different, but cool! 
Good luck with the sale brother!
Good luck with the sale brother!
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Alpaca Mexican silver grips for 1911? Who knows about these?
- Thread starter Fatal_Bert
- Start date
The real question is, what are they worth (market value)? Or what have comparable others sold for in the past.
And before someone says something is only worth what one is willing to pay...
I just really feel stupid passing up the $20 deal.
And before someone says something is only worth what one is willing to pay...
I just really feel stupid passing up the $20 deal.
Hey FatAl,
They are your grips and you have researched them more than I but did you research alpaca or alpacca silver? It's also known as German silver or nickel silver. It is a copper alloy with nickel and possibly zinc. No elemental silver unless plated. Is there something in the markings that says 92.5% or something else that led you to believe they are sterling silver? Gold plate or "flashing" is sometimes only a few microns thick. I have no idea of value but if this is nickel silver, there is little intrinsic value due to the metals in the grips. Why the cartel members on fleabay are going crazy for them eludes me but GLWS, Amigo! I hope you get a cool thousand for them!
They are your grips and you have researched them more than I but did you research alpaca or alpacca silver? It's also known as German silver or nickel silver. It is a copper alloy with nickel and possibly zinc. No elemental silver unless plated. Is there something in the markings that says 92.5% or something else that led you to believe they are sterling silver? Gold plate or "flashing" is sometimes only a few microns thick. I have no idea of value but if this is nickel silver, there is little intrinsic value due to the metals in the grips. Why the cartel members on fleabay are going crazy for them eludes me but GLWS, Amigo! I hope you get a cool thousand for them!
They are not stamped 925 but I've read it was normal for Alpaca to be Sterling silver but not stamped. I'm pretty sure they're Sterling just from my experience in buying plenty of Sterling silver over the course of two years working a pawn shop. They just look and feel like Sterling. But you're right, even being Sterling silver and gold plating the scrap value is no more than $20 tops .
www.gunsinternational.com ; Quick Search: '100842464'
Alpaca is never sterling. Mexican sterling marks are distinct and not present on those grips. They don't even have spurious marks. No attempt to deceive here. It's a trade name for "German Silver" used all over Central and South America.
When you earn $20,000,000 per month you don't care what things cost as long your crew is impressed.
When you earn $20,000,000 per month you don't care what things cost as long your crew is impressed.
