Having been a manager at an antique auction gallery at the height of the gold and silver craze of the 70-80s I’ve learned a few things. The most important for you? The silver you have is not what you may think.

Almost every family I know has a pair of antique silver candlesticks for sale. Usually the same shape and style, they were very popular in the 1890s and the very early part of the 1900s. Most assume they’ve got about 3 pounds of silver. Sorry folks, most of the weight is plaster. I would tell this to the incomers to our gallery and then shock them by taking a hammer and the said candlesticks out to the front step. One good blow would allow the silver coating to be peeled off and at the time would be worth about 7 USD. Since I’ve hammered so many into silver skins and I know I wasn’t alone in my destruction, such candlesticks may be rarer now and could fetch even $25 dollars, untouched by my (or another) hammer.

With the exception of entire sets of dinnerware (valuable as sets), solid silver pieces are rare and currently run to individual items matching the more modern term “flatware.” Better to sell these random items as junk silver. If you are thinking of keeping it “just to use” I can tell you silver is soft and will likely not yeild a knife capable of cutting any but the most butter-like of steaks. Solid silver is best left to history and to those who can afford to have it beaten back into shape. It’s one of those things where looking is better than actual use. Stainless steel is more practical. If you do have “silver” consider making it into an artform in a frame or on a shelf to look and not touch or just sell it for the small profit of the actual silver. In most cases, any leftover items would be worth much more in enojoyment that you might ever get by sale.