I had written a little while back about the troubles of finding the specific strings that I use for my instruments here in Australia. I had assumed that they would be quite easily sourced here in the land down under... as easily as I was able to get them in Europe. Most of my specialist strings are naked or varnished gut strings, and those I have to order from Europe from the suppliers... well, that isn't totally true, I could order them from here and pay a stupidly huge markup. So, instead, I will save up a large order and ask around if anyone else wants to pitch in as well, and I get the cheaper European prices and the shipping is shared around. Plus, I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that the shipping time was only on the order of a few weeks.... I was expecting it to be quite a fair deal longer.

So, I had thought that the metal covered strings would be quite easy to source in Australia... sure, they are manufactured in Germany... but they arne't THAT uncommon... I thought. Sadly, they were that uncommon... and most places didn't stock these silver and gold wound gut core strings. And if they did, there was a hideous markup! Sure, I could find some aluminium or steel wound cut core strings... and I did buy one of those to tide me over until my emergency shipment arrived from Europe (pictured above...). And I hate to be a snob (or maybe I just am a snob...), but those sluminium/steel wound strings just don't feel and respond the same as my beloved Oliv strings. I'm a snob...

... anyway, part of the reason that these strings are in short supply are due to their expense. Yes, it is sort of more expensive to wind the strings in gold and sterling silver than it is to do with steel and aluminium. I'm not entirely sure why there is gold in there... perhaps it is to do with the density and malleability (suppleness) of the string winding? I know that the silver is for density and durability.... and trust me, these strings are being sold WAAAAYYYYY above the spot silver price! This is a really poor silver investment... but sometimes, you need the industrial qualities of the metal!

My instruments mostly constructed from wood... but now that I think about it... there are quite a few places where precious metals such as silver (often sterling quality) are used... and a few spots of ivory as well. I guess at some point in time, I will show off the various bow windings that are weighted with silver threading.

Meanwhile, my search for a nice place to shop for silver coins continues... this week, I am back in Sydney and there are two coin places near where I am working... but I'm a bit scared to go in there. Most of my silver/coin purchases have been online... and I really really dislike the thought of going into a shop. These ones are particularly scary as they are in the Central Business District... and I get the feeling that they aren't really the sorts of places that a person like me would be seen in. Still... and some point, I will work up the courage to at least go in and open the door and peek around.... I managed to do that one time in Germany, surely, it would be easier in Australia?

Unfortunately, what I have noticed is that everything seems crazily more expensive in Australia than they were in Europe... and that seems to also be the case for the silver/coin market... everything is marked up quite a bit, and people tend to list at stunningly high prices. Or maybe, I just had good luck with finding good places and people to buy from in the Netherlands.

Anyway, before leaving back to Australia... I had been amassing more Australian silver content coins... this 1952 florin was an interesting one due to a chunk missing from its side... sure, it isn't "quality", but I was able to pick it up very cheaply... and sometimes, just having the something old and with silver content is enough for me! I have better versions of the Florins from that time, so having one with "character" is sort of cool!

Meanwhile, I can't even find a decent price for these sorts of coins in Australia... I've taken to looking back at the European places again... I noticed that even WITH postage to the other side of the planet, it is still cheaper than what people are asking for here. I mean... even the postage from Europe is cheaper than the postage that people are asking for in Australia!

I can also be found cross-posting at:
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