Sciencemadness Discussion Board - 3.5 kg AgNO3 (silver nitrate) for sale [EU]

3.5 kg AgNO3 (silver nitrate) for sale [EU]

Jeeves225 - 16-2-2023 at 04:21

Hi folks,

A few years ago while cleaning out our grandfather's garage we found a rather big pot of silver nitrate. Probably from when he was doing some photography work, which was something he did when he was younger. Anyway, so here I am, the family designated scientist, being asked if I could have any use for it. I didn't have anything I could think of at the time, but thinking it may come in useful someday I brought it home with me. I still can't really use it for anything, however, so I am looking to get rid of it.

So here I am now on this forum looking to sell it to someone who could use it for whatever project they are working on. Maybe turn it into other silver compounds or get it to actual silver and turn it into a silver bar.

This big ol' pot, is it actually silver nitrate you may ask. I did some testing, and reacting an aqueous solution of it with a solution of sodium chloride produced a white precipitate (silver chloride presumably) which turned grey upon exposure to sunlight. I also got a bit on my hands and I am now left with some black specks which is the expected result of skin contact with silver nitrate.

For those interested I have attached some pictures.

I've been thinking of a good price to ask for this. The going rate for actual 99% silver nitrate from China seems to be €650 per kg. I would probably be looking to get the silver price for this. By my calculations there is around 2.2 kg silver, and at the current silver price that would be worth €1450, or €400 per kg of silver nitrate.

I would prefer to sell the whole lot in one go, however I also understand it's a lot and you may not have a need for that. I'm willing to split up the pot, however I would probably not sell less than 500 g. I'm in the EU and will only ship within the EU.

Let me know if you are interested!

[Edited on 16-2-2023 by Jeeves225]

Herr Haber - 16-2-2023 at 06:05

I get it that you might not have the time but if you want to make money get some HDPE bottles and sell it on eBay.
It still goes for over 1 Euros / gram in 100 grams amount.

That's what I'd do even though I have a copper rod right next to me. It's more valuable as silver nitrate.

Spot price for silver today is 648 EU but I wouldnt expect it to go at that price.
If you are in the EU and the buyer expects to sell at some point he'll have to take into account VAT / taxes on precious metals and the margin his own buyer will want to make. Loot at the variation over 10 years, it's not much so the buyer needs to make a good deal if he expects to sell at some point and make a profit.
I'm trying to think of who could value the nitrate more than the silver but I dont see anyone besides photographers...

CRUSTY - 16-2-2023 at 09:30

Yeah I'd think seeling that in smaller amounts would be the way to go. I can't see why anyone in here would need 3.5 kg of the stuff, even 500 g is a pretty huge amount. You should still be able to turn a good profit even in small amounts.

Keras - 16-2-2023 at 09:52

Indeed, if you can weight 500 g and put it in a can or bottle I'd be happy to purchase it from you.

Tsjerk - 16-2-2023 at 11:08

I don't know how it is handled in other countries, but in the Netherlands you don't pay VAT over second hand products, which this is, unless you are selling as a company. So when this seller is located in the Netherlands (I see a Dutch label?) he doesn't have to charge VAT. The buyer could also sell without charging VAT in the Netherlands.

Jeeves225 - 16-2-2023 at 12:05

Quote: Originally posted by Herr Haber

I get it that you might not have the time but if you want to make money get some HDPE bottles and sell it on eBay.
It still goes for over 1 Euros / gram in 100 grams amount.

That's what I'd do even though I have a copper rod right next to me. It's more valuable as silver nitrate.

Spot price for silver today is 648 EU but I wouldnt expect it to go at that price.
If you are in the EU and the buyer expects to sell at some point he'll have to take into account VAT / taxes on precious metals and the margin his own buyer will want to make. Loot at the variation over 10 years, it's not much so the buyer needs to make a good deal if he expects to sell at some point and make a profit.
I'm trying to think of who could value the nitrate more than the silver but I dont see anyone besides photographers...

Thanks for that idea. Yes, you might be right in saying that selling it on eBay might give the most profit in the long term, however that would be a very long process. Now, splitting it up into 500 g batches, sure, that would be 7 shipments. Shipping 35 orders through eBay however is just a bit much.

If someone else wants to do it and your prices are accurate they might be able to sell it for €1/gram, so a 100% profit. But I don't have the time or patience for that.

To touch on your tax comment, I am not a business so I don't have to take into account taxes. Someone with a business would buy this and sell it on they would only have to pay taxes over the profit margin. At least where I live.

Jeeves225 - 16-2-2023 at 12:08

Quote: Originally posted by Tsjerk

I don't know how it is handled in other countries, but in the Netherlands you don't pay VAT over second hand products, which this is, unless you are selling as a company. So when this seller is located in the Netherlands (I see a Dutch label?) he doesn't have to charge VAT. The buyer could also sell without charging VAT in the Netherlands.

Indeed, I am. A buyer would officially have to pay taxes over their profit margin I think (margeregeling).

Jeeves225 - 16-2-2023 at 12:09

Quote: Originally posted by Keras

Indeed, if you can weight 500 g and put it in a can or bottle I'd be happy to purchase it from you.

Great! Let me send you a U2U message.

Fery - 16-2-2023 at 12:42

Jeeves225 - your grandpa stored it very well, it is good quality, did not darken and the crystals are nice dry.
In my country one seller is selling 100g bottles of AgNO3 in auctions for years, he looks like having hundreds of them. Sometimes one bottle is sold, sometimes not. He offers 100g for 1000 CZK = 40 EUR and gets less due to fees to the auction server (fee for exposing, fee for selling etc). A lot of auctions during last few months when nobody was interested in:
https://aukro.cz/dusicnan-stribrny-100-g-7030254676
https://aukro.cz/dusicnan-stribrny-100-g-7029724985
https://aukro.cz/dusicnan-stribrny-100-g-7025435498
https://aukro.cz/dusicnan-stribrny-100-g-7024388707
https://aukro.cz/dusicnan-stribrny-100-g-7022947867
https://aukro.cz/dusicnan-stribrny-100-g-7021901895
But ebay is much bigger market than this national auction server in my country. And you certainly find buyers also here in the forum!

BromicAcid - 16-2-2023 at 13:13

The last time I had precious metal salts I was able to sell them directly to a reclaiming company for close to spot.

Herr Haber - 16-2-2023 at 14:17

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_of_precious_metals
Just sayin'

The idea of buying it all and reselling occured to me.
Bromic acid suggestion is quite good, a reclaiming company will certainly understand it's value better than the local "we buy gold shop" that dont even know what an ounce is (true story...) and will call it as chemical waste containing precious metals just to rip you out better.
Though I hope you can make 7 people happy in the community

Jeeves225 - 16-2-2023 at 14:48

Quote: Originally posted by BromicAcid

The last time I had precious metal salts I was able to sell them directly to a reclaiming company for close to spot.

A friend suggested that as well, but the few companies that I've found in my country that provide that service only do so for registered businesses.

Jeeves225 - 16-2-2023 at 14:52

Quote: Originally posted by Herr Haber

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_of_precious_metals
Just sayin'

The idea of buying it all and reselling occured to me.
Bromic acid suggestion is quite good, a reclaiming company will certainly understand it's value better than the local "we buy gold shop" that dont even know what an ounce is (true story...) and will call it as chemical waste containing precious metals just to rip you out better.
Though I hope you can make 7 people happy in the community

If you are interested in buying up a quantity I'll gladly ship you some. Some profit for me, some profit for you

[Edited on 16-2-2023 by Jeeves225]

woelen - 18-2-2023 at 11:23

It indeed looks very well, but you should do some tests on total silver content. In the past, sometimes AgNO3 was mixed with KNO3, in order to make measuring small amounts of silver(I) ions easier, while the K(+) ions did not have any effect on the intended application of the Ag(+) ions.

Texium - 18-2-2023 at 11:47

Odd indeed that the container is labeled 1000 grams but actually contains 3500 grams. Hopefully that doesn’t mean 1000 grams of silver nitrate plus 2500 of potassium nitrate!

BromicAcid - 18-2-2023 at 12:38

In and of itself the fact that the unit is labeled 1000 grams but actually contains 3500 grams is reasonable. If this was a highly used chemical in a photographic lab, dribs and drabs of other units combined, materials packaged in glass bottles or poly bags bulked up. But because of the intrinsic value I'd certainly be worth trying to assess a rough purity on it before selling. I'd be worth it to get a representative sample of the top/bottom/middle portions and add in the requisite amount of sodium chloride. This will precipitate as silver chloride if the chemical identity is correct (not much else would form a precipitate) and further this could be dried and weighed to get a rough purity.

Jeeves225 - 19-2-2023 at 05:40

Quote: Originally posted by BromicAcid

In and of itself the fact that the unit is labeled 1000 grams but actually contains 3500 grams is reasonable. If this was a highly used chemical in a photographic lab, dribs and drabs of other units combined, materials packaged in glass bottles or poly bags bulked up. But because of the intrinsic value I'd certainly be worth trying to assess a rough purity on it before selling. I'd be worth it to get a representative sample of the top/bottom/middle portions and add in the requisite amount of sodium chloride. This will precipitate as silver chloride if the chemical identity is correct (not much else would form a precipitate) and further this could be dried and weighed to get a rough purity.

Thanks for that suggestion (also to woelen and Texium). To determine a rough purity I went ahead and let 2.730 g (16.1 mmol) of a representative sample of the product react with an excess of NaCl. This produced an fluffy white precipitate, presumably silver chloride. I washed the precipitate once with water, and dried it in a 140 degree C oven for around half an hour. After this point no decrease in mass was observed. The final yield was 2.336 g (16.3 mmol) which is 101% of the theoretical maximum yield of 2.31 g.

I used tap water so this may have included some minerals that also precipitated which might explain the extra yield. As far as I can see everything points to this being almost entirely pure silver nitrate.

[Edited on 19-2-2023 by Jeeves225]

Jeeves225 - 1-3-2023 at 04:25

The first 500 g has reached its buyer! Still 3 kg left.

Jeeves225 - 7-4-2023 at 02:59

Still available!

Keras - 7-4-2023 at 11:33

Quote: Originally posted by Jeeves225

Still available!

Can’t believe no one is interested!

Jeeves225 - 8-4-2023 at 04:11

Quote: Originally posted by Keras

Quote: Originally posted by Jeeves225

Still available!

Can’t believe no one is interested!

There was one other person who sent me a U2U but they haven't been online since I replied.

Of course there's also more for you if you are interested

Keras - 8-4-2023 at 22:45

Quote: Originally posted by Jeeves225

Quote: Originally posted by Keras

Quote: Originally posted by Jeeves225

Still available!

Can’t believe no one is interested!

There was one other person who sent me a U2U but they haven't been online since I replied.

Of course there's also more for you if you are interested

I’ll see. I’m a bit strapped for cash this month, but maybe in May. I’ll keep you posted.

Have a great Easter!

Jeeves225 - 10-4-2023 at 07:51

Quote: Originally posted by Keras

Quote: Originally posted by Jeeves225

Quote: Originally posted by Keras

Quote: Originally posted by Jeeves225

Still available!

Can’t believe no one is interested!

There was one other person who sent me a U2U but they haven't been online since I replied.

Of course there's also more for you if you are interested

I’ll see. I’m a bit strapped for cash this month, but maybe in May. I’ll keep you posted.

Have a great Easter!

Sure, I'll be around. You have a great easter as well!

Jeeves225 - 15-7-2023 at 11:58

Hi folks, I've had some interest but there still is a few kgs available!

Jeeves225 - 5-11-2023 at 09:40

Sold another kg to a forum member last week. I have a little over 1 kg left if anyone is interested.

Jeeves225 - 11-2-2024 at 04:20

Still the 1 kg left for anyone that's interested

Jeeves225 - 8-12-2024 at 02:38

Hi everyone, just letting you know that I am still looking to sell the last kg to anyone that has a use for it. Thanks and an early happy holidays to all that celebrate.

pesco - 9-12-2024 at 04:13

I've sent U2U.

moviez - 29-12-2024 at 23:03

I’ve been looking to get some silver nitrate. It’s kind of difficult to get relatively large quantities, and I’d also be concerned with the quality if it’s from a random seller that sells a quantity of just few grams. Sadly I’m in the US…

Jeeves225 - 5-1-2025 at 09:56

Quote: Originally posted by moviez

I’ve been looking to get some silver nitrate. It’s kind of difficult to get relatively large quantities, and I’d also be concerned with the quality if it’s from a random seller that sells a quantity of just few grams. Sadly I’m in the US…

Yeah, that's too bad unfortunately. I did look into it and apparently it's illegal to ship this to the US, so I would have to stick to within the EU.

moviez - 5-1-2025 at 22:46

Quote: Originally posted by Jeeves225

Quote: Originally posted by moviez

Yeah, that's too bad unfortunately. I did look into it and apparently it's illegal to ship this to the US, so I would have to stick to within the EU.

Thank you for looking into this.