Hello. A friend just inherited a sizeable Native American jewelry collection from her mother. There are many beautiful pieces, as her parents were discerning collectors. However, for some reason her father etched his Social Security Number on most of them somewhere on the back. She is considering selling part of the collection, but is not sure how to get rid of the SSN without ruining the value of the piece
Is such a thing possible? Any suggestions of how we should proceed would be greatly appreciated!
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Hello, is the father deceased? We have many pieces that come through pawn where the owner has put their social security number into the back. You can buy a electric engraver and should be able to mark them out. Can you give me a couple pictures of the pieces, fronts? If these are older pieces without hallmarks I don’t think marking them out is going to take from the value.
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Hello. Both parents are deceased. I will try to get photos and post them as soon as possible. It is good to know that the value won’t be affected. Thank you so much for your response!
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Please don’t buy one of those cheesy engraving pen and try to obliterate the number. It will be confusing to the next owner and is not in keeping with the piece. Talk to a local independent jeweler or fine silver craftsperson about polishing the numbers off. You are risking major catastrophe trying to mark it out.
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Back in the 1970s it was advised in publications and became a common practice for people to mark their valuables with their SSN to identify them if they were ever stolen. How times have changed. Good luck.