MEASURED · 5 OCTOBER 2026

How much is sterling silver worth? Silverware priced by the ounce, gram and pound

Most people weigh a drawer of silverware on a kitchen scale, in ordinary pounds and ounces. Silver is priced in troy ounces, which are heavier, and sterling is not pure silver. This page does both conversions, says what a sterling mark legally guarantees, and shows what a pound of sterling has been worth since 1968.

The short answer

At the London (LBMA) silver price of $60.87 per troy ounce on 29 September 2026, 49% below the record of $118.45 on 29 January 2026. For today’s value, put today’s price into the calculator.

Sterling silver calculator

Weigh only the sterling pieces. Pick the unit your scale shows; a kitchen scale reads ordinary pounds and ounces.

The kitchen-scale trap

A troy ounce, the unit silver is priced in, is 31.10 grams. The ounce on a kitchen or postal scale is 28.35 grams, so one troy ounce reads about 1.0971 ounces on it, and a kitchen pound holds 14.5833 troy ounces, not 16. Multiplying a kitchen-scale weight by the silver price per ounce overstates the metal by about 10%; then sterling is only 92.5% silver. Together, a pound of sterling on a kitchen scale held $821.04 of silver on 29 September 2026, not the $973.84 that 16 × the silver price suggests.

Silver value by fineness

Coin silver (900) is the old US standard for silverware and coins; 800 silver is common on continental European pieces; Britannia (958) is a British standard.

What sterling silverware weighing a given amount holds

What the marks legally mean

• “Sterling”, “sterling silver”, “ster.” or “solid silver”: at least 925 parts per thousand silver (FTC jewelry guides, 16 CFR § 23.5). The Stamping Act (15 U.S.C. § 296) allows 4 parts below the mark, or 10 when solder is tested with the piece: up to 1.1% less silver than 925.
• “Coin” or “coin silver”: at least 900 parts per thousand.
• “Silver” on its own must have a fineness in front of it, such as “800 silver”.
• Plated or coated pieces must say they are only coated. Their weight is mostly base metal, so the tables on this page do not apply.

A pound of sterling, 1968 to 2026

The value moves with the silver price every day. Over the last 252 London prices, a pound of sterling moved about $16.85 on a typical day and $59.94 or more on 1 day in 20. Since 1968, silver was lower a year later in 48.3% of all one-year stretches and lost 20% or more in 13.1%. The full record is in silver price history.

Before you sell

• Sort by mark first. Sterling, coin silver and plated pieces go in separate piles; only the first two are priced by weight here.
• Weigh, then convert. Use the calculator with your scale’s unit, so a buyer’s offer can be read as a share of the silver value.
• Check the maker before melting. A known pattern or maker can sell for more as tableware than as metal. We did not measure that premium.
• Count the tax. The IRS treats silver as a collectible: a gain held for more than a year is taxed at up to 28%.

For coins and bars, see how much is a silver dollar worth? and how much is a silver bar worth?; for gold jewellery, how much is 14k gold worth? This page is a measurement, not a forecast or personal advice.

How we measured it

Price: the LBMA Silver Price in US dollars, every fix from January 1968 to 29 September 2026. On 5 October 2026 the LBMA price feed refused our scripted request, so the latest price is 29 September 2026, not today. Units: 1 troy ounce = 31.1034768 g, 1 ordinary ounce = 28.349523125 g, 1 pound = 453.59237 g (NIST Handbook 44). Law: 15 U.S.C. § 296 and 16 CFR § 23.5, read on 5 October 2026. Values are for the silver content only.

Common questions