Sterling Silver Price Per Pound

Name: Sterling Silver Price Per Pound: $863.06
Creator: Silver by the Pound
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reviewed by the Silver by the Pound Editorial Team · Updated September 24, 2026

$863.06 melt a pound of sterling

Silver spot $63.98/troy oz · $933.04/lb · updated September 24, 2026

Quick answer. Sterling silver is 92.5% silver, so a pound of solid sterling holds 13.49 troy ounces and is worth $863.06 in melt value today. That's a ceiling, not an offer: buyers pay a share of melt, and weighted or hollow pieces hold far less silver than their weight suggests.

Purity: .925 (92.5% silver, usually 7.5% copper)
Fine silver per pound: 13.49 troy oz
Melt value per pound today: $863.06
Common marks: "Sterling," "925," "Ster," the British lion passant
Exclude before weighing: knives, weighted candlesticks and bases, anything silverplated

Silver melt value by the pound at today's spot price
Form	½ lb	1 lb	5 lb	10 lb
Sterling (.925) 13.49 troy oz of silver per lb	$431.53	$863.06	$4,315	$8,631

How Sterling Is Priced by the Pound

Sterling is bought and sold by weight more often than most silver, because most of it is household silver: flatware, trays, bowls, tea sets and jewelry. Buyers weigh it, multiply by 92.5%, and price the silver content.

The math per pound:

1 lb = 453.6 g = 14.583 troy ounces of sterling
× .925 = 13.49 troy ounces of pure silver
× $63.98 = $863.06

A heavy sterling flatware service can easily weigh five to ten pounds once knives are removed. At today's price, that's five to ten times $863.06 in silver content, which is why sterling is one of the most commonly sold forms of silver.

Reading Hallmarks: Is It Really Sterling?

Before you weigh anything, confirm it's sterling. Look for:

"Sterling" or "925" stamped on the back of flatware or the base of hollowware. American makers adopted the "Sterling" mark in the second half of the 1800s.
The lion passant (a walking lion) on British silver, usually with a maker's mark, a town mark and a date letter.
"Coin" or "900" on some older American silver. That's 90% silver, slightly less than sterling; weigh it separately.
"800" on much continental European silver: 80% silver.

Warning signs that a piece is not sterling: "EP," "EPNS" (electroplated nickel silver), "Silverplate," "Quadruple Plate," "A1," or a maker's name with no purity mark. "Nickel silver" and "German silver" contain no silver at all; the name refers only to the color.

When in doubt, a jeweler or buyer can test with acid or an XRF analyzer. Don't file or cut pieces yourself to check.

What Doesn't Change Melt Value

Sellers often worry about condition, but for sterling sold by weight most of it doesn't matter. Tarnish is a surface film that barely registers on a scale, so polishing before selling is wasted effort. Dents, bends and monograms don't change the silver content, although they can reduce a piece's value to someone buying it as silverware. Broken pieces weigh the same as whole ones. What does change the value is anything that isn't sterling: glass liners in salt cellars, wooden handles on teapots, felt bases, and the weighting inside candlesticks. Remove or deduct those before you weigh.

Weighted and Hollow Items: What to Exclude

This is where most people overestimate their sterling. Many pieces are only partly silver by weight.

Knives. Most sterling dinner knives have hollow sterling handles filled with resin or cement, and stainless-steel blades. The silver in a typical knife handle is a small fraction of the knife's weight. Buyers usually pay for knives by the piece at a low flat rate, or not at all.

Candlesticks and candelabra. Almost always weighted: a thin sterling shell over a base filled with pitch, plaster or cement, sometimes with a steel rod inside. Many are marked "Weighted" or "Reinforced." A candlestick that weighs a pound may contain only a few ounces of silver.

Hollow handles and bases. Cake servers, carving sets and some compotes have weighted or hollow parts. So do some trophy bases.

Mixed-metal items. Mirrors, hairbrushes and vanity pieces often have a thin sterling back over wood or other material.

Weigh solid pieces only, or ask a buyer to estimate the silver in weighted items separately. Our scrap silver calculator lets you enter solid sterling and other purities line by line.

What Buyers Actually Pay for Sterling

Selling sterling by the pound? The melt figure above is a ceiling, not an offer. Buyers pay a share of melt that depends on who they are and how much you bring:

Refiners typically pay the highest percentage, but many require a minimum lot and charge assay or processing fees.
Local buyers and coin shops commonly quote somewhere around 65–80% of melt for sterling scrap, according to seller guides published in 2026; the strongest offers run higher.
Pawn shops are fast but usually pay the least.

Ask every buyer the same question: what do you pay per troy ounce of pure silver, and how do you weigh? That turns different quotes into numbers you can compare. Get at least two.

Before selling, check for collector value. Some sterling is worth more as silverware than as metal: pieces by well-known makers, patterns people collect, and antique British silver. A replacement or matching service may pay more for a complete set than a scrap buyer will.

Buying sterling instead? You'll pay above melt for anything sold as silverware. As a way to own silver by weight, bullion is usually cheaper; see how to buy silver by the pound.

FAQ

How much is a pound of sterling silver worth?

$863.06 in melt value today: 13.49 troy ounces of pure silver at $63.98.

How much will a buyer pay per pound for sterling?

Less than melt. Local buyers often quote around 65–80% of melt; refiners pay more on large lots.

Is "925" the same as sterling?

Yes. 925 means 925 parts per thousand silver, which is the sterling standard.

Are sterling knives worth weighing?

Not with the rest. Their handles are usually hollow and filled, with steel blades. Buyers price them separately.

What's the difference between sterling and silverplate?

Sterling is 92.5% silver throughout. Silverplate is base metal with a microscopic silver coating and has almost no silver value.