James:
I want to warn readers about selling sterling and coin silver and other “scrap” [precious] metal silverware and jewelry. Most of the buyers out there are not reputable, and only pay a small fraction of the real “melt” value. You’ll get the best prices by selling directly to the silver foundry-type operations.
To make sure that you get paid properly, first weigh your pieces on an accurate scale.
Wikipedia says: “Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925.”
So… When selling [“Sterling” marked silver] for scrap, you multiply the weight of your pieces by .925. That gives you the actual silver weight.
If you don’t have a Troy ounce scale, then you will have to convert (calculate) regular [avoirdupois] ounces to Troy ounces.
[JWR Adds: A Troy ounce is 480 grains,whereas an avoirdupois ounce is 437.5 grains. (There are 12 Troy ounces to a Troy pound, not 16!) To convert: Multiply the number of avoirdupois ounces by .912 to get the approximate number of troy ounces. And I should also mention that “Coin” silver jewelry –often marked “Dollar”, “D”, or “900” is .900 fine.]
Then figure that a legit scrap buyer will only pay you about 70% of the silver value, based on the days’s spot price. That may not sound like much, but you have to take into consideration their handling costs, fuel and labor costs for melting, and them compensating for their occasionally getting gypped by people that include some fake “Sterling” pieces that are actually just silver plate. So, 70% is actually pretty fair, considering.
The rip off artists that mentioned only pay about 20% to 30% of spot. So, like I say, beware! – Glenn in Atlanta
Hi Jim,
Regarding sterling silverware, I’d like to mention that Northwest Territorial Mint will buy sterling silver flatware and other [scrap] silver items.
They are are an honest outfit, as you know. – JM3