Sterling Silver Price Today
Byline: Reviewed by the Silver Value Chart Editorial Team · Updated September 19, 2026
$1.97 per gram of sterling (925)
Silver spot $66.38/oz · updated
Quick answer
Sterling silver is worth $1.97 per gram as of September 19, 2026, or $61.40 per troy ounce. Sterling is 92.5% silver, so it is worth 92.5% of the pure silver price by weight — before any refining deduction a buyer applies.
| Unit | Equivalent | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Troy ounce | 31.1034768 g | $66.38 |
| Gram | 1 g | $2.13 |
| Kilogram | 1,000 g | $2,134 |
| Pound (avoirdupois) | 453.59 g · 14.5833 oz t | $968.04 |
| Pound (troy) | 373.24 g · 12 oz t | $796.56 |
| Tola | 11.6638 g | $24.89 |
| Sterling (925), per gram | 1 g × 0.925 | $1.97 |
What sterling actually is
Sterling is an alloy: 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metal, almost always copper. That ratio is the reason it is stamped 925.
The alloy exists because pure silver is impractical for objects. Fine silver is soft enough to bend under ordinary handling — a pure silver fork would deform in use and a pure silver ring would lose its shape within months. Adding a small amount of copper makes the metal hard enough to hold an edge, a shape and a polish, at the cost of a little tarnish resistance.
The standard is old. England fixed the sterling standard at 92.5% in the medieval period and it has been maintained, with interruptions, ever since. The United States adopted the same standard for silverware, which is why 925 is the near-universal mark on both sides of the Atlantic today.
That copper content is also why sterling tarnishes. The black film that forms is silver sulfide, and it develops faster in the presence of copper and of sulfur compounds in air, rubber bands, wool and some foods. It is a surface effect only — it does not reduce the silver inside.
How to read the marks
The stamp is the fastest way to know what you have, if you know where to look — usually the underside of flatware, the inside of a ring shank, or a clasp or tag on a chain.
Marks that indicate solid sterling:
- 925 — the modern international standard mark.
- STERLING or STER — the usual American mark on older pieces.
- A lion passant (a walking lion in profile) — the English sterling mark, usually alongside a city mark, a date letter and a maker's mark. British hallmarking is a genuine assay system and is unusually reliable.
- .925 or 92.5.
Marks that mean it is not solid silver:
- EPNS — Electro-Plated Nickel Silver. A thin silver layer over a nickel alloy.
- Silver plate, A1, triple plate, quadruple plate — plated, despite the reassuring language.
- German silver, nickel silver, alpaca — contain no silver at all. The names describe the color.
- 925 on a suspiciously heavy, cheap item — counterfeit stamps exist. The mark is evidence, not proof.
No mark proves nothing either way. Handmade, antique and some American pieces predate consistent marking. Test rather than assume — see our scrap silver calculator for practical tests.
The math
sterling melt value = weight in grams × $2.13 × 0.925
At $2.13 per gram of pure silver, one gram of sterling holds 0.925 g of silver, worth $1.97.
Working per troy ounce instead: one troy ounce of sterling holds 0.925 troy ounces of silver, worth $61.40 at a spot price of $66.38.
What common sterling items weigh
Approximate gross weights, useful for estimating before you reach a scale. Actual weights vary by pattern and maker, sometimes considerably.
| Item | Typical gross weight | Approx. melt value |
|---|---|---|
| Teaspoon | 20 g | $39.48 |
| Tablespoon / serving spoon | 55 g | $108.58 |
| Dinner fork | 55 g | $108.58 |
| Dinner knife (hollow handle) | 75 g gross | see caution below |
| Ring (plain band) | 3–6 g | $9.87 |
| Chain necklace | 10–30 g | $29.61 |
| 6-place canteen (no knives) | ~1.2 kg | $2,368.92 |
The knife caution, which matters more than any other item here. Most sterling dinner knives have hollow handles filled with resin, pitch or cement, with a stainless steel blade. The gross weight is mostly filler and steel. A knife weighing 75 g may contain only 25–30 g of sterling. Buyers weigh knives separately and discount them sharply, and a seller who prices a canteen at gross weight including knives will be disappointed. The same applies to weighted candlesticks, small bowls and trophy cups, usually marked "weighted" or "cement filled" on the base.
Melt value is not always the right number
For most scrap this page's arithmetic is the whole story. There are exceptions worth checking before anything goes to a refiner, because melting is irreversible.
- Named patterns from major makers in good condition frequently sell as flatware for well above melt.
- Georgian and Victorian British silver with clear hallmarks can carry substantial antique value.
- Designer and signed jewelry — certain twentieth-century makers command multiples of melt.
- Complete canteens in the original case are worth more intact than broken up.
If a piece is marked, matched, or unusually well made, get one opinion on its value as an object before you get a quote on its value as metal. Our melt value calculator tells you the floor, not the ceiling.
Selling or buying?
If you are selling, sort by purity first, weigh in grams, and set knives and weighted pieces aside to be quoted separately. The figures here are a ceiling, not an offer — refiners and major buyers typically pay 90–95% of melt, jewelers and coin shops 70–90%, pawn shops less. Get more than one quote; the spread between buyers on identical material is routinely wider than a month of price movement.
If you are buying silver for the metal rather than the object, sterling is an inefficient way to do it. You pay for craftsmanship you do not need, and you sell at a refining discount. Bullion coins and bars carry a lower total cost of ownership. See what a realistic premium over spot looks like →
Related pages
Purity chart · Per gram · Scrap calculator · Melt value calculator
FAQ
Is 925 silver real silver? Yes. 925 means 92.5% silver alloyed with 7.5% copper. It is solid silver throughout, not plated, and it is the standard for virtually all silver jewelry and flatware.
Why does my sterling turn black? Tarnish — silver sulfide forming on the surface, accelerated by the copper in the alloy and by sulfur in air, wool, rubber and certain foods. It affects the surface only and does not reduce the silver content.
Should I polish sterling before selling it? Not for scrap; it makes no difference to a melt offer and each polish removes a trace of metal. For anything with antique or collector value, do not polish at all — it can reduce the value significantly.
Is sterling worth more than coin silver? Per gram, yes. Sterling is 92.5% silver against 90% for US coin silver, so it holds slightly more metal by weight. See the purity chart.
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.