If you are buying or selling silver for the first time, the vocabulary gets in the way before the metal does. Dealers quote a “premium over spot”, scales are in “troy ounces”, and a piece stamped “.925” is worth something quite different from one stamped “.999”. This page explains the terms in plain language, in the order you are most likely to meet them.
Spot price
The live global price for one troy ounce of pure silver or gold, set by trading on commodity markets and moving continuously through the day. It is the reference point every other price is quoted against. You can follow it on our live silver chart.
Troy ounce
The unit precious metals are weighed in. It is not the ounce used for food. One troy ounce is 31.1035 grams, about 10% heavier than the ordinary (avoirdupois) ounce of 28.35 grams. Confusing the two is the single most common arithmetic mistake sellers make.
Fineness
How pure the metal is, written as a decimal. .999 means 99.9% pure. .925 means 92.5%. .800 means 80%. A higher number means more silver in the same weight of object.
Actual silver weight (ASW)
The amount of pure silver inside an item, as opposed to what it weighs on the scale. A coin weighing 23.33 grams at .800 fineness contains 18.66 grams of pure silver, about 0.600 troy ounces. ASW is what a buyer is actually paying for.
Melt value
The ASW multiplied by the current spot price. It is the value of the metal alone, ignoring rarity, condition or design. For most common silver, melt value is the realistic floor.
Premium
The amount charged above spot when you buy. It covers minting, distribution and dealer margin, and it varies by product. A generic bar carries a small premium, a government bullion coin a larger one, a proof collector coin larger still. The premium you pay when buying is rarely the premium you recover when selling.
Spread
The gap between a dealer’s buying price (bid) and selling price (ask). It is how dealers make money and it is why you cannot buy and immediately sell at a profit.
Fine silver
.999 or higher. Modern bullion coins and bars such as the Silver Maple Leaf and the American Silver Eagle are struck at this purity. Soft, so it is rarely used for objects that get handled.
Sterling silver
92.5% silver, the rest usually copper for hardness. The standard for flatware, jewellery and hollowware, normally stamped .925 or “STERLING”. Most household silver is sterling.
Coin silver
90% silver, the old United States coinage standard. Sometimes stamped “COIN” on American flatware.
Junk silver
An unflattering trade name for common circulated silver coins with no collector value beyond their metal. In the United States, dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 and earlier, which are 90% silver. “Junk” refers to the numismatic value, not the silver, which is perfectly good.
Karat
The purity scale for gold, in 24ths. 24K is pure gold, 18K is 75% gold, 14K is 58.3%, 10K is 41.7%. Not to be confused with the carat used to weigh gemstones.
Hallmark
A stamp indicating purity, and often the maker and place of assay. British hallmarks are a formal series of symbols; American marks are usually just a purity stamp. An unmarked piece is not necessarily base metal, but it will need testing.
Assay
The laboratory test that establishes what an item is actually made of. Refiners assay incoming material before paying on it.
Bullion
Precious metal valued by weight and purity rather than by form: bars, rounds and bullion coins.
Round
A coin-shaped silver piece produced by a private mint. It is not legal tender and carries no face value, which usually makes it cheaper than a government coin of the same weight.
Bullion coin
A coin issued by a national mint and sold for its metal content, with a nominal face value far below its silver value. The Silver Maple Leaf and the American Silver Eagle are the best-known examples.
Good delivery bar
A large bar meeting the specification accepted by the professional market, typically around 1,000 troy ounces for silver. These are the bars held in commercial vaults, not the kind sold to individuals.
Numismatic value
What a coin is worth to a collector rather than a refiner, driven by rarity, date, mint mark and condition. A coin with real numismatic value should never be sold for melt, which is why it is worth identifying what you have before selling anything unusual.
Refining loss
The portion of metal lost or retained during refining. It is one reason a refiner pays a percentage of melt value rather than melt value itself.
The Royal Canadian Mint
A historic mint and the maker of the Silver Maple Leaf. Learn more about the Royal Canadian Mint
The US Mint
Producer of American coinage since 1792. Learn more about the US Mint
Canadian silver dollars
Which years contain silver, how much, and what it is worth. Read more about Canadian silver dollars
How to invest in silver
Bullion coins, bars, ETFs and mining stocks compared. Read more about investing in silver
Selling silver
What buyers look for and how items are valued. Selling silver coins, selling silver bars and selling scrap silver.
Where silver comes from
The largest silver mines in the world and what they produce. Read about the biggest silver mines