It's been a wild morning for anyone holding a heavy jewelry box or a stack of vintage forks. Honestly, if you haven't checked the charts since yesterday, you're in for a shock. The price of sterling silver per ounce today is hovering right around $85.74, but that number is a moving target that feels more like a heartbeat than a steady price point.
One minute it's up. The next, it's sliding.
Basically, if you're looking at the spot price of fine silver—which is sitting near $92.70 as of January 15, 2026—you can't just assume your sterling is worth that. It isn't. Sterling silver is an alloy. It's the 92.5% "real deal" mixed with 7.5% of something else, usually copper, to keep it from bending like a wet noodle. To find the true value of your sterling, you have to take that $92.70 spot price and multiply it by 0.925.
That gets you to the $85.74 mark.
But even then, you've got to deal with the "pawn shop reality." No one is going to hand you the full melt value in cash. You're likely looking at a 10% to 20% haircut because the refiner has to eat, too.
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The sterling silver price today and why it's screaming
We are living through what some analysts call a "long-overdue repricing." For years, silver was the quiet sibling of gold, sitting in the $20 range while gold took all the glory. Not anymore. Last year, silver surged by 147%, and the momentum hasn't stopped just because the calendar flipped to 2026.
Why is this happening? It’s a perfect storm of tech and fear.
- Solar energy is eating the supply. Every solar panel on a roof in Arizona or a field in Germany needs silver paste for its photovoltaic cells.
- AI data centers are thirsty. The silver intensity in high-end electronics and thermal management systems for AI servers is massive.
- The Federal Reserve is in the hot seat. With ongoing uncertainty about interest rates and a weakening U.S. dollar, investors are running toward "hard" assets.
Citigroup is already eyeing the $100 mark for silver by March. Some folks over at Bank of America are even whispering about triple digits if the gold-to-silver ratio finally snaps back to historical norms. It’s a bit of a frenzy. You can feel it when you walk into a local coin shop; the shelves are thinner than they used to be.
Don't get fooled by the hallmark
If you’re digging through a drawer, look for the "925" or "Sterling" stamp. That is your North Star. If it says "Silver Plate" or "EPNS," it’s basically just a pretty piece of copper or brass with a microscopic skin of silver. It has almost zero melt value.
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I’ve seen people get their hopes up over a massive tea set only to find out it’s worth $20 at a garage sale instead of $2,000 at a refinery. It’s heartbreaking.
Weight matters more than beauty here. Use a digital scale. If you have a chunky sterling silver necklace that weighs 100 grams, you aren't calculating by the ounce. You have to convert.
Pro Tip: There are 31.1035 grams in a troy ounce. Don't use a standard kitchen ounce (28.35g) or you'll cheat yourself out of a decent lunch.
Is the price of sterling silver per ounce today a peak or a plateau?
Markets are never a straight line up. We saw a dip of about 3.4% earlier this morning. Some people panicked. Others saw it as a "buy the dip" moment.
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The reality is that silver is more volatile than gold. It’s a smaller market. When a big hedge fund moves a billion dollars into silver, the price doesn't just nudge; it leaps. When they sell, it craters. If you're holding sterling jewelry as an investment, you have to be okay with the roller coaster.
What to do right now
If you’re looking to sell, don’t just go to the first "We Buy Gold" sign you see.
- Check the live spot price. Use a site like JM Bullion or Kitco to see the second-by-second data.
- Do the math. Weight in grams × 0.03215 × 0.925 × current spot price.
- Know your bottom line. If the math says you have $500 in silver, and a shop offers you $300, walk away.
- Consider the "Art" factor. If your sterling is a signed Tiffany & Co. piece or a rare antique, the silver content is the least valuable part of it. Collectors will pay way over the melt price for the brand.
The world is currently facing its fifth straight year of a silver supply deficit. Mines in Mexico are struggling with regulatory shifts, and we simply aren't pulling enough metal out of the ground to keep up with the green energy transition. This keeps a very high floor under the price of sterling silver per ounce today.
Keep an eye on the $90 support level for fine silver. If it stays above that, your sterling is effectively "blue chip" scrap. If it breaks $100, we're in uncharted territory.
Next Steps for You:
Grab a magnifying glass and a digital scale. Sort your "925" stamped items from the plated ones and calculate your total weight in grams. Once you have that number, multiply it by $2.76 (which is roughly the melt value per gram of sterling at today's prices) to get a baseline for what your collection is actually worth before you talk to a buyer.