Man Thrifts Silver Platter for $6, One Word on the Back Changes Everything - Newsweek

What started as a routine $6 thrift store purchase turned into a historical discovery for one shopper after a single word on the back of a silver platter unlocked its origins.

Anthony Finney Colaiuta told Newsweek he immediately recognized that the platter he spotted at a Salvation Army store was sterling silver, though its age and maker remained a mystery until he consulted online collectors.

The breakthrough came after he posted photographs of the piece online. Markings on the reverse—featuring an "M" above the word "sterling" and the number "02"—allowed enthusiasts to trace the item to the Mueck-Carey Co., a New York manufacturer of sterling hollowware active during the 1940s and 1950s. The trademark is now owned by Towle Silversmiths.

A listing from Sterling Flatware Fashions, a website on the history of flatware, also showed pictures of the same markings Colaiuta found.

After bringing the platter home, Colaiuta polished it and said it revealed what he described as "beautiful" toning, giving the vintage piece an even more distinctive appearance. He later documented the find on his TikTok account, @squashthecabal, where it attracted the attention of fellow collectors.

Weighing 9.3 ounces, the piece has an estimated melt value of approximately $530 based on its silver content alone, a figure Colaiuta described as a "1 in a million" find.

Under the U.S. Geological Survey, sterling silver is defined as an alloy consisting of 92.5 percent pure silver combined with copper or other metals. Because of the high precious metal content, weight heavily influences the baseline value of such items, independent of craftsmanship or historical provenance.

However, experts note that the piece's worth could exceed its raw metal value. Vintage items from the manufacturer command interest among collectors of mid-20th-century American silver. As a point of comparison, auction house Bonhams Skinner sold a five-piece Mueck-Carey Co. sterling silver tea and coffee service produced in New York around 1950 for $2,700 in 2012.

For Colaiuta, the main victory remained the steep discount compared to purchasing through traditional antique markets.

He already knew he was buying sterling silver. What he didn't know when he handed over the $6 was that he was also taking home a piece of 1940s- or 1950s-era Mueck-Carey Co. silverware.

Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Rebecca Flood and Anthony Murray.