Bear with me, because we’re gonna put our investment hats on today, but I promise there’s a payoff and it ends with you at the thrift store.
Silver is running hot right now. It’s trading around $59/oz as of July 2026, and while it’s dipped about 3.5% over the past month, it’s still up over 50% compared to a year ago. That’s a big deal, and it means that what you thought was a piece of costume jewelry might be worth meaningfully more in scrap value alone than it was even six months ago.
Important to note that the price of silver doesn’t only matter to people buying silver coins or bars. It changes the underlying value of the silver that might already be sitting in your jewelry boxes or China cabinet at home.
The jewelry table at an estate sale or the glass case at the thrift store is often so overwhelming that most of us walk right past it. It is generally a jumbled mess of tangled chains and earrings missing their mates. Most of it is worth very little.
But those tables and cases can also be the place where a lot of genuine gold and silver ends up.
What's below the fold:
The hallmarks and maker's marks that separate real sterling from silver plate
The specific makers worth grabbing even in plated pieces
Where to get a piece appraised — and which appraisers will lowball you
