We Buy & Appraise Sterling Silver Spoons, Forks, Trays, Pitchers, Flatware & Other Silverware

Selling Guide For Sterling Silver

At our store in Greenville, SC we have had the chance to buy tens of thousands of pieces of sterling silver.  That includes everything from a $5 salad fork to $20,000 Tiffany masterpieces.  We would love a chance to look at what you have and evaluate it for its collector value or its metal value.  The guide below will help you get started and answer some FAQs that we regularly get.

1) Don't Worry About Cleaning Your Silver Before Bringing It In  -  Save yourself the headache and time of cleaning silver.  It won't add value or help you get more money.  Now if you just need an appraisal and intend to keep and use the silver, then by all means polish the silver before you bring it.

2) Yes, Some Antique Sterling Silver Is Collectible!  -  There is a market for truly rare and desirable sterling silver.  This will include in demand flatware patterns by Tiffany, Gorham, and a handful of other makers.  Coin silver flatware and holloware from the 1800s and older can absolutely be collectible.  Large and impressive pitchers, ewers, and trays can be worth more than their silver weight.  We have a library of dozens of books on rare silver.  You are welcome to use our library free of charge to research your piece.  

3) Knife Handles Are Almost Always Weighted  -  If you are weighing your silver, you need to take away the weight from the knife handle otherwise you will be expecting much more money for common sterling silver flatware than what it is actually worth.  The handle is typically filled with an off metal with no value.

4) The Increasing Price of Silver Has Made a Lot of Sterling Valued At Silver Weight  -  Some sellers don't want to hear this, but it is true.  With silver currently fluctuating between $80 and $100 an ounce, many pieces that were once collectible are now just worth their silver value.  As an example, when silver was $15 an ounce (not that long ago) a ten ounce pitcher might sell for $300 (or double its silver value).  But now the same ten ounces is worth $600+, so the metal value has essentially eclipsed its collector value.  As another example, there was a time when a six piece place setting of sterling flatware probably melted for $30 and someone might gladly pay $50 for the same set to actually use.  But now the silver value is worth much more than the useful value.

5) Not Everything Marked As Sterling Is Actually Sterling Silver  -  We have had to break this news many times.  But just because it looks silver or even says silver, does not mean that it is silver.  Fortunately we have a machine that can test anything for its metal content.  We can test (or prove) the composition of any metal ojbect.