We buy silver in several forms, sterling silver flatware, serving dishes and sterling jewelry.

We also buy pure silver (stamped .999) in its bar or round form.

Silver, as with all precious metals, is weighed in troy ounces or kilos.  (See FAQ on Weights and Measures for an explanation of this weight system.)

Sterling silver is NOT pure silver.   It is alloyed with either nickel or copper or both, for hardness.  Its purity is .925.

We weigh your sterling, whether it is flatware or jewelry, in troy ounces.

Our buy prices are based on the spot market at the moment.

We must deduct for certain things, both in jewelry and in sterling pieces.

For instance:

• Sterling Jewelry with stones (or other non-silver decorations) - these stones must either be broken out of the piece, or the weight of the stone estimated.  This weight will be deducted from the gross weight of the piece to give a net weight upon which the price is calculated (this includes sterling that is plated with gold).
• Sterling flatware - sterling dinner or table knives, in particular, have stainless steel blades.  They also have either plaster in the handle, or lead, or a steel bar for rigidity or a combination of all of these.  These also must be deducted from the weight.
• Typically we estimate a sterling dinner knife to have one half (1/2) ounce of sterling.
• Other types of flatware may not have plaster in them; sterling butter knives may or may not have sterling blades also.
• Other types of sterling pieces - such as sugar and creamers, coffe and tea pots will be evaluated on a piece by piece basis.
• Sterling candlesticks/candleabras - almost ALWAYS have a plaster base and steel re-inforcing rods.  Weight can be estimated in some cases, in other cases the piece must be broken apart, the filler material removed; the resulting sterling will then be weighed.

The sterling silver present in a dinner knife or a candle stick is remarkably thin and light weight.  It more resembles a heavy aluminum foil when the filler material is removed.

• Pure silver - either bars or rounds.  These need to be stamped with at least the purity of the metal (either .999 or .9999).  It is preferable if they also have a weight stamped on the piece, although some art pieces do not have a weight stamp present.
• The pure silver bars are bought and sold by the troy ounce.
• The price per ounce is based on the spot market at the time, along with any premium or discount for that particular mint (see FAQs).