We price silver: how much is your sterling silver worth?

Alan, my name is Katie. My husband needs more space and remodels his hobby room in the attic. During that work, we found an old box with some sliver stuff. It contains spoons, forks, knives a tray and also a candleholder. It shows sterling silver. How much is sterling silver worth, Alan?
Katie from San Francisco in California

Dear Katie, you are lucky guys. But let me tell you, many Americans find forgotten silverware. Many people dislike silverware because it gets tarnished and polishing is a really hard job. I worked on your provided photos and your information, carefully and I’m happy to tell you how much your sterling silver is worth.
reDollar expert, Alan Jensen

Katie wants to know, how much is sterling silver worth

Katie: Alan, we found some tarnished silver pieces during some remodel work in our attic. My husband thinks that his dad brought the pieces from Europe in the 30s, maybe from London because he was working for the US embassy there. You told me to look for silver markings and I can tell you, all pieces are marked with a lion and the words “Sterling Silver.” For me it looks like that it’s a set because the décor is similar on all pieces. How much is sterling silver worth and what about selling?

Alan: Katie, you shared some really good photos with me. Are you a photographer? I could even look at some silver markings, which is very helpful for an evaluation. First, I would like to say that you own some very nice pieces. Second, it’s highly probable that you own a matching set and third, sterling silver is silver of good quality and of course it’s valuable. As you know, I asked you to weight all items apart. It’s because your silver knives can’t be evaluated like the rest of your silverware because the knife blade is not made of silver and knives are always filled with sand or cement, to increase the weight for more convenience in use.

Katie: I understand. I told you that my knives have a total weight of 430 pennyweights and the rest of my silver weights 2,243 pennyweights. How much is my sterling silver worth, based on that weight?

Alan: You will be lucky to hear that the value of your sterling silver reflects a nice weekend trip to Las Vegas. Currently, you can expect about $323 for your knives and about $712 for the rest of your silver. Not bad, isn’t it?

Katie: Awesome, that sounds good to me. Is your calculation based on the material value or on the demand of collectors?

Alan: You own very nice looking pieces but I can’t see a special value in it. Sets like yours are very common and not rare. I could look at your silver markings and there is no sign to me that it was made from a special silversmith or that it came from an interesting provenience. Well, you could sell your sterling silver online, for some dollars more but consider selling commissions. I think at the end you would have round about the same amount in your pocket as I have calculated.

Katie: Your explanation sounds plausible to me. But let me ask a last question about the value. Is it right that the silver price fluctuates? Maybe I could get more waiting some weeks or months?

Alan: You are right because silver is priced at stock exchange, also sterling silver. And sterling silver is made of 92,5% pure silver. So, the value of your items is 92,5% of the value of pure silver. Nobody knows how prices trends. You can get more in a year or you even get less. I published a silver price diagram for you on the bottom.

Katie: Thank you, Alan. We think about selling because my husband could need some money for the remodel works. He would love to buy a special ceiling lamp for his new room, seen for $500. We let you know. Thank you for your time and your kind help.

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Helpful links to the discussed topic

Silver is a very common metal. Its price can be watched at the stock market: How much is silver worth?
Do you know that silverware is mostly made of sterling silver? Silverware is valuable and good to sell. Perfect, if there is some need for extra cash between pay checks: Sell Silverware

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