This would be a good question for the antiques forum. I have been to many antiques sales that included sterling silver, and I would bet you couldn't come near to getting $5500. for sterling. I have the set I got when I married, but I use silverplate for every day. I don't just think it's as popular as it once was.

With silver at more than $35/oz, and depending on the wt., you might get more selling it as scrap silver at a Jewelry store or coin shop that buys gold and silver.

Actually, it looks like several sets have sold recently for between $3,000 and $5,000. I don't know what pattern you have. If you sign into eBay, do an Advanced Search with Completed Listings checked in Highest Price order. The listings shown in green were the ones that sold.

I tried to link a search here, but eBay won't let me.

Has anyone here done this? Sell online or for scrap value? I have my set, my mom's, my MIL's. These days, if something can't go in the dishwasher...it doesn't get used. (How often do you use oyster forks and demitasse spoons anyway? Sterling ash trays? Individual S&P's?) I can't even keep up with polishing the few pieces of antique silver I display.

Any scrap value for gold-trimmed china or crystal? lol

What a coincience. We married in 1960 and Gorham was our selected pattern. We have only one piece that was given as a wedding gift. We never bought anymore afterward because money was short and it went to other priorites. I had planned to buy a piece every wedding anniversary, but found this was not the way to collect a set, and the wife preferred to have the money put to other items.

what pattern is it, Linda?
I have my Mom and Dad's . It's Gorham Chantilly.
I use it whenever I feel like it. Just to make it pretty.
You dont' have to have a special occasion!

anywhoo... It's expensive to replace, that;s for sure!
I don't even see my serving spoonlisted. I remember
my mom coming outside and taking it away from us kids.
we were digging in the dirt with it! LOL
who knew there was such a thing as a mayonnaise ladle?? lol

Here is a link that might be useful: Gorham Chantilly

Wow, that has me thinking. I have 3 sets of silverware. One was my grandmother's, that was to go to my sister, she died young; my mom's, that was to go to me; and my great-grandmother's, still don't know how I wound up with it. All are different patterns. I think I will load one in the drawer in place of the flatware and just USE it. I am so tired of the "save it for good". What good, we don't have "good" here, just good friends and NOBODY dresses up. Who says you can't use the silver for a backyard BBQ? Thanks for the thought.

I put my sterling and china in the dishwasher. I'm careful to avoid adding any other metal in with it and I use the lightest cycle, but still...why not? I'm not saving it for anybody. I'm using it and enjoying it!

You could see what you'd get from Replacements, Ltd., but when I looked into selling individual silver pieces I found the prevailing wisdom is that one has a better chance of getting a higher price on eBay.

I also inherited my mother's sterling, Foxhall by Watson, a very pretty pattern. I use at least a couple of pieces every day, even if only teaspoons. Lunch may be a salad on a melamine plate, but I eat it with a Foxhall dessert fork! This set's looks and feel are just too nice not to use.

It's still in its original protective box, which fits perfectly and opens easily in one of our kitchen drawers. Don't mind the hand-washing at all, it takes only a few seconds. IMO life is too short not to use our best stuff. And I love being reminded of my mother.

Add me to the "use it and enjoy it" camp!
As a third-generation only child, I now have my grandmother's, my mother's and mine. Quoting Sable, "IMO life is too short not to use our best stuff. And I love being reminded of my mother."

My mother used her mother's sterlng every day, and used hers for special occasions. I just rotate them, and use them all the time...makes me feel good.

I just want to add I have a cousin that has sterling flatware and finally threw out all stainless. She uses the sterling daily and puts it in the DW. It looks beautiful and no polishing.

I own two sets of silver PLATE flatware, both were purchased (cheap) at estates ales. One set I use and love-it goes in the dishwasher with no problem. I plan to give them as wedding gifts to my two daughters. At some point I'll have to purchase a set of stainless steel for daily use. By the way, if you want to "price" something on ebay, don't look at "closed" auctions it shows only the asking price, look at "Completed" auctions for actual selling prices. I've heard prices on Ebay are pretty flat due to the overall slumping economy. May be better to use or put away to sell in a few years.

Thanks for all the input. Maybe I should just hold on to it for a few more years. One reason I want to sell it is to get money to buy a gas stove with convection oven to replace my despired ceramic cook top stove. I also would like to get a refrigerator that dispenses water and ice. The fridge that came with my house is quite old.
Kat - the pattern is Strausborg. I picked it out because I knew my mom would like it. At the time, I was 23 and preferred a more modern look. As I matured, I came to love the Strausborg pattern.

My stainless IS getting to look tired. What do I have to lose? Might as well dump that and start using at least ONE set of sterling. Not about to use the china though -- I know that dishwasher detergent will *eat* that, having tried one plate in the DW.

What were we thinking back then, to chose so many fragile things that need so much care and upkeep? I broke one of my wine glasses the first time I washed it! Pop! That's $15 in the trash.

Watching the DVD of "Mad Men" shows me what we were being *taught* to think we needed. Hooray for Jemdandy's more reealistic spouse!

Hi Linda in good old Iowa,

If you're thinking of scrap value, many say that silver is undervalued these days in relation to the price of gold, and there has been a fairly stable comparison between them, traditionally.

Silver's value has been improving relative to its relation to gold in the past year or so and some feel that its price will rise faster than gold's, proportionately.

With the huge debt that the U.S. has, and some analysts say that when a country's debt gets up near the value of it's annual value of goods produced, that there becomes a possibility that it may be difficult for it to recover - and the U.S. level is close to that now.

Furthermore they're printing money by the boatload ... which will reduce the value of a dollar.

I heard some reference a while ago to the Weimarization of our economy, a reference to the German economy after World War I - remember the stories of having to take a wheelbarrow load of currency to the store to buy a not-very-large item?

Having a thing that carries value may become more important than having pieces of paper called currency, before long.

I think that the days of the U.S. Dollar being the world's reserve currency are numbered.

Sorry to rain on your parade.

ole joyful

My sterling came with care instructions that state you may put it in the DW - but not the knives. Some knives have hollow handles and most knives are constructed from 2 different metals. They expand and contract at different rates and that may cause then to separate where the handle meets the blade.

Here are the highest priced, recent eBay sales of Gorham Strasborg. Note that the ones listed in green are completed sales.
{{!gwi}}

I love using lovely, old china and silver. I inherited my mother's silver plate serving bowls and platters and some crystal. My DH bought me a lovely, old Haviland set of good china on a PBS tv auction in Chicago almost 40 years ago. And in recent years, the family has been buying a set of sterling silver for me by the piece when they don't know what to get me. We eloped 46 years ago and had no wedding gifts to speak of, and so no china or silver or crystal. I do love to set a pretty table and learned to love old place settings at my grandmother's when I was a girl.

Forhgtv, thanks for posting those completed sales. I would be thrilled to receive any of those prices for my sterling.

Linda, that is very similar to mine.

After seeing those prices, are you going to go for it?

Yes I am Kat. I got the box of silver out from it's hiding place last night and guess what? It is service for 8, not 12. That's how long it has been since I looked at it. My stainless that I use every day is service for 12. I am still going to go for it because I really, really want a new stove and fridge.