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SELLER GUIDE
How brass and bronze get graded.
Nobody grades brass and bronze with a price gun — they grade it with their eyes and their hands. Four levers decide what a load brings: alloy separation, cleanliness, attachments, and contamination. Here's each one, and what to do about it before you sell.
LEVER 1
Separate the alloys
This is the single biggest lever. Yellow brass apart from red brass. Bronze apart from brass. Stamped C-numbers in their own piles. Every alloy is bought on what it can become next, and a mixed barrel gets bought as mixed — which means the best alloy in the pile gets paid like the worst.
The usual mixes to avoid: red brass valves tossed in with yellow brass fittings, bronze bushings in the brass barrel, and aluminum bronze (C954) mixed with tin bronze. When a piece is stamped, the stamp decides the pile.
LEVER 2
Keep it clean
Dirt, oil, and grease weigh against you two ways: they add dead weight you don't get paid for, and they signal a load that wasn't cared for. Wipe the heavy grease off bushings. Shake the dirt out of fittings. Drain the cutting oil off turnings.
Tarnish and patina are fine — they're the metal's own skin. Heavy green crust and pitting are not fine; they mean metal has been eaten away. Store brass and bronze dry and off the ground.
LEVER 3
Pull the attachments
Steel handles off valves. Iron pipe nipples out of fittings. Plastic seats and rubber washers dug out. Steel shafts pulled from bushings. Every attachment left on is either dead weight or a contaminant — and a buyer has to price the labor of removing it.
You don't need a machine shop: a wrench, a screwdriver, and ten minutes per valve. Soldered joints are expected on old plumbing brass and stay put — but heavily lead-wiped joints and big solder blobs get flagged, so keep those pieces visible, not buried.
LEVER 4
No contamination
One steel bolt in a barrel of brass drags the whole barrel. Contamination — steel, aluminum, zinc die-cast, plastic — is what turns a clean load into a mixed load at the scale. Sort over a clean surface, keep barrels labeled, and never toss 'mystery metal' in with the good stuff.
Zinc die-cast (pot metal) is the classic contaminant: it looks brassy from across the room and it's worth a fraction. The file scratch test from the ID guide catches it. When in doubt, leave it out — or text a photo first.
RELATED
Keep reading the brass & bronze dictionary.
Brass & Bronze Dictionary — the full hub of alloy-by-alloy guides. Brass vs Bronze — the field identification guide. Brass & Bronze Alloy Numbers — why the C-number matters. How We Pay — paid within 24–48 hours, how payment works.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Grading questions, answered.
Does tarnish hurt the grade of brass or bronze?
Light tarnish and patina are normal and expected. Heavy green corrosion and pitting — where the metal itself is eaten — is what costs you.
Should I clean my brass before selling it?
Wipe off dirt, grease, and oil, and pull the attachments — that's it. Don't polish it; nobody pays for shine, and polishing wastes your time.
Can I mix yellow brass and red brass in one load?
You can, but you'll be paid as mixed — and the redder alloy is the one that loses. Two piles take minutes and protect the load.
What is the biggest mistake sellers make with brass and bronze?
Mixing. Mixed alloys, steel left attached, and one contaminant in the barrel — sorting is the single biggest lever on what a load brings: https://ironcrestindustrialsurplus.com/how-brass-bronze-is-graded
Text a photo of your brass or bronze to Sonny at 312-880-8174 — or call 312-880-8174 for today's number.
TODAY'S NUMBER
Call for today's number.
Prices move with the market daily. Text a photo of your brass or bronze and get today's number — quoted against the market, honored at pickup. Same-day pickup in Chicago — and I'll travel nationwide for the right load.
HOW SELLING WORKS
Three steps to an offer.
Material review
We review what the material is, its condition and quantity, and whether it fits a direct purchase.
Receive an offer
For qualifying material, we discuss a direct purchase offer and the next steps.