Clearing a Parent’s House: What to Do With the Jewellery, Silver and Coins

The small things can wait

There is usually less hurry than it feels like. Even when a tenancy has to end or a sale is going through, the jewellery, silver and coins are the smallest and most portable part of a house. They fit in one shoebox. If the furniture has to be gone by the end of the month, put the small things in that box, take it home, and come back to it when you are ready. Metal does not spoil while you think.

Keep whatever you want to keep. Nothing on this page is asking you to sell anything. The piece worth pausing over is the one added at the last minute because it seemed simpler to send everything together. A wedding ring, a watch that was worn every day, the brooch in the photographs: set those aside first, before value comes into it at all.

Photograph everything before anything moves

Before a single item leaves the house, lay it out and photograph it. Ten minutes with a phone camera is the most useful thing you can do, for three reasons: every sibling sees the same picture of what was there, later questions about a particular piece can be answered, and it is enough for a buyer to give an indicative figure without anything being posted.

• One overview shot per drawer, box or tray, laid out on a plain towel in daylight.
• Close-ups of any small stamps: inside ring shanks, on chain clasps, on the underside of silver.
• Both faces of any coins and medals, and the back of every watch case.
• A separate photo of anything a family member has already asked for, so it is clearly recorded as spoken for.

Photographs also let you ask questions while everything is still in the house. Sent on WhatsApp, they are enough for an honest steer on what is real, what is plated and what is not worth posting, at no charge and with nothing committed.

When brothers and sisters disagree

It can look like this. One person has done the practical work and feels entitled to decide. Another lives further away and feels shut out. A piece that meant nothing to one sibling turns out to be the thing another remembers most clearly. None of that is a sign anything has gone wrong, and it is far easier to settle before items are moved than afterwards.

A method that works: everyone writes down the few pieces they would like. Anything named by only one person goes to that person. Anything named by more than one goes into a round of turn-taking, with the order drawn at random. Anything nobody names goes into the pile to be valued, and nothing still on someone’s list is sold. Where a will names an executor the final say is theirs, but a written list and a set of photographs makes that job much less lonely. There is more on this in dividing inherited jewellery between beneficiaries.

You stay in control

You do not have to post anything to get an answer. Ask your questions first and send photos of your jewellery, silver and coins from a parent’s house on WhatsApp for a free indicative figure. Request a label only when you are comfortable.

This is a UK-wide postal service with no branches anywhere. Wherever you live, it works the same way: a free prepaid Royal Mail label in, a written offer back, and a free return if you decline.

What is actually worth checking

Once the sentimental pieces are set aside, the question is what in the rest of the pile is genuinely precious metal. Much of it may not be, and that is normal. These are the marks worth looking for, with a magnifier or a phone camera zoomed in.

• Gold. 375, 585, 750, 916 or 999, or the older 9ct, 14ct, 18ct and 22ct stamps. The mark is often under half a millimetre, inside a ring shank or on a clasp. Unmarked does not mean base metal: gold bought abroad is frequently unmarked, or marked 14k, 21k or 22k.
• Silver. 925, the word sterling, or a full UK hallmark including the lion passant. Silver tarnishes and darkens with age, which is a good sign rather than a bad one.
• Plate, which is not silver. EPNS, EP, A1, or the words silver plated. Plated tea services, trays and canteens are common in houses of this generation and hold no metal value however heavy they feel.
• Coins. British silver coins dated 1946 or earlier contain silver, 92.5 per cent before 1920 and 50 per cent from 1920 to 1946. Sovereigns and half sovereigns are 22ct gold. Holiday coins from the back of a drawer are worth photographing.
• The small things. A snapped chain at the bottom of a drawer, single earrings, cufflink backs, spectacle frames, propelling pencils, vesta cases, sovereign mounts, masonic jewels, dental gold in a folded envelope. These are easy to throw away with the rest of the drawer.

What changes the value, honestly

For metal value the figure comes from three things and nothing else: the weight, the confirmed purity, and the live precious-metal market for that purity on the day the items are assessed. Condition barely matters. A snapped chain holds the same gold as an intact one, so there is no point paying for a repair first. What does reduce the metal weight is everything in a piece that is not precious metal: watch movements, brooch pins, spring clasps, stone settings, the steel blades in silver-handled knives.

Some things are worth more whole than melted, and an honest buyer says so. A signed piece, a good Georgian or Victorian item, a complete hallmarked canteen, a running mechanical watch, a scarce coin or a named group of medals can all mean more to a collector than the metal in them. If something in your parcel falls into that category you should be told before it is bought, not after. See selling silverware and watches, coins, medals and stamps.

A small estate, no probate, no solicitor

Not every estate needs a grant of probate. GOV.UK says you may not need one if the person only had savings, or owned money, shares or property jointly so that it passes to the surviving owner, and that each bank or organisation sets its own rules (GOV.UK). Jewellery in a house is not held by a bank, so there may be no organisation asking to see a grant. You still need to check whether Inheritance Tax is due, although GOV.UK says you do not need to report the value of an excepted estate if you do not need probate (GOV.UK).

Who decides what happens to the jewellery is still a legal question. Where there is a will, the executor named in it decides. Where there is no will, the closest living relative can apply to become the administrator (GOV.UK). If the estate is near the Inheritance Tax threshold, anyone disagrees, or you are not sure who has the right to sell, ask a probate solicitor before selling. Tell the other beneficiaries what you intend to sell, and keep the written offer and the bank record. This is general information, not legal advice. Probate and inheritance and do you need probate to sell inherited jewellery cover the detail.

What GoldPaid can and cannot do

GoldPaid is a UK-wide postal buyer of gold, silver and platinum, run from Bristol with no shop and no branches. The metal part of a clearance can be posted, weighed and XRF-assayed, and the written, itemised valuation read at your own kitchen table before anything is decided. Coins, bullion, watches, medals, medallions, stamps and silverware are assessed alongside the jewellery. If the box is simply a mixed drawer, selling a mixed jewellery box describes how those are sorted.

What it is not: a house clearance firm, a valuer of furniture, ceramics or pictures, or an independent valuer. GoldPaid buys gold and silver, so its written figure is not an independent valuation. For the estate, HMRC’s IHT400 Notes say you do not have to get a professional valuation of ordinary household goods where publicly available data gives a value, but advise one if you think any item may be worth more than £1,500, or you are not sure. The page on a free metal figure for estate jewellery sets out the options, and firms handling whole properties are better served by the house clearance jewellery buyer page.

How it works

1. Ask first and send photos. Message us on WhatsApp with photos of your jewellery, silver and coins from a parent’s house for a quick indicative figure. Ask anything; there is no charge and no obligation.
2. Request a prepaid Royal Mail label. We send a free Royal Mail Special Delivery label, tracked and signed for, usually within 30 minutes between 8am and 9pm. No printer? We send a QR code for the Post Office counter.
3. Post it when you are ready. Use any padded envelope. There is no deadline and no pressure.
4. Receive a no-obligation valuation. Every item is weighed and tested by XRF spectrometry at our Bristol office. You get a written, itemised offer, usually on the working day your parcel arrives, showing purity, weight and the figure.
5. Accept or decline. Accept and you are paid by bank transfer via Faster Payments. Decline and everything is returned free of charge by tracked, signed-for post.

Your parcel is signed for on arrival and opened at our Bristol office, where each item is weighed and XRF-tested before the written offer is prepared.

How we value what you send

Every offer is built from measured facts: confirmed purity, accurate weight, and the live precious-metal market on the day we test your items, with our margin already inside the figure. You see each figure in a written breakdown before you decide anything. See how we value gold and XRF testing explained for the full method.

Everything from a clearance is listed separately: what the item is, its confirmed purity, its weight, the rate used and the offer against it. Costume, plated and base-metal pieces are named on the same sheet as returned rather than quietly dropped, so you can see what was in the box as well as what was paid for.

One parcel gets one written figure, itemised piece by piece. Your offer reflects the weight and purity we measure and the live precious-metal market on the day, with our margin already inside the figure, so nothing further is taken off. For coins, watches and signed or collectable pieces, send a photo on WhatsApp first and we will tell you how we would value them before you post anything.

Cover in transit

The prepaid label is Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed: full tracking and a signature on delivery. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post. For higher-value items, please message us first so the parcel can be split across more than one prepaid label before it travels. Postage and cover explains it fully. If a parcel is lost on its way to us, the compensation claim goes to Royal Mail from you, the sender, using your Post Office receipt, and we give you our tracking records and help you make it. Lost parcels, step by step.

If the offer is not for you

Then nothing happens except a free return. We send your items back by tracked, signed-for post at our cost, with no fee for declining and no follow-up. A valuation is only worth having if you can turn it down freely, so you can. See what happens if I decline the offer.

The written offer is dated and holds for a limited time, because metal prices move. If it lapses before you decide, we re-run it against the live precious-metal market on the day, at no charge. You can also accept part of a parcel and decline the rest, with no minimum and no penalty for splitting it.

Payment, once you accept

When you say yes to the written offer, GoldPaid aims to pay by Faster Payments bank transfer within one working hour of your acceptance, to your nominated account. You give those details only at the point you accept, never as a condition of getting an offer.

Other guides for estates and inherited jewellery

Each of these answers a different part of the same job. Pick the one that matches where you are.

• Sell inherited and probate jewellery by post: the overview, for a family or an executor ready to sell some or all of it.
• Sell inherited jewellery in your own time: for a beneficiary who already holds the pieces.
• A free metal figure for estate jewellery: what a buyer’s free written figure covers, what a paid report adds, and when to use a registered valuer.
• An executor’s guide to valuing and selling jewellery: authority, telling the beneficiaries, and the records to keep.
• House clearance jewellery buyer: mixed lots from a clearance, sent exactly as found.
• For probate solicitors and will writers: a written, itemised metal record for the client file.
• Do you need probate or a death certificate to sell inherited jewellery?: the paperwork question, answered.
• Can you sell inherited gold before probate is granted?: the answer for executors, administrators and beneficiaries in England and Wales.
• How to value jewellery for probate: the two figures an executor needs, and when to use a qualified valuer.
• How to sell inherited gold jewellery safely: a step-by-step guide for families.

When you are ready, there is one step to take: request a free prepaid Royal Mail label, or send photos on WhatsApp first if you would rather ask before posting. Every piece is XRF-tested and you receive a written, itemised valuation. Nothing is sold unless you accept it, and anything declined comes back free by Royal Mail Special Delivery. For everyday gold that is not part of an estate, the general route is selling gold by post.

Why sell by post with GoldPaid

Three differences from a counter sale. You see a measured valuation in writing, not a verbal estimate. You decide at home, with nobody waiting. And if you decline, the return is free, tracked and signed for, so obtaining the valuation costs you nothing.

Sources

1. GOV.UK: Applying for probate, checked 11 September 2026
2. GOV.UK: Applying for probate if there is not a will, checked 11 September 2026
3. GOV.UK: Check if you need to send full details of the estate, checked 11 September 2026
4. HMRC: IHT400 and the IHT400 Notes (household and personal goods), checked 11 September 2026

Common questions