Silver

As one of the strongest buyers of fine quality silver in the UK, we are always happy to make an offer should you be wishing to sell a collection, a canteen or if you just own some unwanted items.

We buy everything to do with silver, whether it is high quality Georgian hollow ware, an early English spoon, a privately assembled collection, canteens, tea sets, trays etc. We even buy broken, damaged or engraved pieces. We have multiple selling points, which enables us to direct each item to the most appropriate client and ultimately pay the best prices.

Our main priorities are top quality silverware in fine condition and many of these categories can be seen throughout our website.

Due to the high metal prices, much antique silver is now valued according to its weight. This is given the generic title of "scrap" - although we actually only scrap a proportion of what we receive. We are able to offer very high rates for scrap and more information can be found on our scrap silver buying page. 

We are based in Gloucestershire and buy silver from the trade and from the general public. You are welcome to visit or email/phone us with details of your items for sale. We accept items by post and can arrange a courier collection for large quantities. Please contact us if you have some silver to sell. 

Considering an Auction House?

In the past, auction houses were considered the safe bet for selling an antique in the knowledge that you would receive the market value for a piece. However with few exceptions for very high value silver, these days selling at an auction house does not make any financial sense.

Not only does an auction house charge a vendor’s premium (generally around 15 to 20%), they also charge a buyer’s premium. This premium is charged to the buyer on top of the hammer price and is typically between 20% and 30%. Obviously buyers factor this cost in to their price and so it is the vendor that loses out. Factor in extra charges for insurance, photography, marketing etc and a vendor will actually lose up to 50% of the value of a good entered for auction. 

Many pieces of silver are valued on their weight and to enter silver that is priced such is akin to entering a £10 note for auction! 

For example, a 64oz (2kg) tea service  entered for sale at auction will be valued hypothetically at £10/oz = £640. Buyer’s will allow for the 30% buyer’s premium and pay a hammer price of £490 – however bid increments will mean a maximum bid of £480 (or £450 in some cases). With vendor’s premium of 20% and other add-ons, you will be paid just £380 and wait for several weeks for the privilege. We would pay £640 on receipt of goods. 

Even collectable silver is best sold privately. As with silver valued as a metal, collectable silver has its market price too. With variances according to desirability, rarity, age and condition, collectables are subject to market forces and can be accurately priced within narrow price bands. The price bands do not generally allow for the 50% you would lose selling through a saleroom. Furthermore, the practice of job-lotting by auction houses (several items sold as a single lot), means the value of the better pieces are brought down by the lesser items in the same lot. We would pay the market value for each piece on its own merits. 

If you wanted to enter a £10 note for auction and given the above charges, you would receive about £6. If you sell your silver to us, then we would gladly pay you the £10 it is worth!