If you’ve inherited jewelry you might have a valuable vintage silver piece on your hands. You may even have an antique.
Jewelry often passes from generation to generation several times. If you need to close out your estate and don’t plan to keep the silver pieces you find, then auctioning those pieces to collectors who will realize their worth is probably the way to go.
Sterling silver set – auctioned from Lunenburg, MA estate
What makes a piece of silver estate jewelry valuable?
The piece will always be worth the melt value of the silver, at the very least
Most pieces aren’t pure silver, of course. The metal is mixed with other alloys because silver by itself is very soft. The purity of the silver is one of the first things an auctioneer examines. For example, “fine silver” is pure silver. On the opposite end of the spectrum are “costume jewelry” pieces, made of silver-plated metal. Sterling silver is 92.5% pure. Perhaps counter-intuitively, it’s more desirable than pure silver because it’s more durable.
Antique silver pieces from popular makers and eras fetch a higher price at auction. The condition of the piece matters, too. A bracelet in pristine condition will sell for more than a bracelet with a broken clasp.
If your silver piece has been combined with a precious stone, then the cut, clarity, and type of stone must also be taken into consideration.
How much is my silver estate jewelry worth?
The price of silver continues to rise, as does the demand for silver jewelry. Your piece could be worth just a few dollars, or it could be worth many thousands of dollars. You won’t know until an experienced auctioneer evaluates your piece or collection.
Even then, you can only expect a rough estimate of value. Much depends on where and how you sell the piece. You’ll get less by walking into a shop and selling it to a dealer, and you’ll get an even worse price trying to sell it on bargain-hunter-oriented auction sites, like Ebay.
A professional estate auction is a different matter. We know what makes a silver jewelry piece exciting to collectors, so we can position it to sell for top dollar. The people who attend our auctions tend to be collectors and other enthusiasts who know the value of what’s on the block, and they’re willing to pay for it.
Contact Central Mass Auctions today so we can tell you what you’ve got and what you can get for it.
