Sterling Silver Price Per Gram

About sterling silver

Sterling silver is 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. Pure silver is too soft for everyday use, and the copper makes it hard enough for flatware, tea services and jewelry. It's marked 925, STERLING or STER; British sterling also carries a lion passant hallmark.

Watch for weighted pieces. Candlesticks, some bowls and trophy bases are filled with cement or pitch under a thin sterling shell and are often stamped WEIGHTED. Only the shell is silver, so weigh it without the filling or enter an estimate in the subtract field.

Sterling silver price per gram = silver spot price per gram × 0.925. The live sterling silver price per gram and per ounce is at the top of this page.

How to calculate the value of silver

Most silver items are an alloy, so only part of their weight is silver. Melt value is the pure silver they contain, priced at the spot price:

pure silver (g)  = weight (g) × purity     (sterling = 0.925)
price per gram   = spot price per troy oz ÷ 31.1035
melt value       = pure silver (g) × price per gram

So a sterling silver serving spoon weighing 80 grams holds 80 × 92.5% = 74 grams of pure silver, and its melt value is 74 times today's silver price per gram. That's the floor for what the silver is worth. Antique and designer pieces can sell for far more, and a scrap buyer's offer usually sits below it.

How to use the silver calculator

1. 1

   Find the purity mark

   Look on the back of a spoon handle, the base of a piece or inside a ring: 925 or STERLING, 999, 900 or COIN. Pick it in the purity menu.

2. 2

   Weigh the item

   A jewelry or kitchen scale in grams is fine. Troy ounces, kitchen-scale ounces, pennyweight, kilograms and tola are all supported.

3. 3

   Subtract anything that isn't silver

   Steel knife blades, wooden handles, stones and the filling in weighted candlesticks add weight but no silver. Enter their weight so they're left out.

4. 4

   Read the melt value

   The calculator multiplies the pure silver content by the live spot price. Add a price you were offered to see how it compares.

Frequently asked questions

How much is sterling silver worth per gram?

Sterling silver is 92.5% pure silver, so one gram of it is worth 0.925 × today's price of a gram of pure silver. The live sterling silver price per gram is at the top of this page and refreshes every minute; switch the currency to see it in euros, pounds, rupees and 14 other currencies.

How do I calculate the value of sterling silver?

Weigh the piece in grams, subtract anything that isn't silver (blades, handles, stones, fillings), then multiply by 0.925 to get grams of pure silver. Multiply that by the spot price per gram for its melt value. The calculator above does all of it once you enter the weight.

What does a 925 stamp mean?

It's the fineness mark for sterling silver: parts of pure silver per 1,000. A piece stamped 925 is 92.5% silver. Marks can be wrong or fake, so an acid or XRF test is the way to confirm purity before selling.

Is sterling silver the same as silver-plated?

No. Sterling is solid silver alloy all the way through. Silver-plated items have only a thin coat of silver over a cheaper metal and are marked EP, EPNS or Silverplate. Plate has almost no melt value; sterling is worth 92.5% of its weight in silver.