Introduction
This scrap silver calculator tells you how much your silver is worth based on its weight, purity, and the current spot price. Whether you have old sterling jewelry, coins, or flatware, you can use this tool to find the melt value of your silver in seconds. Just enter your item's weight, pick a purity like .925 (sterling) or .999 (fine silver), and the calculator does the rest. It pulls a live silver price, converts your weight into troy ounces, and shows you exactly what your scrap silver is worth today.
You will also see estimated dealer offers, a bid and ask price based on the dealer spread you set, and a full step-by-step breakdown of the math. The tool supports multiple weight units — grams, ounces, pennyweight, troy ounces, and more — along with 30 currencies, so you can get results in the money you actually use. If you need to convert between currencies separately, our currency calculator can help. A built-in reference table shows the price of silver per gram, per pennyweight, and per troy ounce at every common purity level, all updated with live data.
This calculator is helpful whether you want to sell scrap silver to a dealer, check if an offer is fair, or simply know what your silver collection is worth right now. If you also hold gold, our gold price calculator works the same way for gold items.
How to Use Our Scrap Silver Calculator
Enter your silver item's weight, purity, and the current spot price. The calculator will show you the melt value, dealer bid and ask prices, and estimated dealer offers.
Item Name (Optional): Type a short name for your silver item, like "Sterling ring" or "Old coin lot." This is just a label for your reference and does not change any results.
Weight: Enter the total weight of your scrap silver item. Use the number you see on your scale. If you are weighing other metals as well, our metal weight calculator can help you estimate weights by dimensions and material type.
Weight Unit: Pick the unit that matches your scale. You can choose from grams, kilograms, grains, pennyweight, ounces, troy ounces, pounds, or troy pounds.
Silver Purity: Click a quick-select button to choose a common purity like .925 (Sterling) or .999 (Fine Silver). You can also click "Custom" and type in any purity as a decimal (0.925) or a percent (92.5). If you need help converting between decimals and percentages, try our percentage calculator. Check your item's stamp or hallmark if you are not sure.
Silver Spot Price: This is the current market price for one troy ounce of pure silver. The calculator loads a live price for you. You can also type in your own price if you prefer.
Output Currency: Choose the currency you want your results shown in. The default is US Dollars. When you pick a new currency, the spot price updates to match.
Dealer Spread (%): Enter the percentage gap between a dealer's buy price and sell price. The default is 5%. A higher spread means a bigger difference between the bid and ask prices. To understand how spreads and margins work in more detail, see our margin calculator.
Calculate: Click this button to see your results. You will get the total melt value, bid and ask prices, estimated dealer offers at common payout rates, a value comparison chart, a full weight conversion table, and a step-by-step breakdown of the math.
Reset: Click this button to clear all your entries and return the calculator to its default settings.
What Is Scrap Silver and How Is Its Value Calculated?
Scrap silver is any silver item that is worth more for the metal inside it than as a finished product. Old jewelry, broken chains, worn coins, flatware, and dental silver are all common examples. Instead of throwing these items away, you can sell them to a dealer who melts them down and recovers the pure silver.
How Scrap Silver Value Works
The value of scrap silver depends on three things: weight, purity, and the current spot price of silver. The spot price is the live market price for one troy ounce of pure silver. It changes throughout the day based on supply and demand around the world.
Purity tells you how much of your item is actually silver. Sterling silver, marked .925, is 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals like copper. Coin silver is .900, or 90% pure. Fine silver is .999, which is nearly 100% pure. The higher the purity, the more silver content your item holds and the more it is worth.
To find the melt value, you convert the item's weight into troy ounces, multiply by the purity to get the fine silver content, and then multiply that by the spot price. For example, if you have 31.1 grams of sterling silver and the spot price is $32 per troy ounce, the melt value is 1 troy ounce × 0.925 × $32 = $29.60.
What Dealers Actually Pay
Dealers rarely pay the full melt value. They need to cover the cost of refining, shipping, and running their business. Most dealers pay between 70% and 95% of the melt value. This gap between what they pay and what they sell for is called the dealer spread. A smaller spread means a better deal for you. It helps to get quotes from more than one buyer before you sell. You can use our percent difference calculator to quickly compare two dealer offers side by side.
Tips Before You Sell Scrap Silver
Always weigh your silver on an accurate scale. Kitchen scales work, but a jeweler's scale that reads in grams or pennyweight is better. Check for hallmarks or stamps like "925," "900," or "800" — these tell you the purity. If there is no stamp, a dealer or jeweler can test the metal for you. Keep in mind that plated items have only a thin layer of silver on the surface and are worth very little as scrap.
If you are selling silver as part of a larger precious metals portfolio, keep track of your purchase price versus your sale price. Our capital gains tax calculator can help you estimate any taxes you may owe on the profit. For a broader picture of how your precious metals holdings fit into your finances, try our investment calculator or net worth calculator.