What You Must Know About Valuing Silver Antiques

Posted by damien fleming on March 5th, 2016

Many collectors are also buying and selling, even exchanging, sterling silver items for their own economic purposes particularly in light of the 2008 global financial crisis. 

But before buying a silver item touted as genuine sterling silver with vintage or antique provenance, here’s a few commonsense tips that you have to keep in mind.

Antique versus Vintage

Emphasis must first be made that the terms “antique” and “vintage” may be used interchangeably among laymen but these are actually two different things. You have to know the difference so that you can better determine the value of a silver antique. 

According to the Antiques Roadshow, an antique is an object more than a hundred years old as of the present time as well as valued for either its historical or aesthetic value. A vintage item, in contrast, usually pertains to a specific period in history (e.g., Victorian Era or Art deco jewellery) between 50 and 100 years old. 

Of course, you want to ensure that, indeed, the item is actually what it is touted to be by its owner. You are well-advised to consult an expert on these matters especially when you are making a substantial investment. 

Silverplate versus Sterling Silver

You must, nonetheless, learn to distinguish between silverplate and sterling silver so as to stop wasting time on a possibly non-valuable item. 

• Silverplate is virtually useless in the antiques trade. This is because it may look like sterling silver but it is actually not so, no thanks to the fact that it only has a coating of silver on its base metal. You can initially determine whether an item is silverplated only by using a rule of thumb: If it feels too light in weight than the other silver items in your collection, then it may only be plated. 

• Sterling silver is obviously the valuable metal because of its innate durability, utility, and beauty, among other traits desired in precious metals. Look for the stamp at the back (i.e., sterling) to initially determine an item’s composition.

Basically, a silver item with a stamp of “sterling”, “.925” or “925/1000” is sterling silver. This means that the silver is either of pure quality or made of 92.5% silver with 7.5% copper to make an alloy. 

In case an item touted as a sterling silver item, such as a silver locket, does not appear to be genuine sterling (i.e., no markings) but appear very old (i.e., 100 or more years in age), you can always take it to an appraiser. You can have the item acid tested for verification purposes. 

And if you are just starting on your sterling silver collection like Silver Antiques you should buy these products from a reliable manufacturer known for its world-class quality from the materials used to the designs applied.