Why Sell Your Silver with GoldTrust?
Most precious-metals buyers will quote silver on the side. We don’t. The coins in your safe, the bars in storage, the bullion you bought during a year you’d rather forget: each one is tested, weighed, and priced on its own merits, in front of you, while you watch.
That’s where GoldTrust starts. We test and verify every item in your line of sight, explain exactly what you have and what the offer is built from, and pay by instant EFT before we leave. No back rooms, no quiet deductions, no moment where you wonder whether the figure was made up.
GoldTrust is a licensed second-hand goods dealer, registered high-value goods dealer, accountable institution, and Jewellery Council of South Africa member.
Appointments are by arrangement only. A private office, or your home if you prefer (subject to availability). If the offer doesn’t work for you, the silver leaves with you. Zero fee for the valuation, zero pressure on the way out.
Silver Items We Buy
We buy silver bullion in all its common forms. Here’s exactly what we accept:
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Silver Coins. Silver Krugerrands (1oz, .999 fine), Canadian Maple Leaf, Austrian Philharmonic, and other silver bullion coins. All years, all conditions accepted. If you have a coin you’re not sure about, bring it along and we’ll tell you what it is and what it’s worth.
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Silver Bars and Ingots. All sizes: 1oz, 100g, 500g, 1kg, and larger. Branded or unbranded. A bar doesn’t need original packaging or a certificate to have value; the silver content speaks for itself. We verify every bar in front of you.
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Silver Bullion. Any other form of investment-grade silver, including rounds and trade bars. If you’re uncertain whether what you have qualifies, contact us before you travel; we’d rather sort it over the phone than have you make an unnecessary trip.
An honest note on silver-plated items: Silver plating is a very thin layer of silver over a base metal. Plated items contain negligible silver content and are generally not worth selling as silver. If you bring plated pieces, we’ll test them and tell you clearly and without fuss. You deserve that honesty before you make any decision.
If you also have gold items to sell, see our gold selling guide or our dedicated Krugerrand selling page. Not sure how the process works? It takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish.
What Makes Your Silver Valuable
Whether those coins came from an investment you made years ago, a collection passed down through family, or bars you bought when you were thinking about the future: they carry real value. Silver is one of the most liquid precious metals and there is steady demand for it in South Africa.
Silver’s value comes primarily from its purity and weight. Higher purity silver contains more actual silver per gram, and heavier items are simply worth more because there’s more metal. Investment-grade bullion, meaning coins and bars at .999 fine, sits at the top of the purity scale, and those are the pieces we can value most directly because the fineness is declared and verifiable.
We verify everything in front of you. You see the test, you see the reading, and you see exactly what the offer covers. No back rooms, no hidden deductions, no moment where the result is handed down from somewhere you couldn’t see. The price we quote is the price you receive.
Every valuation depends on the specific pieces you have, their fineness, their weight, and their condition. That’s why we don’t publish fixed per-gram figures: they’d be wrong for your actual pieces. Contact us via the enquiry form, WhatsApp, or phone and we’ll arrange a free appointment so you can see the testing and the offer in person before you decide.
Factors That Affect Silver Prices in South Africa
Silver is priced globally, not locally. The benchmark is set on international markets in US dollars per troy ounce, then read through the rand on any given day. What makes silver unusual among precious metals is how sensitive it is to industrial demand swings, because roughly half of annual silver demand comes from industry rather than investment or jewellery.
- The international silver spot price. Silver trades on global markets, quoted in US dollars per troy ounce. It is the benchmark every serious buyer, refinery, and investor references, and it moves continuously through the trading day.
- The USD/ZAR exchange rate. Because silver is priced internationally in dollars, the rand matters as much as the metal itself. Rand weakness lifts the rand price of silver; rand strength pulls it down. The two can move independently of what the dollar spot price is doing.
- Industrial demand. This is the biggest single driver of silver, and the one that separates it from gold. Solar panel manufacturing is now the largest industrial end-use and has grown rapidly over the past decade. Electronics, medical applications, and water purification are also major users. When industrial demand rises, silver’s price typically responds more sharply than gold’s.
- Investment and coin demand. Silver bullion coins (the silver Krugerrand, American Silver Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf) and silver-backed ETFs draw retail investors, particularly during inflation scares or banking wobbles. Sentiment shifts in this corner of the market can push the price meaningfully.
- Mining supply. Most silver is produced as a byproduct of copper, lead, and zinc mining, not at dedicated silver mines. That means silver supply is partly driven by the economics of those other metals rather than by silver demand itself, an unusual feature of the market.
- The gold-silver ratio. The ratio of the gold price to the silver price has averaged roughly 50 to 70 to 1 over modern history. Investors and commentators watch it as a rough gauge of whether silver looks cheap or expensive relative to gold. Not financial advice, just a widely used reference point.
We don’t advise when to sell. That’s your decision, based on your circumstances. If you’d like to sell your gold alongside your silver, the same transparent process applies.
Understanding Silver Purity
Silver purity is measured in fineness: parts of pure silver per thousand. The higher the number, the purer the silver. Once you understand the three main standards, you can identify what you have from a hallmark alone.
| Fineness | Purity | Common uses | What to look for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 999 (.999) | 99.9% pure silver | Investment bullion coins, bars, ingots | Stamped “999” or “.999 Fine Silver” |
| 925 | 92.5% pure silver | Sterling silverware, cutlery, flatware | Stamped “925” or “Sterling” |
| 800 | 80% pure silver | Older Continental European silverware | Stamped “800”; common in older German, Dutch, and Scandinavian pieces |
Fine silver (999): Investment-grade bullion coins and bars are almost always .999 fine. The silver Krugerrand, Maple Leaf, and Philharmonic are all struck at .999. This is the highest standard for tradeable silver.
Sterling silver (925): The most common standard for cutlery, decorative silverware, and flatware worldwide. The “925” hallmark means 92.5% of the metal by weight is silver. In South Africa, sterling silver pieces often carry the “925” stamp, sometimes alongside a maker’s mark or assay office mark.
800 silver: Less common today but frequently found in older European silverware that made its way into South African households during the twentieth century. Antique tea services, candlesticks, and flatware from this era are often 800.
How to find the hallmark: On coins and bars, the fineness stamp is usually on the face or edge of the piece. On flatware, check the back of a spoon handle or the underside of a tray. On smaller items, look at the inner surface or base. Use a loupe or magnifying glass if the stamp is small. If you can’t find a mark, bring the piece in and we’ll test it for you.
When there’s no stamp: Not all silver items are marked, particularly older handmade pieces or items from regions with different hallmarking traditions. Absence of a stamp does not mean absence of silver content. We test everything regardless of markings.
Silver-plated items are a different matter entirely. Plating is a thin surface layer over a base metal, typically copper or brass. The difference between a sterling silver spoon and a silver-plated spoon may be invisible to the eye, but it is significant in terms of value. Testing identifies it immediately.
If you’re unsure whether what you have is solid silver or silver-plated, don’t guess and don’t take anyone’s word for it. Bring it in. We test every item, we explain every result, and you make your decision with full information. That’s how it should work.
Frequently Asked Questions
