Thursday, April 25, 2013

The Old Teaspoon

By Sienna Nalin


That old sterling silver spoon is for more than just eating! Yes, sterling silver is a commodity that you can either barter or get a great deal of money for. To help you understand the value of sterling silver, here is the break down from an actual question about sterling silver price and the value of metals. (Image by Wystan via Flickr)

So if you did not quite understanding what I was talking about before, sterling silver has two price tags on it. If you were to sell a sterling silver antique as a collectible there is that price, there also is the price that you could get for the silver.

We will tackle the commodity situation first. A piece marked "sterling" is 92.5 percent pure silver. The rest is other metals, mainly copper, used to provide strength. You can use a formula and figure the value of the actual silver in a piece of sterling. First you need to know the weigh in troy ounces.

Once you have figures out the weight you then have to multiply by .925. This will give you the silver content. Once you have done this you are just a step away from finding out how much you would get just for the silver in your product. You would then have to know what silver is currently going for and then multiply by that. This will tell you you're payout.

Now remember that price is not necessarily what you are going to come out with if you go to a dealer. That dealer has other expenses they have to worry about so they will ask for something lower than what you are going in thinking.

Sterling also can have a collector value. But since the price of pure silver has gone from less than $5 an ounce in 2003 to around $30 an ounce today, a lot of dinnerware formerly viewed as collectible is now being sold for the silver content only. Recently a set of Classic Rose weighing 32 troy ounces auctioned for $600. Doing the math, that price was only about $15 more than the melt value, without considering the commission the consignor paid to the auction house.

...More at Items can have more than 1 value

You have known figures out what to do with your sterling silver antiques. Hopefully this information has been insightful and has helped you come to a conclusion on what to do with your collectibles.




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