It’s hard to retain a sterling silver flatware set for generations.  Pieces become lost or damaged and what was once a beautiful set can, over time, become a loose collection of knives, forks and spoons.  But that doesn’t mean they aren’t still valuable. As scrap silver, the sheer weight of sterling silver flatware means you may have a considerable amount of silver to sell and Montreal Gold is in the market to buy.

Pure silver is 99.9% silver, while sterling silver is an alloy consisting of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other precious metals.  Rarely are flatware sets made of fine silver as the metal is too soft to be useful for that purpose.  Sterling silver, because of the addition of other metals, is sensitive to the environment and will tarnish, hence the need to “polish the silverware”.   

Some silverware is stamped, which offers an indication of the silver composition.  Stamped or not, our testing equipment will allow us to find the density of your silver flatware and confirm the silver content, after which we can provide you with a quote. 

Our tests are free and performed in your presence.  If you decide to sell to us, we’ll offer you payment on the spot.

Unfortunately, most flatware sets are silver plated, meaning they are made with an inexpensive base metal and have a thin layer of silver plating the outside. We cannot purchase silver plated items as there isn’t enough silver content to cover the cost of refining them.

We do not buy items with the following stamps (as they are all plated):

• Rogers (bros, sons)
  NOTE: Most Rogers pieces will have the year 1847 stamped on them. This is not the year the piece was made, but the year the company was established.
• Community
• Regency
• EP, EPNS, EPC, EPB (these letters indicate electroplated silver over nickel, copper and brass)
• 90 (this number indicates German silver, not 90% pure silver, but a silver plate which is 90% pure)
• and anything with the word “plate” included in the stamp

If you’re unsure whether your items are silver plated, drop by our Montreal store for a free evaluation.

There are some companies that recycle electroplated (EP) copper and brass flatware and can offer you cash for your items. However do your research first as some plated flatware should not be sold for scrap. Depending on the condition, certain plated flatware pieces and tea sets could be considered vintage or antique and fetch good prices from collectors.