Why isn't my sterling flatware worth closer to 92.5 percent of spot silver when I go to sell it?

GREG ARBUTINE
Sep 25
3 min read

Why isn't my sterling flatware worth closer to 92.5 percent of spot silver when I go to sell it?

When I contacted several stores to sell my sterling silver flatware which is 92.5% silver and I was expecting to get an offer close to Spot Silver less 7.5% and unfortunately the offers were far below that. With my pure silver .999 coins and bullion I get pretty close to spot silver price when I go to sell. Why not more on sterling silver flatware?

Sterling silver flatware is not easy to trade like how silver bullion coins and bars are. When you have a .999 fine bar or coin you can take it to any coin shop in the country and get maybe 3-5% below the spot silver price depending on the bar and coin. The dealer can then immediately sell the coins or bars to either their retail customers or large distributing wholesalers. These bullion pieces trade almost as easily as currency.

Unfortunately, with sterling silver flatware it can not be traded instantly. Assuming the flatware is just a scrap pattern with no antique resale value, the flatware needs to be first refined at the refinery and then converted into easily tradable coins or bars. The cost of the refining service is not cheap and also needs to be done in very large batches in order to make it cost efficient. A dealer buying scrap flatware patterns will have to tie up a lot of money for weeks or months at a time which is a substantial tangible carrying cost of business. Plus, the refinery can charge between 6-8% for their fees. On top of this, the dealer needs to make a little extra profit for all their extra time and extra expense involved in making this all happen.

Most coin shops, antique stores or jewelers that handle buying precious metals will typically have to pay around 70-72% of spot silver when buying sterling silverware. That is almost a 20 point spread compared to a 3-5 point spread on bullion coins. However, the dealer only receives around 8-10 points net in the end. The refinery takes their cut and the business has to incur expenses like additional employee handling time and extra inventory carrying costs. Even though it looks like the buyers of scrap sterling flatware out there are making a big profit margin, it just ends up not being the case.

Conclusion: Scrap Sterling Flatware Patterns are not as easily tradable as common .999 coins and bullion. Have a more realistic expectation when you are trying to dispose of your sterling flatware. You will not be paid as high a rate as you would with coins and silver bullion due to the extra step of the dealer having to convert the scrap .925 flatware to .999 refined bars or coins, which costs them a lot of extra money in order to do so.

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Thanks,

Greg Arbutine

Silver Museum Owner