Can you pawn sterling silver

Mint as well as through authorized dealers, while the collector coins can be purchased through collectors and private sellers. Silverplate flatware doesn't have a melt value like sterling silverware, and with a lower silver content, it is generally worth much less than sterling silver. Pawn shops will typically not buy silverplated flatware, but silver dealers such as Replacements will.

You can also get a price list from their website. There will come a time when silver is overvalued, but it will not be time to sell your silver for dollars to hold.

You should trade it for undervalued cashflow producing real estate or equities. Precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum are by far the easiest items to pawn for quick cash. They provide pawn shops a unique set of advantages that most items can't. These three advantages make precious metals especially alluring to pawnbrokers and consequently the best item to pawn. Sterling silver objects are made of Unfortunately, silver-plated items hold almost no monetary worth.

Markings usually measure the percentage of silver in the metal mixture of the particular item. Some people may choose to opt to buy equipment like electronic testers or investing in density tests. Still, it is usually easier and more economical to take it to your local pawnshop. They will have the tools and equipment to find out for sure the purity of your silver. At Central Mega Pawn, we employ an in-house jeweler, one of only a handful of pawnshops nationwide to do so.

They will be happy to use their tools, expertise, and experience to tell you what you have. Despite the many things that may affect the price of silver, it is almost always in demand. Throughout history, silver has been used for a multitude of purposes, such as:. Gather as many pieces as you can — if your silver item has certificates of purity, original packaging, or any other accompanying material, bring it with you.

This will help your pawnbroker make the best deal possible. Do your homework — teach yourself some of the basics of how precious metals are appraised and weighed, and remember that the purer the metals, the more valuable they are.

Clean your jewelry — do your best to clean your silver safely. Avoid harsh chemicals or abrasive materials. The cleaner it is, the easier it is for your pawnbroker to appraise the item. Have realistic expectations — once you have an idea of what you might expect, be prepared to get an offer of a fraction of the value.

Your local pawnbroker must make a profit on every item in their shop, so they cannot offer you an even exchange against the actual value of your silver.

Be prepared to negotiate — your pawnbroker will be open to realistic negotiations. The more homework you do, the more knowledgeable you will be. These are called hallmarks and they represent the purity of your silver. The higher the number, the purer your silver is. This means that there is less of other non-silver metals mixed in with it, such as copper.

You may have never heard of the three-digit numbers before. They all are representative of the percentage of silver in your piece. Use the following as a common silver hallmark guide. Anything that is less than silver is commonly a mixture of copper and silver. This mixture is called an alloy. You can refer to sterling silver as an alloy, since it is Pure silver is very malleable, making it difficult to stay sturdy as jewelry without a hardening agent such as copper.

Copper does not discolor silver, which is another reason for its popularity in creating an alloy. The weight of your silver is easy to determine. If you have bullion, it will be clearly stated on the piece or certificate. If you have jewelry, you just need a scale that weighs to a tenth of a gram. If you have any embellishments on the jewelry such as stones or non-silver charms, you need to estimate how much those weigh and subtract it from the total weight of your jewelry piece.

Once you have that number, you can move on to calculating how much your silver jewelry is worth. To figure out how much pawn shops pay for silver jewelry, you can use Fineness, weight and market value to mimic what a pawnbroker would do to price it out. You will need to know the weight of the silver portion of your jewelry, in grams to the tenth of a gram. We reviewed this above. You also need to figure out the Fineness. As we reviewed earlier, look at your jewelry carefully to find the hallmarks that we went over.

Then, get the percentage that we listed next to the Fineness hallmark matching your piece. Next, look up the current market value price of silver in grams. As of the exact moment this post is being written, that is If you see a store selling the same jewelry piece for more money, remember they are factoring in the labor costs required to make the jewelry.

Keep in mind that pawn shops are businesses, and you need to remain respectful that they need to turn a profit in order to stay in business.

Since silver prices fluctuate every day, it is wise to check the price of silver and historical prices on the day you intend to sell it.