The Elf Herself writes:
We found a similar case once when we went on a cruise to Puerta Vallarta ("Pwair-tah By-art-ah"), Mexico. It was mid-December, and we were on a "Mexican Riviera" cruise with some friends. Mexican Riviera: Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas.) Papa Elf and Mr. Friend were off looking at firearms (both men avid "silhouette shooters," i. e. a sort of timed target pistol contest with sheet steel animal silhouettes as targets.) Mrs. Friend and I were engrossed by a street merchant with an assortment of rings, earrings and necklaces he was peddling on the street. We were haggling over prices, when Papa Elf came to see what was happening. He took one look at the suitcase filled with various metallic jewelry, and said, "I'll give you $50 U. S. for everything in your case." The man quickly emptied everything into a grocery sack, and went off, $50 richer. Mrs. Friend gave Papa Elf $25, and she and I divvied up the loot. When we got back home, two weeks before Christmas, she went to her salon where she was a beautician, and I went to my desk in the electrical engineering dept., and sold whatever silver (and "silver") items we didn't want to keep for ourselves or to give as gifts. She didn't have kids, so she took in $400, while I "only" cleared $300 (we have two daughters.)
Mexican silver, by law, is stamped on the back with the percentage of silver in the metal. "Alpaca" is very popular, and is stamped on the back of numerous "silver" items. Be forewarned: "alpaca" contains no silver whatever, although it looks like silver. I don't know why they named it "alpaca," since the alpacas and llamas are native to the Andes Mountains in South America.
|
