We don’t always buy the silver we own. You find a box of coins in a closet or inherit a relative’s flatware, and you inadvertently find yourself a part of the precious metals community.

If you find yourself in that scenario, it is perfectly reasonable to wonder what your newfound holdings are worth. Unfortunately, not all silver is created equal, and the silver content of your items matters a great deal.

In this case, ignorance is decidedly not bliss. If you go to sell your silver without knowing what you’ve got, you’re likely to leave money on the table.

This article is here to make sure that doesn’t happen. By the end of it, you’ll understand exactly how to calculate the value of your silver, and what that means for the amount you can get.

Step 1 — Identify What You Have

The first step is to figure out what exactly you have. Silver comes in several different forms, and each one of them is valued differently. So, to the best of your ability, you should examine your holdings carefully.

Here are the major groups of silver products:

• Bullion coins – Bullion coins are the official products of sovereign mints. They are usually minted to be .999 pure or .9999 pure silver. Each coin is stamped with signature imagery of its home country, and most of them are legal tender – though you’d never want to use them in regular trade. Examples of these include American Silver Eagles and Canadian Maple Leafs.
• Bars and rounds – Silver bars and rounds are the bulk silver options that allow investors to stockpile their silver stacks quickly. They are typically minted to be .999 pure silver. Bars are relatively easy to notice, as they are usually rectangular or square blocks. Rounds, on the other hand, will look like real coins, so you’ll need to look closely to tell them apart from bullion coins or junk silver coins.
• Junk silver (U.S. coin silver) – “Junk” silver refers to several different US coins from previous eras that contain silver as part of their composition. Pre-1965 dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollars contain 90% silver. Kennedy half dollars between 1965 and 1970 were minted with 40% silver. These coins are not junk – they are called junk because they are valuable only for their silver content, rather than their numismatic value. Key tip: each $1 of face value is equivalent to 0.715 troy ounces of silver.
• Sterling silver (jewelry, flatware, hollowware) – Many inherited silver products fall into this category. Silver jewelry, flatware, and hollowware are usually produced using sterling silver. Silver is designated as sterling when the object is 92.5% pure silver. In most cases, the manufacturer will stamp the sterling label somewhere on the piece, so be sure to look over each one carefully to confirm its purity.

Now, if you cannot figure out what you have, consider doing an at-home test to confirm that you do have silver. Ultimately, it will take a professional to sign off on the authenticity, but it’s a good idea to have a rough guess before you come to a dealer.

Step 2 — Weigh It Correctly

The next thing to do is weigh your silver. However, it is important that you do so correctly, and with the proper unit of measurement. The ultimate goal here is not the weight of your objects, but the weight of the silver inside them.

So, be sure to separate your silver according to the categories listed above. An ounce of .999 fine silver is worth more than an ounce of .925 fine silver.

Now, precious metals operate on the troy system, not the standard system you use in your kitchen or on a scale. The base unit, the troy ounce, is a unit of measurement that is roughly 11% heavier than the standard, or avoirdupois, ounce. To be more precise, the troy ounce is equivalent to 31.1 grams, while the standard ounce bears a mass of only 28.35 grams.

This distinction is critical for calculating the value of your silver pieces because troy ounces are always the unit of measure for silver, not standard ounces. However, most of our scales are set to weigh the standard ounce, so you’ll likely need to purchase a digital jewelry scale to ensure an accurate weight reading down to 0.01 grams. These scales are widely available and shouldn’t cost more than $20.

Once you have the gram weights for each group of silver, convert them into troy ounces. Simply divide the gram numbers by 31.1 to arrive at the troy weight in ounces. Altogether, the entire process should only take a few minutes.

Lastly, be careful about weighing silver objects that have jewels or gems attached to them. While these items are not worthless, they add unnecessary weight to the specific calculations about the silver in the object.

Step 3 — Understand Spot Price

There’s one final concept to grasp before you determine the value of your silver – the spot price. The spot price you see is the going rate to purchase a troy ounce of silver. It is the foundational price that dealers use to generate their own prices.

The bad news is that the spot price listed above is not the one to use when you evaluate your silver. The spot price has two different expressions – the bid price and the ask price.

The ask price is what sellers (like dealers) are offering for silver. The bid price is the amount a buyer (again, a dealer) is willing to pay. The bid price is almost always lower than the ask.

To see the current bid price, head over to our silver chart. That’s the starting point that dealers will use to make you an offer. It is also the appropriate figure to use when you calculate your silver’s melt value.

Step 4 — Calculate Melt Value

It’s time to put everything together. The melt value of your silver is literally what it sounds like – the value of the silver if it were melted down into a single bar.

However, outside of any numismatic value derived from the coins, that’s what your silver is worth.

Here’s the formula for melt value:

Melt Value = Weight (troy oz) × Purity (decimal) × Spot Price

So, here are a couple of working examples about calculating melt value:

Example 1 — Sterling Silver Flatware

Let’s say that you inherit some flatware from a deceased aunt. You examine it to find that it is marked as sterling silver. After you weigh it, you discover that you have 110 grams of silver. So, here are the calculations for the flatware’s melt value:

1. Find the weight in troy oz: 110 g ÷ 31.1 = 3.537 troy oz
2. Know the purity of the pieces: 92.5% pure (sterling silver)
3. Multiply the weight by the purity percentage to find weight of silver: 3.537*0.925 = 3.271 troy oz of silver
4. Check the spot price (bid): $70/troy oz
5. Multiply the weight of silver by the spot price to arrive at the melt value: 3.271*$70 = $228.97

Example 2 — Junk Silver Coins

You find a roll of quarters that turns out to contain 12 pre-1965 quarters. They definitely were in circulation and aren’t worth anything numismatically, but you’d like to know how much the silver in them is worth:

1. Figure out the total face value: 12*$0.25 = $3.00 of face value
2. Use the shortcut to figure the weight of the silver: 0.715 troy oz silver for every $1 FV means that you have 0.715*3, or 2.145 troy oz of silver
3. Check the spot price (bid): $70/troy oz
4. Multiply the weight of silver by the spot price to arrive at the melt value: 2.145*$70 = $150.15

Now, bear in mind that the melt value is the foundational price for all price conversations to follow. However, the exact type of silver you’re selling is going to play a major role in the price you can

demand from buyers.

Step 5 — Factor In Premiums and Discounts

The reality of the precious metals business is that dealers want to acquire silver as cheaply as they can and sell it as expensively as possible. If you’re buying, you will rarely purchase silver at the spot price, as dealers universally add a premium.

On the flip side, dealers want to pay as much under the melt value as they can to buy silver. So, the degree to which they will approach the melt value will depend heavily on the type of silver you’re selling. More to the point, dealers are willing to pay more if the products are easier to mark up with a premium on the other side of the deal.

However, as a general rule, don’t expect to get 100% of melt value in most cases. The discounted rate represents the profit that the dealer will command for facilitating the deal.

Here’s a look at the discounts and/or premiums that different forms of silver are likely to draw. Please note – these are just generalizations, and your experience may vary significantly, so don’t misunderstand the following as rules or standards.

• Bullion coins from major mints – 95% – 100% of melt, or more – Because coins like the American Silver Eagle or the Canadian Maple Leaf are so recognizable and easy to resell, you can get more for this type of silver than any other kind. In some cases, you may even get slightly above melt value if the dealer is actively trying to acquire bullion coins.
• Generic rounds and bars – 90 – 97% of melt – Although they are not quite as popular, solid rounds or bars of silver are nevertheless popular and quite liquid to buy and sell. So, expect to get pretty close to the melt price, but not all the way, because there’s no numismatic value for the dealer to realize on the backside.
• Junk silver coins – 90–95% of melt – These coins are also quite popular for a wide range of people because they have multiple elements to their appeal. They have their silver content/melt value, of course, but there is also something to be said for their historical significance or nostalgic quality. So, you can expect to get offers for 90% – 95% of the melt value for your junk silver.
• Sterling jewelry and flatware – 70–80% of melt – The only type of silver that will draw significantly lower offers from dealers are the sterling jewelry and flatware sets that you likely received as family heirlooms. Perhaps that fact alone will give you pause about selling. However, the lower offers are due to the fact that the dealer has to factor in the cost of refining the jewelry and flatware before they can resell it.

Finally, if the silver you own includes numismatic or collectible coins, then the melt value is much less important to know. Where these items draw their value is in their collectability and their historical relevance. Because numismatic items are rare, scarce, and generally unusual, their silver content is the least important element of value.

What to Expect From Dealers — and How to Compare Offers

First and foremost, do not expect to receive 100% of the melt from a dealer. Instead, your goal should be to evaluate the offers you get in terms of the type of silver you have and the expected percentage ranges listed above. In a sense, the absolute dollar amount is unimportant.

However, you should be sure to get at least 2 – 3 offers before you make a decision to sell. Because you can receive offers both in person and online, it’s a bit negligent to accept the first offer you get.

Generally, there are three different types of outlets you can use to receive these offers. The first group is the coin shops and precious metals dealers that operate in person in your area.

You can also get offers from online dealers like us, although you should get multiple offers within this group alone before you sell. Finally, you can get offers from pawn shops nearby, but you should only entertain these options as a last resort, as they are almost always going to be lower offers than you’ll find with the first two groups.

Common Red Flags

As you consider your options, be cognizant of how the dealer(s) go about their business of making you an offer. There are a few red flags that should cause you to cease your negotiations and find a different person to whom you sell your silver:

• The too-early offer – If you get an offer before the dealer has bothered to weigh or test your silver items, it’s a bad sign. No one can make a legitimate offer just by looking at your items UNLESS they are standardized and official commodities like sovereign bullion coins. Even in that case, the dealer should at least look closely at them to confirm they’re the real deal.
• Right-now pressure – This red flag is fairly universal. If a dealer is pressuring you to make a decision on the spot, don’t take the bait. While price movements may be fast-paced, your decision on a transaction shouldn’t be. If the dealer seems convinced that you need to act RIGHT NOW, something’s wrong.
• Nonstandard weight usage – If you receive a quote based upon standard ounces, pennyweight, or any other type of weight other than troy ounces, beware. There’s no reason to use anything besides the rate used for the spot price, and any dealer who does is attempting to obscure the math on the offer.

Conclusion

Silver isn’t always something purchased. It may be a forgotten box of coins in an attic, an investment from a prior generation, or an inheritance from a favorite relative.

You never have to sell your silver. However, for whatever reason, you may find yourself curious about the return you could get on it.

Before you head out to your local coin shop, take a half-hour to get a rough estimate of your silver’s value together. Grab a jewelry scale, study the spot price, and use the formula above to find the melt value of your holdings.

Failing to take this time can be the difference between receiving a fair offer and being victimized by a lowball deal. Given the path that your silver took to make it to you, you owe it to yourself and to the people before you to value it accurately. You honor them by doing so.