A chest of sterling flatware in an American attic contains genuine silver, and the offers it draws routinely disappoint. Several separate deductions sit between the weight on the scale and the check.
Sterling is an alloy, not pure silver
Sterling is defined as slightly over nine parts silver in ten, with copper making up the balance to give the metal working hardness.
Any offer therefore starts from a fraction of the gross weight rather than the full weight, before any other cost is considered.
Buyers who quote on gross weight without stating this are describing a different number from the one that will appear on the settlement.
Knife handles are hollow and weighted
Most sterling knives have a thin silver handle filled with pitch, cement or resin and fitted with a stainless steel blade.
The gross weight of a knife therefore overstates its silver content dramatically, and refiners either exclude knives or price them at a token figure.
Candlesticks and some serving pieces are weighted the same way, which is why experienced buyers sort a set before quoting rather than after.
Refining costs are deducted from the return
Turning mixed flatware into deliverable silver requires melting, assaying and separating the copper, and the refiner charges for that work.
A dealer buying from the public must cover those charges plus freight and its own margin, all of which sit between the spot price and the offer.
Small lots absorb these fixed costs poorly, which is why a single serving spoon draws a proportionally worse price than a full chest.
Pattern value survives only in the secondhand market
Some flatware patterns remain in demand among people completing or replacing sets, and complete services in good condition can sell above metal value.
That market runs through replacement specialists and auction rather than through refiners, and it moves slowly because the buyer pool is narrow.
Discontinued patterns with active collector interest are the exception worth checking before anything goes to the melt, since melting is irreversible.
Silver plate contains almost nothing
Plated flatware is base metal with a thin silver coating, and it is frequently mistaken for sterling because the pieces look similar and feel substantial.
Marks distinguish them, since sterling is stamped as such while plate carries manufacturer marks describing the plating process.
Refiners generally will not buy plate at all, which explains offers of nothing on pieces that a family assumed were valuable.