Hallmark guide · Silver
What does 925 mean on jewelry?
925 means 925 parts of pure silver per 1,000, i.e. sterling silver (92.5%). In the UK it is the modern numeric fineness mark for sterling, and under US FTC guides an item may only be called sterling if it is at least 925/1,000 pure silver. It is also one of the silver standards recognised by the 1972 Vienna Hallmarking Convention.
- Metal
- Silver
- Purity
- 925/1000
- Where
- International
01
Often confused with
- A bare '925' is not a full UK hallmark: Birmingham Assay Office notes many items are stamped 925 without the sponsor's and assay office marks, so the stamp alone is a maker's claim, not an independent test.
- Not the same as 958 (Britannia) or 999 (fine silver), which are higher purities.
02
What a piece marked 925 is worth
Melt value $146.48. Likely cash offer $102.54 – $131.83.
92.5% fine silver7.5% copper & alloy
Broken or unmarked pieces usually sell for melt. Get two quotes and compare them with the offer range above.
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Sources
- 16 CFR Part 23 - FTC Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries (eCFR text, Wayback snapshot of 2026-07-10; ecfr.gov itself was unreachable from our network)
- Birmingham Assay Office - Silver Assay & Hallmarking
- Convention on the Control and Marking of Articles of Precious Metals (Vienna, 1972), English text in Tractatenblad 1991 nr. 16 (Netherlands official treaty series)