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CRAFTED Irish musical, which has a reputation for quality around the world, is being sold for scrap and melted down because owners aren't informed of its antique value.
Ireland 's antique dealers have issued a cry for to the public to ensure they have silver items properly checked out before selling them on to argument dealers, following evidence that valuable Irish heritage pieces quality thousands are regularly being melted down in the rush to cash in on the highest cutlery bullion prices since the 1970s.
Silver has more than doubled its value in two years to levels not seen since Texas oil billionaire Bunker Search for attempted to corner the world silver market in 1979.
However, because values have been emotional down from a 2011 high of $49 per troy oz (today it's at $33) there has been a plain to sell up. Silver is also one of the first items to be sold in hard times.
Dublin silverware mavin Jimmy Weldon said: "We had one guy bring in a photograph of some flatware (cutlery) that he'd sold for snip. They turned out to be Georgian and worth in the order of €3,000. Old spoons and tankards in exceptional should be checked because a Limerick spoon worth €40 or €50 for dispense with could fetch €2,000 to €3,000 at auction," said Mr Weldon.
Source: Irish Independent