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How to Evaluate the Price of Silver Pieces

Obviously the best way to evaluate your silver is to bring it directly to a professional, experienced appraiser. That having been said, there are ways to appraise your silver yourself. It may not give you an exact price, but it will give you a general idea of a price range. Please be aware that the most accurate estimation method is to use an appraiser--the steps listed below should not be used if you are attempting to evaluate your silver for resale.

Things You'll Need

Scale
Internet access
Magnifying glass
Silver cleaning solvent
Cloth

Instructions

Cleaning your silver
- 1
  Clean your silver thoroughly. To achieve as exact an estimate as possible, you don't want any extraneous materials interfering with the process. Older silver will likely be tarnished--in order to best examine your silver, all of the tarnish will need to be removed.
- 2
  Using the magnifying glass, carefully examine the silver. This will help you to determine whether the piece is sterling, which, according to law, must be 92.5% pure silver. Sterling silver will be identifiable by any number of markings, including "925" and "sterling".
- 3
  Weigh the silver on the scale. One troy ounce, which is the measurement used to weigh precious metals such as silver and gold, is equivalent to approximately thirty-one grams. There are several online charts delineating the current market value of silver--for example, at Kitco or CNN.com. Please note that this pricing standard only applies to non-antique silver. For older silver, consult a collectibles guide.

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