How to tell if silverware is worth money?

Look for a hallmark on the back of the handle or the underside of the piece. "Sterling," "Sterling Silver" or "925" means solid 92.5% silver with real melt value based on weight; "EPNS," "Silverplate," "Quadruple Plate" or similar means a thin silver coating over base metal with no meaningful melt value.

Reading the marks

• Sterling, Ster, Sterling Silver, 925, .925: solid sterling, 92.5% silver. This is what most American sterling flatware carries.
• 800, 830, 835, 900: European or other continental silver at those parts per thousand. Still solid silver, at a slightly lower purity than sterling.
• Coin or Coin Silver: older American pieces at about 90% silver.
• EPNS, EP, Silverplate, Silver on Copper, Quadruple Plate, Triple Plate, A1: electroplated. Base metal underneath, so the silver content is negligible.
• Nickel Silver, German Silver, Alpaca: contains no silver at all despite the name.
• A maker's name alone (Rogers, Community, Oneida and similar) with no purity mark is usually plate. Sterling makers almost always mark the word Sterling.

Quick tests you can do at home

A magnet is a useful first check: silver is not magnetic, so a piece that sticks firmly is base metal. Plate can also fail to stick, though, because copper and brass are not magnetic either, so a magnet only rules things out. Look at worn spots on the high points of handles; a different color showing through the silver means plating. Sterling tends to tarnish in warm grey or black tones, while worn plate shows yellow brass or pink copper. Weight matters too: sterling feels dense for its size, and a heavier sterling piece is worth more than a lighter one of the same purity.

Turning marks into a value

Once you know a piece is sterling, value comes down to weight. Multiply the weight in grams by the current sterling price, roughly $1.70 per gram with spot silver around $57.33 per troy ounce. Remember that sterling knives usually have hollow handles filled with cement around a stainless blade, so only a small part of a knife's weight is silver. Accurate Precious Metals pays based on the metal content we measure on sterling flatware, with the exact offer depending on purity, condition, volume and market conditions.

Two other kinds of value exist beyond melt. Some patterns are sought by people completing sets, and antique or artisan pieces occasionally carry collector value above their metal content. Plated pieces can still have decorative or sentimental value even though a refinery cannot pay for the metal in them.

If the marks are worn, foreign or simply confusing, do not guess. Staff at our Salem, Oregon facility test and weigh silverware in front of you and explain what each mark means. Get your silverware evaluated for free, or send it through our insured mail-in program from anywhere in the US; there are no evaluation, shipping or receiving fees, and you can check the market on our live silver price page.