A Beginner’s Guide To Selling Silver Coffee Pots
Are you looking to find out what your silver coffee pot is worth, and how best to sell it? At Mark Littler Ltd we can help you understand what affects the value of your silver coffee pot, provide you with a valuation, and advise on how best to sell it.
Silver coffee pots have been made since the 17th century, with the first known English silver coffee pot being dated from 1681. Silver coffee pots were originally designed for the upper classes of society and whilst they are not often used for their original purpose, silver coffee pots are collected for their historical and decorative appeal.
The value of a silver coffee pot can be affected by several factors. Firstly, the age and rarity of the piece will have a significant impact on its worth. A silver coffee pot from the 17th or 18th century is likely to be more valuable than one from the 19th or 20th century. Additionally, the maker of the piece can also greatly affect its value. Silver coffee pots made by well-known silversmiths such as Paul Storr, Hester Bateman, and Robert Garrard are highly sought after and therefore more valuable.
What Is Your Silver Worth?
How To Sell: Auction or Private Sale?
Mark Littler Ltd. are one of the only independent advisers in the antique industry. We offer trusted, independent advice to help you sell your silver for the highest possible price.
Selling at an auction might provide your silver with greater exposure. However, with a combined average of 45% in gross buyers’ and sellers’ fees, this approach might prove to be a false economy.
Conversely, finding a private buyer for your silver through our services could net you 33% more than if you sold it via auction, as our fees are only 12%.
What We Do For You
Simply fill in your contact details below and you will get an automatic referral to a leading silver auction expert who will give you an auction estimate and advise on how to sell with them. We will also see if we are able to get any offer from our private clients.
If we get any offers we will send these within 7 days. All offers are without obligation and there are no fees to pay us if you decide to sell at auction.
Silver Valuation Tips
To get the most accurate valuation of your silver simply ensure you provide the following information:
- What condition is your silver in? Let us know if there are and dents or heavy scratches in the silver.
- How heavy is your item? Please provide a measurement in grams if you can as this helps us determine the gauge of the silver. For instance a silver teapot can weigh as much as 1,000g or as little as 250g. Outwardly the design may look identical but the gauge of the silver is much heavier. This is important as items made from a better gauge of silver were often made by better makers for the upper classes, and as such will have a big impact on the value.
- PROVENANCE! Who owned your item before you did? Is there an interesting presentation inscription on your item that might shine light into it’s former life?
Important Note: this is a valuation service and not a hallmark identification service. Please see this page to learn how to read your hallmarks.
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What Affects The Value Of Your Silver Coffee Pot?
Maker
The maker of your coffee pot, indicated by the maker’s mark, can have a great impact on the value.
Silversmiths such as Paul de Lamerie or George Garthorne command a premium due to their specialist knowledge and craftsmanship when making coffee pots.
Ivory Handles
To protect the hand from the heat of the coffee pot, the handles were often made from a different material – most commonly wood or ivory.
Selling ivory items is now incredibly restricted in the UK and the item must be less than 10% ivory by volume and produced before 1947 in order to be sold.
Coffee pots with ivory handles can therefore be more difficult to sell, especially as ivory laws are often updating.
Condition
Clearly the condition of your coffee pot will have an impact on the value.
Dents, bruises and splits are all obvious forms of damage that will impact the value.
Quite often on coffee pots you may find that a coat of arms has been removed which can be hard to spot but will also have a big impact on the value.
Do not worry about cleaning your coffee pot. In some cases you can reduce the value of a coffee pot by cleaning it.
What Our Customers Say
Age
We have been applying hallmarks to silver since the 14th century and as such they are the oldest form of consumer protection in the world.
Coffee pots have been made from around the 17th Century and the earlier pieces often command a higher price.
However, the older the coffee pot, the more likely that there will have been repairs over the years. As such it is a combination of both the age and the condition that will have a real impact on the value of your coffee pot.
Silver or Plate
To put it bluntly, sterling silver items were made for the middle and upper classes. Silver plate was an invention aimed at making ‘silver’ style items available to the masses.
If you see the letters EPNS or A1 on your coffee pot then it is silver plated. Your coffee pot will need to be hallmarked and carry very specific marks in order to be legally called silver.
As silver plate was made for the mass market many items of silver plate do not have any value.
Weight
The weight of your coffee pot will help us to understand the quality of your silver. But how?
Silversmiths like Paul Storr produced many items to the same design, but depending on the wealth of their client they would adjust the amount of silver that they would use for the commission.
As such a coffee pot may be 500g or it might be 1,300g. Without being able to handle your items in person, providing the weight will give us a very good idea of the gauge of the silver used and thus we will be able to give you a very good idea of the value.
