Sterling Silver + Scrap Calculator
Sterling silver (.925) is $2.25/gram at today's $75.64/troy-oz silver spot. Britannia (.958) is $2.33/gram. Use the calculator below for any purity, weight, and unit.
Live silver purity prices
| Purity | Fineness | Per gram | Per troy oz | Per dwt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling (.925) | 92.5% | $2.25 | $69.97 | $3.50 |
| Britannia (.958) | 95.8% | $2.33 | $72.46 | $3.62 |
| Coin silver (.900) | 90.0% | $2.19 | $68.08 | $3.40 |
What is sterling silver?
Sterling silver is 92.5% silver by weight, alloyed with 7.5% copper (or occasionally other metals) for hardness. It's the traditional standard for silverware, jewelry, and decorative goods in the US and UK — the "sterling" mark or ".925" stamp on a piece guarantees that ratio. Pure (.999) silver is too soft for tableware or rings; the copper in sterling gives it the structural rigidity to take a polish, a knife edge, or daily wear without bending. Sterling has been the legal standard for silver hallmarking since the 12th century — its name comes from "Easterling silver," the eastern-European silver alloy that became the British coinage standard.
Sterling vs Britannia vs coin silver
Three silver-alloy standards show up in US/UK scrap and bullion markets. Sterling (.925) is the jewelry/silverware default, 92.5% silver. Britannia (.958) is the UK Royal Mint coin silver standard — 95.8% silver, used in modern UK Britannia silver coins and a small subset of UK silverware. Coin silver (.900) is the alloy of pre-1965 US dimes, quarters, and half dollars — 90% silver, 10% copper. All three are common in scrap. If a piece is unmarked, an acid test or XRF assay distinguishes them; the calculator above lets you swap between the three so the math matches the piece's true purity.
Selling silverware as scrap
When selling inherited silverware or sterling jewelry, the karat-style calculation is: (total grams ÷ 31.1034768) × purity × current silver spot. A 100g sterling chain at $35/oz silver spot is worth roughly $104 in melt value. Scrap silver dealers typically pay 70-85% of melt for sterling, with refiners paying 90-95% for bulk lots. Note that ornate silverware often carries numismatic or antique premium above melt value — flatware sets by maker (Tiffany, Reed & Barton, Gorham) and patterns in good condition can fetch 2-5× melt at auction. This calculator computes pure melt only; for antique-pattern silverware, get a second opinion from an antique dealer before scrapping.
Pawn shop vs refiner offers
Pawn shops and scrap dealers typically pay 70-85% of the silver melt value for sterling and silverware; refiners may pay 90-95% for bulk lots once you exceed their minimum (often 50+ troy ounces of pure-silver equivalent, which is ~1.7kg of sterling). The pawn-shop margin covers handling, sorting, and the risk that a piece tests below its stamped purity (occasionally happens with antique imports). The refiner spread is tighter because they batch many sellers' material into bulk melt assays. The calculator shows the typical pawn-shop range; for refiner quotes, contact a few directly and shop the spread the same way you'd shop a dealer when buying bullion.
Sterling silver FAQ
What is sterling silver worth per gram today?
Sterling silver (92.5% pure) is priced as: (mass in grams ÷ 31.1034768) × 0.925 × current silver spot price per troy ounce. At a $35/oz silver spot, sterling is worth roughly $1.04 per gram of pure-silver content. The calculator above pulls the live silver spot and does the math instantly for any weight you input, plus the typical pawn-shop scrap range.
How do I know if my silver is sterling?
Look for a ".925" stamp or the word "Sterling" (often abbreviated "STER" or "STG") on the piece — typical locations are the inside of a ring band, the clasp of a chain, the underside of flatware handles, or the base of a candlestick. UK-hallmarked silver carries the lion-passant stamp plus an assay-office mark. Unmarked or lightly-marked pieces can be acid-tested by a jeweler for a few dollars; some unmarked vintage silver is still sterling. "German silver," "nickel silver," and "silver-plate" are NOT silver — they're nickel-copper alloys with no precious-metal content.
What is the difference between sterling silver and Britannia silver?
Sterling silver is 92.5% pure (.925); Britannia silver is 95.8% pure (.958). Britannia is the UK Royal Mint's coin silver standard and is used in modern UK Britannia silver coins plus a small subset of UK silverware (most often pre-1720 antiques and modern art-silver). At melt, Britannia is worth slightly more per gram than sterling because of the higher pure-silver content. The calculator above supports both purities — toggle the purity selector to compute either.
Is silver-plate worth anything?
Silver-plate is a very thin layer of pure silver (often 20-40 microns) electroplated onto a base metal core (typically copper, brass, or nickel-silver). The recoverable silver content is so small that scrap dealers rarely buy silver-plate at all; if they do, the price is pennies per pound, not by weight in grams. The calculator above is for solid sterling and coin silver only. Pieces marked "EPNS" (electroplated nickel silver), "silverplate," "quadruple-plate," or "A1" are silver-plate, not sterling.
How much will a pawn shop pay for sterling silverware?
Pawn shops typically pay 70-85% of the silver melt value for sterling silverware. For a 500g sterling flatware set at $35/oz silver spot, melt value is roughly $520; the pawn-shop offer typically lands between $364 and $442. Refiners pay closer to 90-95% but usually require a bulk minimum (often 50+ troy ounces of pure silver, or ~1.7kg of sterling). Ornate or maker-marked silverware (Tiffany, Gorham, Reed & Barton) often sells for 2-5× melt at antique auction — check a piece's maker mark before scrapping it.
Does the calculator handle pre-1965 US silver coins?
Sort of — pre-1965 US dimes, quarters, and half dollars are .900 (coin silver), which is one of the three purities this calculator supports. Toggle the purity selector to "Coin Silver (.900)" and enter the total weight of the coins to get the melt value. However, for per-coin precision (e.g., 50 Mercury dimes), use our dedicated Junk Silver Calculator at /tools/junk-silver — it has per-coin silver-content data and supports both coin counts and face-value inputs.