Sterling is marked. American flatware says STERLING or 925 on the back of the handle, usually beside a maker's mark: Gorham, Reed & Barton, Towle, Wallace, International, Kirk Stieff, Lunt. British silver carries a lion passant and a date letter. Silverplate is marked differently, with EP, EPNS, A1, Quadruple Plate or a name such as 1847 Rogers Bros., and it is a thin coat of silver over base metal.
Sterling has a floor. The silver in a fork has a price every day, so a sterling set is never worth less than its silver weight at the day's spot price. We weigh every sterling piece before we price it. Above that floor, pattern decides. Patterns that people are still completing, such as Gorham Chantilly, Towle Old Master or Wallace Grande Baroque, sell to replacement buyers by the piece and the place setting.
Knives are the trap. Most sterling dinner knives have a hollow sterling handle filled with cement or resin and a stainless steel blade. Only the handle is silver, so a knife weighs far more than the silver in it. We price knives on their own and never count their full weight toward the silver floor.
Silverplate is a different market. A complete plated service in its chest sells, slowly, to someone who wants to use it. Odd plated pieces mostly do not sell at all, and we will tell you that rather than list forty serving spoons that will sit. A monogram lowers what a replacement buyer will pay, but it does not touch the silver floor.
We sell sterling through our own shop and on eBay, by the piece, the place setting or the full set, whichever the pattern supports. Nothing goes to a refiner unless you decide the silver price is the best offer on the table. Every piece is counted with you, and you get that count in writing.
What the family receives.
- ✓A free walkthrough, or a first look from photos of the marks on a few pieces
- ✓A written quote before any work starts
- ✓Every piece sorted into sterling, silverplate and stainless by its marks
- ✓Sterling weighed, with the silver floor worked out before any price is set
- ✓The pattern identified and priced against sold results, not asking prices
- ✓Listings by the piece, the place setting or the set, whichever returns more
- ✓A written count of every piece and what it sold for
Why VaultXL.
Weighed before it is priced
Sterling has a value set by the silver in it. We work that number out first, so no price we set is ever below what the metal alone would bring.
Knives counted honestly
A weighted knife handle is mostly filler. We price knives separately instead of letting their weight inflate the estimate for the set.
Plate called plate
Silverplate looks like sterling in a drawer. We read the marks and tell you which pieces are worth listing and which are not.
Not a scrap buyer
A buyer paying for scrap pays below the silver value because they still have to refine it. A full set in a pattern people want is worth more to a replacement buyer, and that is who we sell to.
Where we serve.
Charlotte · Myers Park · Eastover · SouthPark · Foxcroft · Dilworth · Cotswold · Ballantyne · Huntersville · Cornelius · Davidson · Matthews · Mint Hill · Waxhaw · Fort Mill · Rock Hill
Start with a walkthrough.
A free walkthrough in your home, then a written quote before any work starts.
Frequently asked.
Look at the back of the handle. STERLING or 925 means sterling. A lion passant with other small marks means British silver. EP, EPNS, A1, Quadruple Plate or a name like 1847 Rogers Bros. means silverplate. If there is no mark at all, assume plate or stainless until it has been tested.
Sometimes. The silver sets the floor. A set in a pattern that people are still collecting to complete their own service can sell above it, by the piece. A set in an obscure pattern, or one that is heavily monogrammed, usually sells close to the silver value.
No. Buyers expect estate silver to be tarnished, and heavy polishing wears down the pattern. We photograph it as it is, after a light clean if it needs one.
For damaged pieces and odd sterling in an uncommon pattern, that can be the right sale. For a full set in a pattern people want, it usually is not, because a scrap buyer pays below the silver value. We will tell you which you have before anything is listed.
Every project is quoted in writing after a free walkthrough: a non-refundable setup fee set in your quote, and 15% of what sells after marketplace fees. You keep 85%.
