A solid sterling silver tea service is worth its silver weight × 0.925 × the silver price per gram. Four-piece services typically hold 900-1,800g of silver, which pays between £— and £— at our flat 80% rate today. Add a matching sterling tray and the total often doubles. If the set is electroplated, it has no metal value at all, which is why the hallmark is the first thing to check.
Solid silver or plate? Start here
More tea services in British houses are electroplated than solid, and the two are visually indistinguishable. An EPNS service and a sterling one of the same design will have the same weight, the same shape, the same tarnish and the same family story attached. The difference in value is the entire difference between a few thousand pounds and nothing.
The hallmark decides it. On a solid British service you'll find the lion passant, a small walking lion, struck on the underside of each piece, plus a town mark, date letter and maker's initials. Check every piece individually: teapot base, jug base, sugar basin base, and separately on the inside rim of each lid, which is assayed and marked as a separate component.
Marks that indicate plate: EPNS, EP, EPBM, A1, Sheffield Plate, nickel silver, silver on copper. A maker's name alone, even a famous one, is not a silver mark; the great plate manufacturers marked their electroplate exactly as prominently as their sterling.
Look for copper bleeding through
On worn electroplate, high points such as rims, spouts, handle joints and the feet often show a faint warm pink or brassy tone where the silver layer has rubbed through to the base metal. Solid silver wears evenly and stays the same colour all the way through. It's a useful second opinion, though never a substitute for the hallmark.
What's in a service, and what it weighs
A traditional four-piece service is teapot, hot water jug, cream jug and sugar basin. Five-piece adds a coffee pot. Larger services add a slop bowl, tongs and a tray.
| Piece | Typical silver weight | We pay today |
|---|---|---|
| Teapot | 450-750g | £— at 600g |
| Coffee pot | 400-700g | £— at 550g |
| Hot water jug | 350-600g | £— at 450g |
| Sugar basin | 180-350g | £— at 250g |
| Cream jug | 120-250g | £— at 180g |
| Matching tray | 800-2,500g | £— at 1,500g |
Live figures at today's spot price. Heavy Victorian repoussé services sit at the top of these ranges; lighter Edwardian and Art Deco work sits at the bottom.
Don't forget the tray
The tray is routinely the most valuable object in the set and routinely the one people leave in the cupboard. A large sterling salver can weigh more than the teapot, jug and basin combined, frequently 30-50% of the total metal value of the whole service.
Trays need checking as carefully as anything else, because a plated tray with a solid service is a very common pairing. Turn it over and look near the rim or beside one of the feet. And note that a heavy tray is not automatically silver: plated trays are often made deliberately substantial.
What a complete service pays
| Service | Total silver weight | Metal value | We pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three-piece, lightweight | 900g | £— | £— |
| Four-piece, typical | 1,500g | £— | £— |
| Four-piece, heavy Victorian | 2,200g | £— | £— |
| Four-piece with tray | 3,200g | £— | £— |
| Five-piece with large tray | 4,500g | £— | £— |
Illustrative weights at today's live rate. Weigh your own pieces and use the calculator for a real figure, the range across services is wide.
What doesn't count towards the weight
Tea services are composite objects, and only the silver is paid for. Weigh with these excluded where you can, and expect them to be deducted at testing where you can't:
- Wooden, bone or ivory handles and finials: common on teapots and hot water jugs to insulate the handle.
- Ivory or bone insulators: the small discs set into the handle join.
- Glass or ceramic liners in sugar basins and slop bowls.
- Weighted or filled bases: more common on candlesticks than teapots but occasionally present.
- Base-metal hinges, pins and screws on lids, small, but they're removed.
We weigh the recoverable silver only and show you the deduction itemised before payment. Please note we cannot handle ivory: under the Ivory Act 2018 dealing in ivory is prohibited except under narrow exemptions, so if a piece has ivory insulators or a finial, tell us on the form and we'll advise before you send it.
Antique value versus metal value
This is the question worth taking seriously, and the honest answer isn't always the one that ends with you selling to us.
Get a specialist valuation before doing anything if:
- The service is Georgian or earlier, pre-1830 silver is a different market entirely.
- It carries a major maker's mark, Paul Storr, Hester Bateman, Paul de Lamerie, Omar Ramsden and their peers command multiples of metal value.
- It's Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau or notable Art Deco design, where the design itself is the value.
- There are armorials, crests or documented provenance tying it to a family or event.
- It's a complete, unrestored service in its original case.
Metal value is usually the better route if: the service is Victorian, Edwardian or later in a common style; pieces are dented, split at the spout or handle, or have been repaired; the set is incomplete or mismatched; or it's monogrammed, which narrows the buyer pool considerably in the antique market while making no difference at all to us.
The plain position: the market for ordinary Victorian and Edwardian domestic silverware has been weak for a long time. Fashions moved, nobody polishes silver any more, and a great deal of it goes unsold at auction. After seller's commission of typically 15-20%, plus lotting and photography fees and a wait of weeks or months, many services return less than their metal content. That is not true of the exceptional pieces above, and we would rather point you to an auction house than buy something worth more than we pay.
Does condition matter?
For metal value, almost not at all. Dents, splits, missing lids, broken handles, worn engraving, a century of monograms and tarnish so heavy the piece looks black: none of it changes the price by a penny. It's the metal being bought, and the metal is unaffected.
Two things do matter, and both are worth knowing before you send: don't have anything re-plated or professionally restored in the hope of raising value, because it costs more than it adds; and don't polish it, because that removes a trace of metal and wears the hallmarks you may need later.
Selling a tea service
Weigh each piece, add the total, and enter it into the form, your quote updates live as you type. Accepting locks the rate for 48 hours and issues a free Royal Mail QR label immediately, which the Post Office scans from your phone.
Services are heavier and more awkward than flatware, so packing matters: wrap each piece separately, pad lids and spouts, and fill every void so nothing shifts. Our packaging guide covers weight limits and box choice. For inherited items being handled as part of an estate, see the probate silver guide.
On arrival every piece is XRF tested and weighed, non-silver components are removed and itemised, and payment is made by bank transfer within 48 hours of receipt, at the rate you locked, not the rate on the day we open the box.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a silver tea set worth?
By metal content: total silver weight × 0.925 × the silver price per gram. A typical four-piece sterling service holds around 1,500g and pays roughly £— at our flat 80% rate today. With a matching sterling tray at about 3,200g total, roughly £—. An electroplated service has no metal value.
How do I tell if my tea set is silver or silver plate?
Look for the lion passant hallmark on the underside of each piece and inside each lid rim. EPNS, EP, EPBM, A1, Sheffield Plate and nickel silver all indicate electroplate. Worn plate often shows a pinkish copper tone at the rims and spout where the layer has rubbed through.
Is the tray included in the value?
Yes, and it's often the single most valuable piece. A large sterling tray can represent 30-50% of the total metal value of a service. Check its hallmark separately though: plated trays are frequently paired with solid services.
Is my tea set worth more as an antique?
Sometimes. Georgian services, major makers such as Paul Storr or Hester Bateman, Arts and Crafts and notable Art Deco design, armorials or documented provenance can all exceed metal value considerably: get a specialist valuation first. For ordinary Victorian and Edwardian services in mixed condition, metal value frequently beats what they realise at auction after commission.
Do dents and damage reduce the value?
Not for metal value. Dents, splits, missing lids, repairs, monograms and heavy tarnish make no difference to what we pay, because the silver content is unchanged. Don't pay to have anything restored or re-plated before selling.
Do you pay for the wooden handles and insulators?
No, only the recoverable silver is paid for. Wooden or bone handles, insulator discs, glass liners and base-metal fittings are removed and the deduction is itemised for you. If any part is ivory, tell us before sending: dealing in ivory is restricted under the Ivory Act 2018.
Should I clean the tea set before sending it?
No. Tarnish has no effect on the price and polishing removes a small amount of metal while wearing the hallmarks faint. Send it as it is.
How do I post something that heavy and fragile?
The Royal Mail QR label we issue is free and tracked. Wrap each piece individually, pad the spouts and lids, and pack the box so nothing can move. Heavier services may need splitting across two parcels, the packaging guide explains the limits.