one of the more unusual coins in American history, and its connection to the postal system makes it even more interesting.

The trime was tiny, around 14 mm across, and the original version was 75% silver and 25% copper.

Congress had just reduced the prepaid letter rate to three cents. A three-cent coin gave people an easy way to pay exactly that amount.

So the United States created a tiny silver coin that lined up almost perfectly with the price of sending a letter.

Communication money.

Put silver on the counter, your message enters the network.

For a while, three cents was basically the packet rate.

Latency was terrible.

The first trimes were only 75% silver because the government wanted the metal value low enough that people would actually spend them instead of hoarding or melting them. In 1854, the fineness increased to 90%, but the coin got lighter, dropping from 0.80 grams to 0.75 grams. Interestingly, despite the weight reduction, the actual silver content increased.

James B. Longacre designed it. One side has a six-pointed star containing a shield. The other has the Roman numeral III inside an ornamental C.

![image](https://us-lax-1.linodeobjects.com/sojooo/comments/2835/1792036001880-22dcf65f3ae81cb2.jpg)

The New Orleans Mint also struck trimes in 1851. That was the only branch-mint issue in the entire series. Every other trime was struck in Philadelphia.

And speaking of coins and changing technology, Coinstar has gotten into cryptocurrency!

Some Coinstar kiosks now sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. You can purchase crypto using paper money at participating machines, or use a debit card through the associated mobile apps.

Unfortunately, you can't dump your pocket change into the machine and convert it directly to Bitcoin.

But there's something funny about checking a Coinstar reject slot for 19th-century silver coins while the machine itself is selling 21st-century digital currency.

In 1851, you could hand over a tiny piece of silver to send a message across the country. Today, you can hand over paper money to buy currency that exists entirely on a computer network.

We've come a long way from the trime. At least back then, you could drop your money on the floor and hear it hit.

5 bumps

chrisvpnet · 10/15/2026, 5:32:43 AM · permalink

2 bumps

serenity · 10/14/2026, 11:52:55 PM · permalink

4 bumps

10/14/26- silver is at $58.70 this am

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