Silver Purity Chart
Byline: Reviewed by the Silver Value Chart Editorial Team · Updated September 19, 2026
Quick answer
Silver is almost never pure. The grade stamped on an item tells you what fraction of it is actually silver, and that fraction is what it is worth. At a spot price of $66.38 per troy ounce ($2.13 per gram), the common grades work out as follows.
| Grade | Mark | Silver | Per gram | Per troy oz |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fine silver | 999 / .999 | 99.9% | $2.13 | $66.31 |
| Britannia | 958 / .958 | 95.8% | $2.04 | $63.59 |
| Sterling | 925 / STERLING | 92.5% | $1.97 | $61.40 |
| Coin silver | 900 / .900 | 90.0% | $1.92 | $59.74 |
| 800 silver | 800 / .800 | 80.0% | $1.71 | $53.10 |
| Silver plate | EPNS, A1 | trace | No recoverable melt value | |
| Grade | Mark | Silver content | Per gram | Per troy oz | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fine silver | 999 / .999 | 99.9% | $2.13 | $66.31 | Bullion coins and bars |
| Britannia | 958 / .958 | 95.8% | $2.04 | $63.59 | British Britannia coins, some flatware |
| Sterling | 925 / STERLING | 92.5% | $1.97 | $61.40 | Most jewelry and flatware |
| Coin silver | 900 / .900 | 90% | $1.92 | $59.74 | Pre-1965 US coins, older American flatware |
| 800 silver | 800 / .800 | 80% | $1.71 | $53.10 | Continental European silver |
| Silver plate | EPNS, A1 | trace | — | — | No recoverable melt value |
How fineness is expressed
Two notations describe the same thing.
Parts per thousand is the modern standard: 925 means 925 parts silver in every 1,000. You will see it written 925, .925, or 92.5%. All three are identical.
Karat does not apply to silver. Karat measures gold purity in twenty-fourths. Silver uses the decimal/millesimal system exclusively, so "18k silver" is not a real description and an item marked that way should be treated with suspicion.
To turn any fineness into a value, divide the mark by 1,000 and multiply:
melt value = weight in grams × $2.13 × (mark ÷ 1000)
A 40 g piece marked 800 holds 32 g of silver. A 40 g piece marked 925 holds 37 g. Same weight in the hand, 15% more metal in the second.
The grades in detail
Fine silver (999). As close to pure as commercial refining goes. Used for bullion — American Silver Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs, cast and minted bars — because bullion buyers want metal and nothing else. Too soft for objects that get handled: it scratches, bends and deforms easily. A few bullion products go further, to 9999, but the extra 0.09% makes no practical difference to value.
Britannia (958). A British standard, higher than sterling, introduced historically to distinguish wrought silver from coinage. Still used for Britannia bullion coins and occasionally for high-end flatware.
Sterling (925). The workhorse. 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper for hardness. Covered in depth on our sterling silver page.
Coin silver (900). The historic US coinage standard, used for all circulating silver dimes, quarters, halves and dollars through 1964. It also appears on older American flatware, confusingly often marked "COIN" or "PURE COIN" — those pieces were sometimes literally made from melted coins. At 90% it is slightly less pure than sterling, though the difference is small enough that buyers often lump the two together. Our junk silver calculator handles the coinage side.
800 silver. Common in Germany, Italy and elsewhere in continental Europe. It is genuinely silver and genuinely valuable, but at 80% it holds meaningfully less metal than sterling — a fact worth knowing if you are pricing an inherited European service against American expectations.
Silver plate. Not a purity grade at all. A microscopic layer of silver electroplated onto a base metal, measured in microns rather than percentages. The recoverable silver from a plated item is worth less than the cost of recovering it, which is why no reputable buyer pays melt for plate. Marks to watch for: EPNS, silver plate, A1, triple or quadruple plate. And note that German silver, nickel silver and alpaca contain no silver whatsoever — the names describe the color of the alloy, not its content.
Two grades that are not what they look like
"Tibetan silver" and "Mexican silver" as sold online are usually base-metal alloys with little or no silver. Genuine Mexican sterling exists and is marked 925 with a maker and an assay registration; the unmarked tourist version generally is not silver.
"Sterling silver plated" is a contradiction used deliberately in product listings. If both words appear, it is plated. The silver is on the outside only.
Testing when there is no mark
An unmarked piece may still be solid silver. A few practical checks, easiest first:
- Magnet test. Silver is not magnetic. A strong pull means a ferrous base metal. This rules items out; it cannot rule them in, since many non-silver alloys are also non-magnetic. Test the body of the piece, away from steel clasps or blades.
- Ice test. Silver is the most thermally conductive metal there is. An ice cube placed on solid silver melts visibly faster than on a similar-looking base metal. Crude, but surprisingly indicative.
- Ring test. Struck gently, solid silver rings with a long, clear tone. Plated and base metals thud.
- Acid test. A jeweler's test kit reads the metal at a scratched point. It is accurate but it marks the item, so it is a last resort for anything that may have value as an object.
- XRF analysis. Non-destructive and precise. Most serious buyers have an XRF gun and will test in front of you. If you are selling anything substantial, ask.
The first three are indicative only. If real money is involved, get an XRF reading before accepting an offer based on a guess.
Why purity matters more than people expect
The difference between grades looks small on paper and is large in aggregate. Across a kilogram of material, the gap between 800 and 925 silver is 125 grams of metal — worth $266.77 at today's price. That is the difference between an accurate offer and a disappointing one, and it is entirely determined by a stamp most people never look for.
It also explains a common surprise: two items of identical size and weight can be worth noticeably different amounts. Weight alone never determines value. Weight times purity does.
Selling or buying?
If you are selling, sort by grade before you get a quote. A mixed lot gets priced at the lowest common denominator, or at the buyer's discretion, and neither favors you. The figures on this page are a ceiling, not an offer — expect 90–95% of melt from refiners, 70–90% from coin shops and jewelers, less from pawn shops.
If you are buying for metal content, buy 999 fine bullion. Every lower grade means paying for metal you will later sell at a refining discount. See what a realistic premium over spot looks like →
Related pages
Sterling silver price · Per gram · Scrap calculator · Junk silver calculator
FAQ
What is the highest purity silver you can buy? 9999 (99.99%) exists in some bullion bars, but 999 is the practical standard and the price difference between them is negligible.
Is 925 or 999 silver better? Neither — they are for different jobs. 999 holds more metal per gram and suits bullion. 925 is hard enough to make objects from. For melt value, 999 is worth more per gram; for a ring you will actually wear, 925 is the right material.
Does silver purity affect tarnish? Yes. Tarnish comes largely from the copper in the alloy, so fine silver tarnishes more slowly than sterling, and 800 silver tarnishes faster than either.
My item has no purity mark. Is it silver? Possibly. Antique, handmade and some American pieces were never marked. Use the tests above, and get an XRF reading before accepting an offer if the piece is substantial.
Data sources: Spot price via api.gold-api.com · COMEX futures (SI=F) via Yahoo Finance. Prices are for informational purposes only and may be delayed. Figures on this page were generated . Silver is quoted in US dollars per troy ounce.