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How to Price Your Silverware Collection

If you have a set of silverware that you consider too valuable to use, you might want to get it appraised so you know what it̵7;s worth. Pricing a silverware collection requires finding and identifying marks on the pieces themselves that indicate who made the silverware and when it was made. If you can̵7;t find any marks, chances are the silverware is either not silver or is too old to have marks. In this case, a professional appraiser will need to price your silverware for you.

Things You'll Need

Magnifying glass
Notepad with pen

Instructions

- 1
  Use a magnifying glass to examine the back of each piece in your silverware collection. Look for an assay mark indicating the silver content of your silverware collection. Look for marks ranging from .925 to .750. Read the marks as percentages to understand the silver content of your silverware. For example, ̶0;.925̶1; indicates a silver content of 92.5 percent. The remaining 7.5 percent of the silverware is made up of non-silver metals.
- 2
  Look for unique marks after the assay number indicating where and when the silver content was verified by an assayer. Examine the silverware for a Latin letter and unique symbol, known as a city or town mark, to indicate the year and place where the silverware was assayed. A leopard̵7;s head symbol, for example, was used in the late 1500s to identify pieces assayed in London, England. Write down the number and assay marks in a notepad. Compare them to recorded assay marks in an official assay mark journal which you can purchase access to online.
- 3
  Examine the front, back and sides of the pieces in your silverware collection with a magnifying glass for a maker̵7;s mark indicating who fashioned your silverware. Write down any initials or symbols you find in a separate spot on the silverware that are obviously not connected to the assay mark. Research the mark against official collections of nearly 15,000 maker̵7;s marks to find out who made your silverware.
- 4
  Take your notepad to reputable antiques dealers in your area and ask to see silverware with the markings you̵7;ve identified on your collection. Note the price that antiques dealers are selling the silverware for to get an idea of how to price your own silverware.
- 5
  Consider taking your silverware collection to an appraiser specializing in precious metals if you need an official valuation of your silverware collection for tax, estate or auctioning purposes.

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