Solid silver carries a hallmark with a lion passant (or a lion rampant on Scottish pieces). Silver plate carries EPNS, EP, EPBM, A1 or a maker's name alone. Plate is a layer a few microns thick over base metal, with no recoverable silver, so it has no metal value. A solid sterling tea service at 1,500g pays £— today. The plated version of the same service pays nothing.
Why this is the only question that matters first
Every other question about selling silver is downstream of this one. The two materials are made to look identical: same shapes, same patterns, same makers, same weight in the hand, same tarnish. A plated canteen and a sterling canteen can sit side by side and be indistinguishable to anyone who isn't looking at the marks.
The value gap is total rather than large. Plate isn't worth less per gram: it has no recoverable silver at all. The plating on a typical piece is a few microns thick, and recovering it costs more than the silver is worth. No honest buyer can pay for it, and any buyer who offers to is either misinformed or planning to pay you for something else.
The hallmark test
This is the definitive one. Everything else is a hint.
Genuine British solid silver carries a hallmark struck by an assay office. The mark that certifies the metal is the lion passant, a small walking lion in profile, on English and Welsh pieces. Scottish pieces carry a lion rampant rearing on its hind legs, or a thistle on many pieces from the mid-1700s to the 1970s. Beside it you will normally find a town mark, a date letter, and the maker's initials.
Marks are only 2 to 3mm across and often worn faint. A 10x jeweller's loupe and a lamp held at a low angle will find marks that are invisible in ordinary light. Our hallmarks guide shows what each symbol looks like.
What plate is marked with
| Mark | What it means | Silver value |
|---|---|---|
| EPNS | Electroplated nickel silver. The most common British plate mark, ubiquitous from the 1880s. | None |
| EP / E.P. | Electroplated. Nothing more. | None |
| EPBM | Electroplated Britannia metal, a pewter-like tin alloy base. | None |
| A1, A, BEST, EXTRA | Trade quality claims about the thickness of plating. Not purity standards. | None |
| Alpacca / Alpaca | A nickel-copper-zinc alloy. Contains no silver despite the name. | None |
| Nickel silver / German silver | Also a nickel alloy. Also contains no silver. | None |
| Sheffield Plate | Pre-1840 silver fused to copper by heat. Has genuine antique value, but negligible recoverable metal. | None |
| Maker's name only | A famous name is not an assay mark. The great firms marked their plate as prominently as their sterling. | None |
None of these is a silver standard, whatever it sounds like. We cannot buy any of them, and we will identify and return them free rather than melting them.
The tests that only give you hints
The wear test
On heavily used plate the silver layer wears through at contact points: spoon tips, fork edges, teapot spouts, the rims and feet of trays, handle joints. What shows through is a warm yellowish or pinkish tone, the base metal underneath. Solid silver wears evenly and stays the same colour all the way through, because it is the same metal all the way through. Useful, but early or lightly used plate shows nothing.
The magnet test
Silver is not magnetic. If a strong magnet grabs the item firmly, there is ferrous metal in it and it is not solid silver. But most plate uses copper or nickel-alloy bases which are not magnetic either. A magnet can rule silver out. It can never rule silver in.
Sound and feel
Silver has a longer, clearer ring when struck gently, and conducts heat noticeably fast. Both are real properties and both are far too subjective to rely on. Treat them as curiosity, not evidence.
What not to do
Acid testing damages the surface and is unnecessary. Scratching to see what is underneath destroys value on a genuine piece. Neither is worth doing when an XRF test is free and non-destructive.
Mixed lots are completely normal
Sets get broken, replaced and topped up across a century. Finding sterling spoons alongside plated forks in the same canteen is ordinary, not suspicious, and so is a solid service with a plated tray. Check each piece rather than judging the set as a whole.
If you are not sure, send it. We XRF test everything on arrival, which reads the actual alloy composition in seconds without marking the surface. You get told exactly what each piece is, whether or not you sell it to us, and anything we cannot buy is returned free, insured and tracked. Flag anything you are unsure about on the form and an honest mistake costs you nothing.
What solid silver is worth
Once you have established it is solid, the calculation is simple: weight in grams, times purity, times the silver price per gram. Sterling holds £— of silver per gram at today's price, and we pay a flat 80% of that: £— per gram.
| Item | Sterling weight | We pay | Same item in plate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Six teaspoons | 140g | £— | No metal value |
| Six-place canteen | 1,400g | £— | No metal value |
| Four-piece tea service | 1,500g | £— | No metal value |
| Large tray | 1,800g | £— | No metal value |
Illustrative weights at today's live rate. Put your own weight into the calculator for an exact figure.
Frequently asked questions
How can I tell if my silver is real or plated?
Look for a hallmark containing a lion passant, or a lion rampant or thistle on Scottish pieces. That is the only definitive test. EPNS, EP, EPBM, A1 and alpacca all indicate electroplate. Use a loupe: marks are 2 to 3mm and often worn.
Is EPNS worth any money?
Not for its metal. Electroplated nickel silver has a coating a few microns thick over a nickel-copper-zinc base, and recovering it costs more than the silver is worth. Attractive or unusual EPNS pieces can hold second-hand or decorative value, but not scrap value.
Does the magnet test prove silver is real?
No. It only works one way. If a magnet sticks firmly there is ferrous metal present and it is not solid silver, but most plate uses non-magnetic copper or nickel bases, so a non-magnetic item may still be plate.
Is Sheffield Plate the same as Sheffield silver?
No, and the names cause a lot of confusion. Old Sheffield Plate is silver fused to a copper core, made from the 1740s to around 1840. Sheffield silver is solid silver assayed at the Sheffield office, marked with a crown before 1975 and a Tudor rose since. Sheffield Plate has antique interest but no metal value.
What happens if I send plated items by mistake?
We identify them, tell you what they are, and send them back free, insured and tracked. Mixed and uncertain lots are completely normal. Flag anything you are unsure about on the form: our terms only reserve a return charge where items were deliberately misrepresented.
Can silver be solid but unmarked?
Yes. Small items below the hallmarking weight threshold, imported pieces and some older work can be genuine silver with no British hallmark. This is exactly what XRF testing is for: it measures the actual alloy rather than relying on a stamp.
Does tarnish tell me anything?
No. Plate tarnishes just as readily as solid silver, because the base metals under it react too. Tarnish is no indication of purity, and it costs you nothing on a real piece, so do not polish before sending.