Understanding Silver Purity
Silver purity determines the actual silver content in your item and directly affects its value:
- Pure Silver (999): 99.9% pure silver - Investment grade bullion
- Sterling Silver (925): 92.5% pure silver - Standard for jewelry and silverware
- Coin Silver (900): 90.0% pure silver - Older coins and collectibles
- Britannia Silver (958): 95.8% pure silver - High-quality British silver
The remaining percentage typically consists of copper or other metals that add strength and durability to the silver.
Scrap Silver Valuation
When selling scrap silver, understanding the calculation process helps you get fair value:
- Weigh Your Silver: Use a precise scale to measure in grams or troy ounces
- Identify Purity: Look for stamps like "925", "Sterling", "999", or ".925"
- Calculate Pure Silver: Total weight × Purity percentage = Pure silver weight
- Multiply by Price: Pure silver weight × Current spot price = Melt value
- Expect Dealer Discount: Refiners typically pay 75-95% of melt value
Common Silver Items
Different silver items typically contain varying amounts of pure silver:
- Sterling Flatware: Usually 925 silver, weighing 40-100 grams per piece
- Silver Chains: Commonly 925 silver, weighing 5-50 grams
- Silver Coins: Often 90%-99.9% silver, weighing 5-31 grams (1 oz)
- Silver Rings: Typically 925 silver, weighing 3-10 grams
- Silver Tea Sets: Usually 925 silver, weighing 500-2000 grams
- Silver Bars: Investment grade 999 silver, common sizes: 1oz, 10oz, 100oz
Silver Weight Conversions
Silver can be measured in various units depending on region and purpose:
- Troy Ounce (ozt): Standard for precious metals = 31.1035 grams
- Gram (g): Metric standard, widely used globally
- Pennyweight (dwt): Common in US jewelry trade = 1.555 grams
- Tola: Traditional South Asian unit = 11.66 grams
- Tael: Chinese unit = 37.5 grams (varies by region)
- Grain (gr): Smallest unit = 0.0648 grams