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I have some silver flatware marked 70%, and one marked SSS. Is there ANY value at all ? From Gwen in Salem, Oregon

Hi Gwen,

We are not familiar with the marking SSS as an indication of the grade of silver you have. Usually sterling silver is stamped with an S or SS. An SSS might mean your item is stainless steel. Do you have any other information about this flatware piece?

To sell sterling silver, it must be 925 or 92.5% silver. All other markings mean that it is some other type of silver. Different markings can indicate that it was made somewhere else since each country has their own system for hallmarking precious metals manufactured in that country.

Is it an exact “70%” that is stamped on your silver? Or does it look like “.700” or “700?” All of these could mean that you silver flatware is 70% silver alloyed with 30% of some other metal (s). For items that we are unsure about, we run XRF analytic tests to determine how much silver, if any, is available to refine. If you have a large amount of this material, we would recommend sending us an item that we can test before you send the whole lot.

Can you please tell me the value, if any, for a Sheffield 241B Silver Tea Set? It was a gift years ago and I was just wondering the value of it. – From Kim in Dallas, Texas.

Hi Kim,

Using the term “Sheffield” to describe your silver can mean a couple different things. Silver has been manufactured in Sheffield, England for centuries. It is associated with the term “Sheffield plate” which is an older silver plating technique.

Many times the place of origin will be stamped on silver items along with the date, maker and/or hallmark or purity of the silver item. Sterling silver flatware made in Sheffield, England will have value to a precious metal refiner because the item is in made mostly with silver. Sterling silver should carry a hallmark indicating its purity. Look for the following to verify that you have sterling silver:

S
SS
Sterling / sterling
.925 / 925
.800 / 800

Old Sheffield Plate and Sheffield Plated are terms that indicate that items have been silver plated. Old Sheffield Plate is a term used to describe an earlier plating technique which fused a sheet of copper to a thinner sheet of sterling silver. These pieces produced primarily hollowware and this plating technique is not widely used anymore. The term “Sheffield Plated” is sometimes used to describe a more modern electroplating technique that usually involves copper.

As a precious metal refiner, we cannot return a payment on silver plated items. If you have Old Sheffield Plate we would recommend you taking them to an antique dealer since these items may have historic value because of the way they were made.

Do all watch, calculator, and hearing aid batteries contain silver. If not, how do you tell which ones do and which ones do not? And how much would approximately 400lbs. be worth refined? From Greg in Los Angeles, California.

Hi Greg,

There are many different batteries used in watches, calculators and hearing aids. Some of them contain silver which can make them profitable when refined. These are called silver oxide batteries and sometimes referred to as silver zinc or watch and button cell batteries.

We cannot return payment back on mercury, alkaline or lithium batteries as there is no silver to extract from these batteries. Some of your older batteries may be mercury batteries, but these are not used as much anymore because of the toxic chemicals that leak out in landfills.

We would prefer that you try and separate out the silver bearing batteries before you ship. This will also save you money on shipping costs, as you will not have to ship non silver bearing batteries. Separation is difficult if you are not familiar with serial numbers and the look of silver oxide batteries. Arch can do the separation for lots over 200 pounds for a fee.

If you have at least 5 pounds of silver oxide batteries, we typically offer between $15 – $20 per pound for this material. If you have over 30 pounds of the silver batteries we can offer special pricing for this larger amount. Hope this was helpful for you!

We have x-rays to dispose of, is there a way to recycle them? From Stephanie in Champaign, Illinois

Hi Stephanie,

It’s great that you are thinking of ways to put the silver from X-ray film back into the industries that use it. Because about one-fifth of silver used each year is used in X-ray film, all companies who use silver in operations should be conscious about recycling.

The best way to recycle X-ray film is to have it refined so that the silver is extracted. Depending on how much you have, you can actually receive payment for them. We ask our customers the following questions to get a better idea of how we can help. By answering these questions you can also get a better gauge of how much your X-ray film is worth.

1)    How much X-ray film do you have? We weigh X-ray film out of any paper jackets and recommend that you have at least 300-400 pounds of film before you have it refined.

2)    Does the X-ray film need to be sorted? Or is it already out of the paper jackets?

3)    Do you need help arranging freight?

4)    Do you have a loading dock available?

It is also a good idea to make sure your recycling or refining company provides certificates of destruction for the material if you need it. Arch complies with HIPAA regulations and provides certificates of destruction upon request.

Thanks Stephanie!

Can you give me a quote for processing electrical contacts that have been removed from busbars? – Chad in Abilene, TX

Hi Chad,

We would offer between $10-$15 per pound depending on the quality and silver content. For those of you who do not know what busbars are, they are used in electrical power distribution and are usually made of copper or aluminum. So, you may be asking yourself where the silver content comes in. Often the joints between high-current bus sections have silver-plated surfaces to reduce contact resistance. These scrap silver electrical contacts can be ideal for refining.