A silver tea set is often the largest piece of silver a family owns, and the one most likely to be misjudged. Some are solid sterling and hold a great deal of silver. Some are plate and hold very little. Many are a mix. If you want to sell a silver tea set, along with the trays, candlesticks and serving pieces that tend to come with it, the first job is to find out which you have, piece by piece.
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.
Check every piece, not just one
Turn each piece over and look at the base: teapot, coffee pot, creamer, sugar bowl, waste bowl, kettle and stand, and the tray. You are looking for ‘Sterling’, ‘Ster.’ or ‘925’, which under the FTC’s jewelry guides mean at least 92.5% silver. Federal law says plated pieces must not be stamped sterling or coin, and plate is often marked differently.
Do not assume the whole set matches. Sets are not always matched, and the tray, the largest piece, may differ from the rest. Write down each piece and its mark.
What is not silver in a sterling tea set
- Handle insulators: many teapots and coffee pots have insulators of ivory or another material set into the handle; the Victoria and Albert Museum lists a London teapot of 1817 to 1818 as ‘silver with ivory insulators’. They are not silver.
- Kettle burners and stands: a spirit burner or stand may be a different metal.
- Felt, glue and repairs: a base may have felt or a filled section.
A buyer allows for these, so it helps if you can tell them what each piece is made of. Do not try to take anything apart.
Candlesticks and trays
Some sterling candlesticks are weighted. Museum records of candlesticks stamped ‘Sterling Weighted’ describe a sterling outer shell filled with a heavy material that is not metal, and the Canadian Conservation Institute mentions candlesticks with rosin or plaster in the base. They weigh much more than the silver in them, so leave them out of any weight-based estimate and ask a buyer how they price them. Trays and salvers can be solid sterling and heavy, or plate; check the mark on each. Serving pieces with steel blades or parts, such as cake servers or carving sets, have only a sterling handle.
Working out what the sterling is worth
For each solid sterling piece, weigh it in grams, divide by 31.10348 for troy ounces and multiply by 0.925 for pure silver. A teapot, creamer and sugar bowl weighing 1,866 grams together are about 60 troy ounces, which at 0.925 is about 55.5 troy ounces of silver. At a spot price of X dollars per troy ounce, the melt value is about 55.5 times X dollars. A buyer’s offer is usually below melt, because the buyer pays to refine the metal and needs a margin.
An insurance appraisal for the set is not an offer: it states what it would cost to replace the set, not what a buyer will pay.
Selling as a set or by weight
Many sterling tea services are bought for their silver. A complete set in good condition by a known maker, or an antique service, may be worth more to an estate or antique dealer than to a precious metal buyer. If you think yours might be, ask both, and ask each whether they are pricing it as a set or by weight. A plated set is usually worth asking about only as a decorative object, with antique and estate dealers or at auction.
Inherited sets and family decisions
Tea services are often inherited, and often wanted by more than one person. Before you sell, check whether anyone in the family wants to keep a piece, and agree who decides. Engraved initials or dates can be part of a family’s history even when they add nothing to the silver’s value as metal. If a set is shared in an estate, keep a written list of what was sold, to whom and for how much.
Before you sell
- List each piece with its mark and weight.
- Photograph the marks and the set together in good light.
- Do not polish hard or remove engraving.
- Ask more than one buyer for a written offer that shows which pieces were counted as sterling.
- In New York City, bring official ID, check the posted DCWP license, and ask for the troy weight on the approved scale.
For all sterling tableware, read sell sterling silver. For the honest answer on plate, read is silver plated worth anything.
Have a tea set, trays or candlesticks to sell? Call or describe them in the form, with the marks on each piece.
Questions people ask
Where can I sell my silver tea set?
If it is sterling, a precious metal buyer, refiner or estate dealer. If it is plate, antique and estate dealers or an auction, since its value is decorative.
Are silver candlesticks worth anything?
Sterling candlesticks are, but some are weighted, so they hold much less silver than they weigh. Plated ones are worth little as metal.
Does engraving lower the value of a silver tea set?
Not as metal: engraving removes very little silver. It can matter to a collector or estate dealer pricing the set as an object.
Describe your silver