Quick answer
That number is the wholesale spot benchmark. Retail buyers pay this plus a dealer premium; sellers of scrap flatware, jewelry, or coins receive this figure minus a buyback spread and, for sterling or coin silver, minus the purity discount. The math is not complicated once you know which numbers to apply.
Reference spot in U.S. dollars, updated 16 hours ago. Not a retail quote.
What Silver Spot Means (and Does Not)
The silver spot price is the wholesale reference at which one troy ounce of unallocated good-delivery silver changes hands between institutional counterparties for near-immediate settlement. Two mechanisms produce the numbers most sites label as “spot”: the LBMA Silver Price, an electronic auction run at 12:00 London time on business days, and the COMEX silver futures contract (symbol SI) trading a 5,000 troy ounce contract at CME Group.
Retail buyers and sellers never transact at spot. The gap between spot and what a customer pays or receives is where dealers, refiners, and mints earn their margin, and on scrap silver that gap can swallow 30 percent or more of the melt value.
Converting Per Ounce, Per Gram, and Per Kilogram
Silver, like gold, is quoted in troy ounces on the wholesale market. A troy ounce equals 31.1035 grams, heavier than the standard (avoirdupois) ounce of 28.35 grams. If a scale or receipt uses “oz” without specifying troy, ask which unit is being applied because the two differ by roughly 10 percent.
| Weight | Formula | Live reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 troy ounce (oz t) | base unit | $66.27 |
| 1 gram | $66.27 ÷ 31.1035 | $2.13 |
| 5 troy ounces | $66.27 × 5 | see formula |
| 10 troy ounces | $66.27 × 10 | see formula |
| 100 troy ounces | $66.27 × 100 | see formula |
| 1 kilogram (32.1507 oz t) | $66.27 × 32.1507 | see formula |
| 1 pennyweight (dwt) | $66.27 ÷ 20 | see formula |
The gram figure is what most jewelry counters use when they weigh a scrap chain or a set of flatware. The 100-ounce format matters because the traditional COMEX-deliverable silver bar is a 1,000-ounce good-delivery ingot, but the retail wholesale unit most private stackers accumulate is the 100-ounce bar. Our silver value calculator handles the unit and purity math automatically, which is faster than doing it on a phone in front of a buying counter.
Sterling Silver (.925) Per Gram, and Why the Math Matters
Most silver flatware, hollowware, and higher-end jewelry sold in the U.S. and U.K. is sterling silver, an alloy that is 92.5 percent pure silver and 7.5 percent other metals (usually copper for durability). By law and hallmark convention, sterling is marked “.925”, “STERLING”, or “STG”.
The melt math is straightforward: multiply the current per-gram spot by 0.925. If the reference above shows $2.13 per gram of pure silver, one gram of sterling is worth $2.13 × 0.925 at melt, and a 100-gram sterling teapot contains 92.5 grams of pure silver.
The number a scrap buyer offers you is almost never the full melt figure. Reputable refiners typically pay 80 to 90 percent of the calculated sterling melt after weighing and testing. Pawn shops and mall silver-buying counters often pay 40 to 65 percent. Estate liquidators paying a flat per-pound or per-ounce rate are usually the lowest offer type of all, because the flat rate ignores individual piece weight and testing.
What this means in practice: a 20-piece sterling flatware set weighing 1,200 grams contains 1,110 grams of pure silver. At $2.13 per gram, the pure-silver content is 1,110 × $2.13. A refiner offering 85 percent pays 85 percent of that figure. A pawn shop offering 50 percent pays about half. The difference on a single flatware set often exceeds 300 dollars. Our sterling silver 925 guide covers hallmark identification, common fakes, and why weight alone is not enough to establish value.
Other Silver Purities You Will Encounter
Sterling is the most common but not the only silver alloy in the marketplace. Melt calculations for each start from the same rule: pure silver content equals total weight multiplied by the fineness fraction.
| Purity mark | Silver content | Where you see it | Per-gram formula |
|---|---|---|---|
| .999 or .9999 fine | 99.9 to 99.99 percent | Bullion bars, American Silver Eagle, Canadian Silver Maple | $2.13 × 1.000 |
| .925 sterling | 92.5 percent | Flatware, hollowware, higher-end jewelry, marked STERLING or 925 | $2.13 × 0.925 |
| .900 coin silver | 90 percent | Pre-1965 U.S. dimes, quarters, half dollars, silver dollars (except War Nickels) | $2.13 × 0.900 |
| .800 continental | 80 percent | Many European antique flatware pieces, especially German and Dutch | $2.13 × 0.800 |
| .500 silver | 50 percent | 1965 to 1970 U.S. Kennedy half dollars, some clad coins | $2.13 × 0.500 |
| Silver plate (EPNS) | Under 1 percent | Marked EPNS, SILVER PLATE, A1, PLATED, or with maker mark only | essentially zero melt value |
Silver plate is where most sellers of family heirlooms hit a wall. A silver-plated tea service can weigh several pounds and contain only a fraction of a gram of actual silver, coating a base metal (usually copper, nickel silver, or brass) that has no meaningful melt value. Refiners will not pay for silver plate; the electroplate layer is too thin to recover economically. The sterling versus silver plate identification guide walks through the hallmark tests before you carry a set into a buying appointment.
What You Actually Pay When Buying Silver
Retail silver rarely trades at spot. The final price is spot plus a premium that reflects fabrication, distribution, and dealer margin. Premiums are typically higher on silver than on gold as a percentage of the metal value because silver is bulkier and the fabrication cost is a larger share of the small per-ounce price.
Sovereign bullion coins
American Silver Eagles, Canadian Silver Maples, and Austrian Philharmonics typically carry a premium of 3 to 8 dollars over spot per one-ounce coin from a major dealer in normal market conditions. During the 2020 to 2021 supply squeeze, premiums briefly spiked above 12 dollars on Eagles.
Rounds and generic coins
Private-mint silver rounds and generic-brand coins typically carry the lowest premiums, often 1.50 to 3 dollars over spot per one-ounce piece. Buyback discounts are also wider on generics because they lack sovereign guarantees.
Bars (recognized brand)
PAMP Suisse, Asahi, Sunshine Mint, and other recognized bars typically run 1 to 4 dollars over spot per one-ounce bar and less per ounce for 10-oz and 100-oz sizes. Kilo and 100-oz bars deliver the lowest premium per ounce of any physical format.
Junk silver (pre-1965 U.S. coins)
Face-value bags of pre-1965 dimes and quarters are priced at a multiple of face value that tracks spot. A dollar of face value contains about 0.715 troy ounces of pure silver at .900 purity. The junk silver guide covers the face-value math in detail.
What You Actually Receive When Selling Silver
Selling flips the math. Buyers pay you spot minus a buyback spread, then resell at spot plus a premium. That two-sided margin is where dealers earn a living. For silver specifically, the spread is often wider than on gold because handling, testing, and processing costs are similar on both metals but silver is worth so much less per ounce.
Typical U.S. buyback percentages on physical silver to reputable dealers, before any purity discount is applied:
- Sovereign coins (Silver Eagle, Silver Maple, Philharmonic): spot minus 0.50 to 2 dollars per ounce, and often above spot when premiums are elevated during supply squeezes.
- Recognized brand bars (1 oz to 100 oz): spot minus 0.50 to 2 dollars per ounce for standard sizes.
- Generic rounds and non-brand bars: spot minus 1 to 3 dollars per ounce; higher discount possible if the buyer wants to melt and refine.
- Junk silver (pre-1965 U.S. coins): a dollar of face value pays roughly spot minus 5 to 10 percent times the 0.715 pure-ounce content.
- Sterling flatware and jewelry: spot minus 15 to 40 percent applied to the 92.5 percent purity content, so a gram of sterling receives 60 to 85 percent of ($2.13 × 0.925) at reputable refiners.
- Silver plate: essentially unsellable at melt. Antique dealers may pay collectible value on named-maker sets, but that is decorative arts pricing, not metal pricing.
Where most sellers get surprised is the compound effect of the buyback spread AND the purity discount. Sellers who bring a jewelry-buying kiosk a “100-gram silver set” expecting 100 × $2.13 walk out with a fraction of that number, because a 60 percent offer on 92.5 percent purity works out to just over half the raw per-gram spot times total weight.
Selling silver flatware, jewelry, or coins?
Instead of driving to three shops for three verbal offers, post one free selling request on Goldiew Sell Gold and describe what you have (piece count, weight if you have it, hallmarks). Up to 15 verified U.S. buyers see the listing and submit sealed written offers; you pick the best number, or reject them all. It is free, there is no obligation, and it turns the buyback spread into a competitive auction rather than a face-to-face negotiation. Recent completed sales appear in the Goldiew marketplace so you can see what similar pieces have actually cleared for.
The Gold-to-Silver Ratio and What It Signals
The gold-to-silver ratio is the price of one troy ounce of gold divided by the price of one troy ounce of silver. Right now that ratio is 66.6 to 1. Over the 20th century the ratio averaged near 47:1; since 2000 it has averaged around 68:1, and it briefly spiked above 100:1 during the March 2020 pandemic sell-off when silver crashed while gold held firm.
A ratio well above the long-term average is often cited by silver bulls as evidence silver is cheap relative to gold, and vice versa. Either reading is a heuristic, not a forecast. Our gold-silver ratio guide tracks the current figure and its historical context in more detail.
Silver Price FAQ
Why is the per-gram silver price so different from the per-ounce price?
A troy ounce is 31.1035 grams, so the per-gram figure is the per-ounce figure divided by 31.1035. If silver reference is $66.27 per ounce, the per-gram figure is $2.13. This is not a discount or premium; it is unit conversion. The confusion usually arises because most retail silver is sold or valued per ounce while jewelry counters and international sellers work in grams.
What is one gram of sterling silver worth today?
One gram of sterling silver contains 0.925 grams of pure silver. At the current per-gram reference of $2.13, one gram of sterling has a melt value of $2.13 × 0.925. That is the theoretical maximum you would receive if you sold to a refiner at full spot with no processing charge. Real-world offers on scrap sterling range from 40 to 90 percent of that melt figure depending on buyer type: refiners toward the top, mall kiosks and pawn shops toward the bottom.
What is the difference between troy ounces and regular ounces?
A troy ounce equals 31.1035 grams; a standard (avoirdupois) ounce equals 28.3495 grams. Troy is heavier by roughly 10 percent. All precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium) are quoted and traded in troy ounces. Kitchen scales and postage scales typically show avoirdupois. If a receipt or scale reads “oz” without specifying, ask which unit; the difference is not trivial.
Why is silver so much cheaper per ounce than gold?
Above-ground silver is far more abundant than gold and industrial demand consumes roughly half of annual silver production (solar panels, electronics, medical devices), while gold is mostly stored as investment or jewelry. The current gold-to-silver ratio of 66.6 to 1 reflects that supply and demand balance, along with monetary and speculative flows. The ratio moves over years and decades but has never approached parity in modern history.
Should I sell my silver flatware for the melt price?
Depends on the pieces. Common patterns from major manufacturers (Gorham, International, Wallace, Reed and Barton, Towle) with damaged or unmatched pieces are typically worth only melt value, which after refiner spreads is roughly 60 to 85 percent of the pure-silver content. Complete original-pattern sets in mint condition from named makers can be worth substantially more than melt on the collector market. The rule of thumb: if the piece is signed, matched, and marketable as a set, get an antiques appraisal before you sell for scrap. If it is unmatched, damaged, or a common pattern, melt value is usually the ceiling.
Is buying silver today a good investment?
This page is a reference for the current market price, not investment advice. Silver has produced both dramatic rallies (up 442 percent from 2003 to 2011) and multi-year drawdowns (down 71 percent from the 2011 peak to the 2015 low). Silver is significantly more volatile than gold and its industrial demand base means it tracks manufacturing cycles as well as monetary conditions. Whether it fits your portfolio depends on your goals and time horizon. If you are considering physical silver inside a retirement account, review IRS Publication 590-A on self-directed IRA rules and speak with a licensed advisor.
Sources and Methodology
Reference figures on this page pull from a daily automated fetch of wholesale silver spot. Methodology, unit conversions, and purity standards cite the following primary sources:
- LBMA Silver Price. Daily London auction reference at 12:00 London time, administered by CME Group and Thomson Reuters through the London Bullion Market Association.
- CME Group COMEX Silver Futures. Contract specifications for the 5,000 troy ounce futures contract (symbol SI).
- FRED Series SLVPRUSD, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Public archive of daily silver USD reference prices.
- The Silver Institute, World Silver Survey. Annual supply and demand data, including industrial, jewelry, and investment breakdowns.
- United States Mint, American Silver Eagle. Specifications for the .999 sovereign silver bullion coin.
- FTC Jewelry Guides, 16 CFR Part 23. Legal marking and disclosure requirements for silver alloys, including the STERLING and 925 hallmarks.
- IRS Publication 590-A. Rules on self-directed IRAs and eligible precious metals, including the .999 minimum fineness for silver held in a retirement account.
Reference prices are wholesale spot; they are not retail buy or sell quotes. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. This page is informational and does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice.