This Silver Melt Calculator estimates the pure silver content, melt value, and estimated dealer payout from an item’s gross weight, purity level, and the spot price per troy ounce.
Calculate the Melt Value of Silver Jewelry, Coins, and Flatware by Weight and Purity
This calculator turns a gross weight and a purity percentage into the dollar value of the pure silver inside an item. It’s built for people selling scrap silver, sterling flatware, coin silver, or old jewelry, and for anyone who wants to know what an object is worth before a dealer makes an offer.
What to Enter and What the Results Show
Enter the gross weight and pick its unit: grams, troy ounces, standard ounces, pennyweight, grains, or kilograms. Pick a purity standard, or enter a custom percentage. Add the spot price per troy ounce and the dealer margin you expect. Results show pure silver content, full melt value, and estimated payout after margin.
How Melt Value Is Calculated
The math has two steps. First, gross weight times purity gives you the pure silver weight. Second, that pure weight, converted to troy ounces, times the spot price gives you the melt value:
$$V = \frac{W \times P}{31.1034768} \times S$$
W is the gross weight in grams, P is purity as a decimal, and S is the spot price per troy ounce. The constant 31.1034768 is the exact number of grams in a troy ounce, the unit used to price precious metals, fixed by the 1959 international yard-and-pound agreement and published in NIST Handbook 44.
The most common input mistake is picking standard ounces instead of troy ounces. A troy ounce is about 10% heavier: 31.1034768 g versus 28.349523125 g for a regular ounce. Use the wrong one and the silver weight comes out roughly a tenth too low.
Purity matters just as much. Under the FTC’s Jewelry Guides (16 CFR Part 23), “sterling silver” legally means at least 925 parts per 1,000 pure, and “coin silver” means at least 900 parts per 1,000. Mixing those two up changes the payout by several percent immediately.
Weight has to be greater than zero, and purity can’t exceed 100%. Dealer margin is capped below 100% here, since a 100% margin would mean a zero payout — valid arithmetic, but not a real transaction. A spot price of zero returns a melt value of zero, which is correct math but not something silver has ever actually done.
One more thing worth saying plainly: melt value is a ceiling, not a quote. It assumes the non-silver portion of the alloy, usually copper, is worthless, which is close to true. It doesn’t account for a dealer’s refining costs or the price protection they build in. Treat the number here as your baseline for comparison, not a guaranteed offer, and treat this page as education, not tax or investment advice.
Why Melt Value Isn’t What You’ll Actually Net From a Sale
Two things stand between melt value and cash in hand. The first is dealer margin, already built into this calculator. The second is tax, and it’s easy to miss. The IRS treats physical silver — bullion, coins, and bars — as a collectible under IRC Section 408(m). Sell at a gain after holding it more than a year, and that gain is taxed at up to 28%, higher than the usual long-term capital gains rate on stocks. Held a year or less, gains are taxed as ordinary income instead. This calculator doesn’t factor in tax, since that depends on your cost basis and how long you’ve held the item.
Where the Value Goes: Weight Breakdown and Payout
The left side shows why gross weight overstates value: only 92.5 g of a 100 g sterling item is actually silver, and the rest carries no melt value at all. The right side shows the same idea in dollars — a 10% margin turns an $89.22 melt value into an estimated $80.30 payout.
Current Silver Spot Price for Context
| Reference point | Value | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver spot price | $58.34 per troy ounce | JM Bullion market data (COMEX-based) | July 31, 2026, 8:24 PM EDT |
| Troy ounce (exact) | 31.1034768 grams | 1959 International Yard and Pound Agreement; NIST Handbook 44 | Standing definition |
| Sterling silver, minimum purity | 925/1,000 (92.5%) | FTC Jewelry Guides, 16 CFR Part 23 | Revised August 16, 2018 |
| Coin silver, minimum purity | 900/1,000 (90%) | FTC Jewelry Guides, 16 CFR Part 23 | Revised August 16, 2018 |
The troy ounce conversion and the FTC purity thresholds are stable and unlikely to change day to day. Spot price is the opposite: it moves continuously during market hours, so treat the figure above as a snapshot, not a live quote, and check a current source such as COMEX or LBMA before pricing an actual sale. These purity thresholds are U.S. federal standards; other countries use their own hallmarking systems.
Common Questions About This Silver Melt Calculator
What purity should I pick for old jewelry with no markings?
Unmarked jewelry could be anywhere from plated to sterling. A jeweler can test it with acid or an XRF machine. Guessing the purity here only tells you what that guess is worth, not what the piece actually is.
Does this include the value of gemstones or other metals in the piece?
No. It only prices the silver content at the purity you enter. Gemstones, clasps, or non-silver inlays need to be valued separately and aren’t part of this calculation.
Why is the dealer payout lower than the melt value?
The margin field subtracts a percentage to cover the dealer’s refining, testing, and profit. A melt value of $89.22 with a 10% margin nets an estimated $80.30, not the full melt value.
Is sterling silver worth more than coin silver by weight?
Yes, slightly. Sterling is 92.5% pure and coin silver is 90% pure. The same gross weight in sterling contains more elemental silver, so it’s worth more at melt.
Do I owe tax on the amount this calculator shows?
Not directly. Tax applies to your gain when you sell, based on cost basis and how long you held the item. Physical silver is taxed as a collectible, up to 28% on long-term gains.