How much is sterling silver worth? Work it out by weight

Where Can I Sell Silver is an independent referral service, not a buyer, pawnshop or dealer. When you call or send the form, your details go to an independent buyer in New York who makes any offer.

Is sterling silver worth anything?

Yes. Sterling is solid silver alloy: under the FTC’s jewelry guides, an item marked ‘Sterling’, ‘Ster.’ or ‘925’ must be at least 925 parts per 1,000 silver. That is 92.5% of its weight, so a sterling piece always holds a real amount of silver, whatever its age, pattern or condition. Dents, tarnish and monograms do not change that.

The confusion comes from silver plate, which looks the same on a shelf but is a thin layer of silver over another metal and holds very little. If a piece is not marked as sterling, read is silver plated worth anything before you count it in.

The formula

Silver is priced per troy ounce, which is 31.10348 grams. A kitchen ounce is lighter, 28.34952 grams, so weigh in grams to avoid confusion. Spot is the market price of one troy ounce of pure silver; it changes daily, so this site never prints it. Look it up on the day.

A worked example

Say you have twelve sterling forks, twelve teaspoons and a few serving spoons. Together they weigh 933 grams on a kitchen scale.

1. 933 / 31.10348 = about 30 troy ounces.
2. 30 x 0.925 = 27.75 troy ounces of pure silver.
3. If spot is X dollars per troy ounce, the melt value is 27.75 times X dollars.

Notice what was left out: the knives. That is deliberate, and it is the most common mistake.

Pieces that weigh more than their silver

• Knives: many sterling knives have a hollow sterling handle on a steel blade. Only the handle’s shell is sterling.
• Candlesticks: some are stamped ‘Sterling Weighted’: a sterling shell filled with a heavy material that is not metal, such as rosin or plaster.
• Serving pieces with steel parts: cake servers, cheese knives, carving sets.
• Dresser sets: on brushes and mirrors the sterling may be only the back; bristles and glass are not silver.

These still have silver in them, but far less than their weight. Leave them out of your first figure and ask a buyer how they price them.

How much does sterling silver sell for?

Less than its melt value, as a rule. A buyer’s offer is usually below melt because the buyer pays to refine the metal and needs a margin. How far below depends on the buyer and the quantity. No honest page can give you a fixed share, because there is none; what you can do is know your melt figure, ask each buyer what weight and fineness they are counting, and compare written offers.

It also sells for less than you might have paid. A store’s price included its costs and margin, and an insurance appraisal states what it would cost to replace a piece, not what a buyer will pay for it.

Sterling jewelry: the same sum, smaller numbers

Sterling jewelry is worked out the same way, but the weights are small. A plain sterling chain or ring may weigh only a few grams, so a drawer full may hold less silver than a heavy serving spoon. Weigh it all together, take off anything that is clearly not silver, such as stones, cords and clasps of other metals, and run the same sum. Signed pieces by known houses are the exception, since they may be worth more as jewelry than as metal.

When sterling is worth more than melt

A complete flatware service in a pattern people collect, a fine piece of hollowware by a known maker, or signed sterling jewelry can be worth more than its silver to the right buyer, such as an estate or antique dealer or a jeweler. If you have something like that, ask about it separately before selling it by weight. The sell sterling silver page covers sets, hollowware and who buys them, and the silver melt value guide has more worked examples.

Questions people ask