I have 3 or 4 pounds of .925 sterling silver flatware and 3 or 4 pounds of .985 silver tea set. Do you offer more for the higher density? Or are they purchased at the same rate? From Curtis in Bowie, Maryland

Hi Curtis,

We will give different returns based on the purity of your silver items. Anyone that puts all of your silver on one scale and gives you a flat rate for the lot is probably offering much less than what your items are worth. Since 985 silver is not as common as sterling silver or 925 silver, we might run some tests will ensure the purity of the material. Is there a marking indicating the 985 purity?

We see 985 silver used mainly in fine jewelry product lines. The stamp 985 means that your items are 98.5% pure silver and then alloyed with 1.5% of some other metal.

Typically we can return 75% of the fine silver value back to you for fine sterling silver pieces. Today silver is making headlines for breaking through $36 USD per ounce for the first time in 30 years. And because you have pounds of silver, your items should give you a fairly large return.

Precious metals are measured in troy ounces, which is a little less than a standard ounce. Here are some quick conversions for you:

1 troy ounce = 1.09714286 ounces
1 pound = 14.5833333 troy ounces

Hope this information helps!

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