I have a 57 piece sterling silver set that includes 10 place settings of 5 each plus 7 extras; gravy scoop, meat fork, table spoon, pierced spoon, pie server, butter knife, and sugar spoon. How much would this roughly weigh, and roughly what is the value if I sell to melt it? Thanks! From Jeff in Nashville, TN

Hi Jeff,

Without the weight, it would be near impossible to give you an estimate to what your silver pieces are worth for the silver value. Do you have access to a postage scale or food scale you could use? Really you would only have to weight 12 pieces of your 57 piece set. One of each piece in your place settings and your 7 “extra” serving pieces.

As precious metal refiners we will take all of your pieces and weigh for the sterling silver value ONLY. So we would take a part any pieces that we could to make sure that they are not weighted or filled.

See these blog posts about sterling silver that may help:

About sterling silver knives: www.precious-metal-refining.info/value-of-knives-from-sterling-silver-sets/

About sterling silver serving pieces: https://www.precious-metal-refining.info/silver-cake-server-and-serving-spoon-stamped-with-%E2%80%9Csilver%E2%80%9D-precious-metal-refining-blog/

Once we have the weight of the sterling silver only, we would multiple with the daily silver value, then we payout 75% of the silver value back to you – the customer. Here is a post from someone that had a 69 piece sterling silver set and the silver price used that day was $33.66/troy ounce. https://www.precious-metal-refining.info/where-to-sell-sterling-silver-flatware-set/

Hope that helps you out. Here is our packing slip should you decide to sell: http://www.archenterprises.com/packingSlip.pdf

*Images displayed are only a representation of the items described in this blog post and may not be true images of the items in question.

In the past we have talked about the difference between karat gold, gold filled, rolled gold and plated gold. Out of all of these we only accepted karat gold, but we are now accepting large lots of gold filled jewelry. This includes necklaces, bracelets, watches, earrings, eyeglass frames or other gold jewelry items.

Gold filled jewelry and other items may be marked “GF” and found in 1/10 10k GF, 1/20 10k GF, 1/10 12k GF, 1/20 12k GF, 1/10 14k GF and 1/20 14k GF grades, to name but a few. Gold filled is different than the rolled gold and gold plating technique because it typically utilizes a hollow gold tube that is filled with another non-precious metal. Rolled gold and gold plating techniques involved covering a non-precious metal with a very thin layer of gold. Arch Enterprises does not refine rolled gold or gold plated materials.

If you are a jeweler, eyeglass manufacturer, or pawn shop that has a large amount of gold filled items, please contact us to we can discuss the volume of your material, the grade and give an estimate based on this information.

So to sum up, Arch DOES ACCPT the following:

• 10k gold, 14k gold, 18k gold, 24k gold
• 1/10 10k GF, 1/20 10k GF, 1/10 12k GF, 1/20 12k GF, 1/10 14k GF and 1/20 14k GF

Arch DOES NOT ACCEPT the following:

• Rolled Gold
• Gold Plated Items

We will however except samples and make assessments in some situations.

We’re back and well-rested from our holiday! Please enjoy our blog service and let us know if you have any questions about your precious metals. We’re happy to help you in 2013.

We have always said that sterling silver flatware and some serving pieces need to be weighed separately from forks and spoons because they can be weighted or filled with other non-sterling silver metals and materials. This is why there is very little silver content in one of the knives verses a spoon or fork, which are usually 100% sterling silver weight.

Pictured below is a typical example of a sterling silver place setting knife with a steel blade and steel rod that runs through the handle. The white pile on the left is the cement that is poured into the handle during the manufacturing process. The cement hardens and bonds to the steel rod and the inside of the sterling silver handle.

For a knife like this, it is only the sterling silver casing on the handle that has silver value. The small amount of silver extracted from this knife example is shown to the right of the steel knife parts. If possible, we recommend separating out the silver from the other non-precious metal with pliers if you can. Then you can get a more accurate weight of your sterling silver. If you send your sterling silver place settings to Arch Enterprises we can take these items apart of you, but make sure you know that the weight of your box is not 100% sterling silver.

We hope this helps get the point across about the difference between the cutlery verses forks/spoons in sterling silver place settings.

Happy Holidays!

Thank you for visiting our blog. Because of other exciting company happenings that are keeping us busy during the end of 2012 we are going to take a break from blogging and will be back in 2013.

We would be happy to give you refining estimates on your items if you fill out our Request Form here: http://www.archenterprises.com/contact-us.asp.

Or you can try out our silver & gold calculator tool here: http://www.archenterprises.com/silver-gold-calculator.html.

We hope that you have a wonderful holiday season and please keep us in mind for all your precious metal refining needs.

Best Wishes,

All of Us at Arch Enterprises

It has been a little while! But we are still here and want to let you know that you can still keep sending us your questions! If we don’t respond right away on our blog please contact us more directly on our website contact form here: http://www.archenterprises.com/contact-us.asp.

Question: I have silver contacts on copper. Can I leave the contacts on the copper or do you need them off? — From Jason in Boston, Massachusetts

Hi Jason,

Thanks for your question. Please remove the copper from the silver and only send the silver contact material into refine. We pay on the weight of the silver, so by doing this you can also have an accurate idea about how much silver you have and also save on shipping.

For heavy items we recommend going with USPS flat rate boxes. The largest box you can mail with flat rate boxes is 23 5/8” x 11 3/4” x 3”.

We would recommend taking the copper to a scrap metal recycling facility in your area.

*Images displayed are only a representation of the items described in this blog post and may not be true images of the items in question.

While we are happy to give estimates on precious metal items, we are NOT antiques dealers, researchers, or retail sellers. As a precious metal refiner, we only consider the weight and amount of precious metal available to extract during the smelting and refining process.