Dummies Guide to EASY silver bullion refining at home as a long term precious metal investment

Originally posted by anthonygillespie2012
reply to post by tauristercus

 

I would like to try this myself just for the fun thanks for the info, are there any dangers involved making them? I have never created anything like this before but really want to give it a try as long as nothing poisonous kills me or something blows up. I noticed your wearing gloves.

edit on 19-2-2012 by anthonygillespie2012 because: (no reason given)

In the tutorial, I made sure that I stressed the inherent dangers in using nitric acid. Obviously something strong enough to dissolve metals is not to be treated lightly. So whenever I'm doing my processing, especially around the acid, I make sure I'm wearing those disposable plastic gloves. Nitric doesn't have much effect on plastic and so any accidental spillages usually are of no concern at all ... just take the gloves off and put on a new pair.
As I also mentioned, I've been doing this for quite a few years and not had a single incident worth mentioning.

Also, as nitric dissolves silver and copper, it produces small quantities of that really NASTY brown nitrogen dioxide gas. ALWAYS ... ALWAYS ... ALWAYS do the processing outside in the open air where the gas will easily disperse.

Keep the above in mind and there's no reason that there should be any problems. The entire process is quite safe as long as you exercise care and caution.
No bangs or explosions will ever happen

reply to post by tauristercus


Is there Any possible way to remove the Silver Content from Silver Plated Utensils ? That would be an interesting Read.............

Originally posted by GaVinCe
That's impressive.. I certainly didn't think you could do that.. Thanks.. BTW, when heating the powder at the end, can you use something other than that blow torch thing? Don't think I can get hold of one of them so easily, lol..

Unfortunately no .. or at least nothing as simple as the propane blowtorch.
You need something that will generate approximately 1000C of heat (approx. melting point of silver/gold) and these torches are perfect for the job.
Try asking at your local hardware store as these torches are common as ....

Originally posted by Zanti Misfit
reply to post by tauristercus

 

Is there Any possible way to remove the Silver Content from Silver Plated Utensils ? That would be an interesting Read.............

This process works just fine on even silver plated items, though obviously the amount of silver recoverable will depend widely on the thickness of the silver plating used. Though not necessary, the process would be more efficient if the items could somehow be cut up into smaller pieces as that gives the acid a greater surface area to attack.

Originally posted by GaVinCe
That's impressive.. I certainly didn't think you could do that.. Thanks.. BTW, when heating the powder at the end, can you use something other than that blow torch thing? Don't think I can get hold of one of them so easily, lol..

Anybody who has repaired their own household plumbing will have one of these collecting dust as well, so ask your friends. I've never been in a hardware store or Walmart type place that didn't have one of these for under $20.

Originally posted by Alchemst7
I just looked up the cost of nitric acid here in San Diego 1L cost around $30 - 45...How much Nitric acid would be used to disolve those 2 coins?

I'm impressed if you're paying $30 - $45 US for a liter of nitric.
I pay $AUS 35 for only half a liter (500 ml) and even though our respective dollars are approximately at parity, you're still effectively paying the same and getting twice as much acid !

To dissolve those 2 coins weighing 6 gms in total, I needed to use approximately 17 mls of nitric mixed with another 17 mls of water to make a 50/50 dissolving mixture.

Originally posted by dainoyfb

Originally posted by GaVinCe
That's impressive.. I certainly didn't think you could do that.. Thanks.. BTW, when heating the powder at the end, can you use something other than that blow torch thing? Don't think I can get hold of one of them so easily, lol..

Anybody who has repaired their own household plumbing will have one of these collecting dust as well, so ask your friends. I've never been in a hardware store or Walmart type place that didn't have one of these for under $20.

Agreed.

And there's enough propane in the tank to melt many, many button sized items before needing refueling ... so those torches are very cost effective.

In the tutorial, it took approx 60 seconds to convert all the extracted grey powder back into metallic silver.

Brilliant thread! S+F for all the usefulness and hard work

I too see the usefulness of silver as an investment: used in infrastructure, military, health, photography, etc etc. Tons of uses. Can also be turned into useful, reusable items until you need to cash it in, alot like gold.

Good source of silver I've noticed is thrift stores for cheap old silverware, ashtrays, candlesticks. I imagine though it involves larger volumes of nitric acid? Larger containers?

I got a question: Is copper the only metal or just the typical metal for plating with silver? Because would other metals give off more toxic fumes than copper?

Interesting thread.
Sorry I'm really ignorant on this subject.

Your talking about making a long term investment by making these. What about quick profits? Can you make decent money by doing this and quickly selling it? And who would you sell it to? Just curious.

Very interesting....However how much does it cost to get a hall mark as without the proof its silver or gold all you have is lump of melted metal and without some proof of its purity its worthless.

Originally posted by Aliquandro
Brilliant thread! S+F for all the usefulness and hard work

Good source of silver I've noticed is thrift stores for cheap old silverware, ashtrays, candlesticks. I imagine though it involves larger volumes of nitric acid? Larger containers?

Sure ... the greater the quantity of silver and/or other metals to be dissolved, the more nitric you'll need.
But as a very rough guide, to dissolve 1 gm of silver you need approximately 1.3 mls of nitric.
To dissolve 1 gm of copper, you'll need approximately 4 mls of nitric.

So obviously the exact amount of nitric needed will be determined by the silver/other metal composition of the item being dissolved.

In the tutorial, the composition of the coins was 50/50 silver/copper and the amount of nitric required to completely dissolve them was 17 mls.

I got a question: Is copper the only metal or just the typical metal for plating with silver? Because would other metals give off more toxic fumes than copper?

Essentially, the only major gas that will be produced is nitrogen dioxide ... irrespective of the metal being dissolved. Again, do the processing out in the open air and all will be fine.

Great Post!

I'm going to give it a go

Thanks for the tutorial. I need money anyway i can get it, these times are hard. You should make a list of things you can buy offline or whatever that you can make silver out of for cheap.

S&F for you OP! Thank you for sharing this, I think I'll have to try it soon!

Many thanks for this tutorial. It is priceless...and perhaps literally if I can get some luck in yard sales and estate auctions.

I have one question that follows what others have asked and it really is the heart of the matter for all this. The shiny silver 'button' of almost pure silver screams potential value. How do I realistically turn that potential into cash money in my hand to go shopping with? I'm not even sure where to start in finding an outlet to sell home refined silver or gold? Anything on that would be greatly appreciated.

I look forward to your thread on Gold as well. I have some free time as a student these days and could use the income. Ohh..the Midwest is just absolutely great about flea markets and garage sales (when it warms up a bit). This is one of the few threads I've saved as a .PDF for printing as a reference guide.

Originally posted by tauristercus

Originally posted by Zanti Misfit
reply to post by tauristercus

 

Is there Any possible way to remove the Silver Content from Silver Plated Utensils ? That would be an interesting Read.............

This process works just fine on even silver plated items, though obviously the amount of silver recoverable will depend widely on the thickness of the silver plating used. Though not necessary, the process would be more efficient if the items could somehow be cut up into smaller pieces as that gives the acid a greater surface area to attack.

So , a Hacksaw to Cut the Silver Plated Utensils into smaller bits that would fit into the Jar , then using the same Process you mentioned ? Thanks ...

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


3 grams of silver as far as I can tell is worth about $3.20. so minus the filters / gloves / acid / cost of the coins and the hour or so of work to make it.

Its more or less worthless at this point

Might even be making a loss

S&F!

These materials will soon go into my list for items in the "bunker" when I get back to the states.

I'm looking forward to your thread on gold as well.

Brilliant!

Would it be illegal to destroy those coins? I know if you did this with current money it would be illegal.

Just wondering.

reply to post by davespanners

How can the knowledge to easily refine and purify a precious metal be worthless? Even if I can't get an easy outlet to sell this to right now, it's still worth the effort when silver % items can be picked up for pennies in yard sales and such. My other half is out hunting in them during the warm months anyway... What the heck? It's worth playing around with...and if I can get a local way to sell the final product, perhaps quite a bit more.