Silver Canteens: Valuations, Guide & Tips
The age of dinner parties and formal dining at home may not be as popular as it once was. However, canteens of silver cutlery (also known as flatware) are much in demand. Some silver canteens can sell for over £10,000 and most 12 place setting services are worth many £1000’s.
The recent rise in price is partly a result of the recession. This may sound odd, but during the recession, the price of silver increased so much that many services of silver cutlery were melted down as they were worth almost double their ‘object value’ as scrap. This means that the number of canteens remaining is reduced and what is left becomes more scarce and therefore more valuable.
Brexit has also had an impact as now any exports to the EU are subject to VAT. Both France and Italy were very stong buyers for silver canteens as they still have a very strong family bond and still have a culture of dinner parties/entertaining.
If you have a service of flatware or canteen of silver cutlery that you would like to sell or have valued then we can help. This guide will act as a good starting point, helping you understand what to look for and why prices for canteens can vary so much.
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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The nine factors that affect the value of silver canteens
Hallmarks
The first and most important matter is to understand if you silver cutlery is indeed sterling silver or if it is silver plate.
Silver plated flatware or cutlery is very low in value no matter what the quality or quantity.
If you don’t know whether or not your service is made of sterling silver you can learn how to read a hallmark here. You can also email images of the marks on your silver cutlery and we will be happy to advise you.
A full service or just a few odd pieces?
A straight service means that every piece of your silver cutlery has the same marks. This implies that it has always been together and has not been added to over the years. It will, therefore, sell for a premium
However, even an odd collection of silver cutlery can have a high value as long as it is made from sterling silver. Broadly speaking the older the service the rarer it is to remain as a straight service.
Pattern
The pattern of your silver cutlery is also an important factor as some designs are rarer than others. The most common patterns are:
- Kings Pattern
- Queens Pattern
- Old English Pattern
- Hanoverian Pattern
- Fiddle Pattern
- Fiddle Thread and
- Shell Pattern
- Fiddle and Thread Pattern
What Our Customers Say
Number of place settings
The number of place settings is the next factor to look for. To be considered a service the general rule the minimum number of place settings is 6.
The most valuable canteens of silver flatware have 12 or higher place settings. It is very rare to find a place setting greater than 12 that is a straight service. As such if you have a 24 place setting which is a straight service it will command a considerable premium.
Types of pieces
A basic service of silver cutlery may only contain a table fork, table knife and dessert spoon. However, some services contain up to 20 items per place setting and are much more sought after.
Generally speaking the more varied the items the higher the value. Fish knives and forks are not very sought after but if they have silver blades and tines they will add considerable value to the service.
Weight
The weight of the service is also important as silver has an intrinsic value in itself. We ask for the weight so we can ascertain the quality or gauge of the items. Some table forks may weigh as little as 50g, some may weigh over 400g.
If you can provide a weight of just one item then we would ask for the weight of the table fork as this is normally the heaviest item.
The Canteen
Technically a canteen is a container for a service of silver flatware or silver cutlery. If your service of silver cutlery is contained within a canteen then it may add a premium depending on the quality of the canteen. Providing an image of the canteen will help us to assess the impact on the value.
A canteen on legs is not as sought after as a canteen without legs (like in the above image) and as such command a premium.
Ivory Handles
You may think your service has bone handles or plastic handles, but it is most probable they are ivory. This becomes problematic as there is an imminent ban on the sale of ALL ivory within the UK.
To check if your handle’s are ivory or bone you will need to take a close look at the handles. Bone handles will have lots of very small holes covering the surface (this is where the capillaries were). Ivory will be a perfectly smooth surface.
Condition
Once all of the above factors have been taken into account the condition of the flatware must be examined. The most important items to look at are the forks. The tines should be level and even – if they have been used excessively then the tines may appear on an angle and unfortunately as they cannot be restored.
Engraved crests are usually seen in good light, but engraved initials normally have a detrimental affect on value.