Silverware Melt Value
Whether inherited flatware is worth four figures or forty dollars comes down to one word stamped on the back: STERLING. Sterling flatware is 92.5% silver and prices off the live spot rate below; silverplate — the majority of old sets — is base metal with a coating too thin to recover.
Check every piece: sets get mixed over generations, and one sterling serving piece can outvalue a whole plated set.
| Purity | Fineness | Value per gram | Value per troy oz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fine silver (.999) | 0.999 | $2.22 | $69.04 |
| Sterling (.925) | 0.925 | $2.06 | $63.93 |
| Coin silver (.900) | 0.9 | $2.00 | $62.20 |
| European (.800) | 0.8 | $1.78 | $55.29 |
Dollar figures here are computed from the live spot price when the page loads and change continuously; the printed baseline is a 2026-08-23 snapshot — cite the metal content and formula, not a captured price. Formulas on the methodology page.
Reading the marks
Sterling: STERLING, STER, 925, or a British lion passant. Plate: EPNS, EP, A1, IS (International Silver), 'Silverplate', 'Community', or a Rogers mark without the word sterling. '1847 Rogers Bros' — the most-searched flatware mark in America — is always silverplate; the 1847 is a founding date, not a year of manufacture, and sets sell for modest collector value, not metal value.
Nickel silver / German silver contains no silver at all — it's a copper-nickel-zinc alloy named for its color.
What a sterling set weighs
A typical sterling service for eight (knives excluded) runs 1,400–2,400 g of weighable silver. Knife handles are hollow sterling shells filled with cement over steel blades — count them at roughly 20–25 g of silver each, not their scale weight. Weigh forks and spoons in grams, use the calculator above, and treat the result as your negotiation floor.
Sources: live spot prices via gold-api.com · coin weights and fineness from U.S. Mint historical specifications · karat/fineness definitions per standard jewelry marking practice. Melt value ≠ an offer to buy; see how we calculate.