No pressure to begin with
There is genuinely nothing to commit to up front. A WhatsApp message with a couple of photos of your antique silver smalls gets you a quick indicative figure and an honest answer to any question. Whether you post anything is your call, made later.
GoldPaid has no high-street branches. It is postal-only and UK-wide, which is what keeps it lean and means you never have to travel.
What counts as antique silver smalls
These are the personal silver objects of roughly 1780 to 1950: things carried in a pocket, on a watch chain or in a handbag rather than kept on a sideboard. They turn up in the same drawers as albert chains and pocket watches, and because most were made in Birmingham and Chester, the marks plug straight into the standard British hallmark system.
| Item | What it is | Usual period | Indicative sterling weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vesta case | A small lidded match safe with a ribbed striker strip, often with a ring to hang from a watch chain | Roughly 1880 to 1920 | Roughly 15 to 50g |
| Snuff box | A hinged box for powdered tobacco, frequently with a gilded interior | Georgian to mid-Victorian | Roughly 30 to 100g |
| Cigarette case | A flat hinged case, usually engine-turned, with an elastic retaining strap inside | Roughly 1900 to the 1950s | Roughly 80 to 200g |
| Card case | A slim rectangular case for visiting cards | Victorian, roughly 1840 to 1900 | Roughly 40 to 90g |
| Hip flask | A pocket spirit flask with a screw or bayonet cap, sometimes with a removable cup over the base | Victorian to inter-war | Roughly 90 to 250g if all silver |
Those weights are indicative, not an offer, and they explain why cigarette cases and hip flasks are often the most valuable pieces in the drawer purely as metal: a full-size sterling cigarette case carries more silver than a handful of teaspoons. One caution on flasks: many have a glass body with silver mounts and cup only, so the scales overstate the silver. The assay and the written breakdown deal with that honestly.
Finding and reading the marks
On a hinged case the hallmark is usually inside, on the body near the hinge, and British assay practice was to mark the lid as well, so expect a part-mark inside the lid too. On a hip flask look near the lip, on the base, and separately on the cup, which was assayed in its own right. A lion passant means solid sterling. The town mark is very often the Birmingham anchor, because Birmingham was the national centre of small-box silver, with Chester’s three wheatsheaves and sword common on vestas and flasks until that office closed in 1962. The date letter alongside fixes the year.
The same warning applies here as to silverware: EPNS vesta cases, cigarette cases and flasks are everywhere, and a plated piece has no meaningful melt value however crisp it looks. EPNS, EP or A1 stamped anywhere means plate. If the marks are worn or you are not sure what you are looking at, photograph them and send the picture on WhatsApp before anything is posted. The UK silver hallmarks guide covers the full mark set, assay office marks identifies the town symbols, and the date letter chart dates the piece.
When a piece is worth more than its silver, and what we do about it
This category needs saying plainly: vesta cases and fine snuff boxes routinely sell to collectors for several times their scrap value, and valuing them by weight alone would short-change you. Novelty vestas shaped as boots, animals, hearts or sentry boxes, enamelled fronts, and anything by Sampson Mordan & Co are collected seriously. Castle-top snuff boxes and card cases by Nathaniel Mills, with a building chased in relief on the lid, are among the most sought-after small silver made in Birmingham. Joseph Willmore and George Unite are other names worth checking.
Engraving cuts both ways. A later monogram usually reduces collector appeal without touching melt value. A period presentation inscription can add interest, particularly with a date and a traceable name, so please do not have engraving polished out before selling. For regimental, club or trophy presentation pieces we ask how the item came to you; anything without clear ownership cannot be bought and is returned rather than purchased.
The process, step by step
- Get in touch and show us. A WhatsApp photo of your antique silver smalls is all we need to give you an honest quick indicative figure before anything is posted.
- Get your free label. We send a prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery label, fully tracked. If you have no printer, a QR code for the counter does the same job.
- Send it at your own pace. Wrap it in any padded envelope and hand it in at a Post Office whenever it suits you.
- See the written offer. We weigh and XRF-assay every item, usually on the working day your parcel arrives, then send an itemised breakdown showing exactly how the figure was reached.
- Decide. Say yes and the money is sent by Faster Payments. Say no and your items come straight back, free and insured.
How the offer is worked out
Three things set the offer, and all three are measured rather than assumed: confirmed purity, accurate weight, and the live market rate on assessment day. You read every figure in a written, itemised breakdown before you commit to anything. See how we value gold for the detail.
Plain, worn cases with no collector interest are XRF-assayed to confirm sterling rather than plate, weighed on calibrated scales, and valued at the live silver rate on the day. Anything with a named maker, novelty form, enamel or castle-top decoration is researched against the collector market first, and the written offer tells you which basis was used for each piece. Glass-bodied flasks and any non-silver parts are set out openly in the breakdown.
Getting it here safely
Your parcel is covered by Royal Mail Special Delivery, with cover available up to £2,500 depending on the cover level used. We post you a Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed label: tracked end to end, signed for, and arranged with that cover per parcel. If your items are worth more, the rule is simple, message us before posting and we will sort the right approach. There is more on postage and insurance.
No obligation, ever
You are free to walk away at any point before you accept. Decline the offer and everything is repacked and returned to you free of charge, fully tracked and insured. There is no assessment fee and no sales pressure afterwards. The detail is on what happens if I decline the offer.
Who this helps
Most of these pieces arrive from the same place: a drawer in a parent’s or grandparent’s house, often alongside a pocket watch and its chain. If that is your situation, clearing a parent’s house is written for it. If the same house has produced trays, cutlery or a tea service, sell silverware covers the larger pieces, and it usually pays to send everything together under one label.
How payment reaches you
Accept the offer and the money is sent by Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance, straight to the bank account you provide. There are no cheques, no delays of that kind, and no strings.
The proof, not the promise
Anyone can say "best price". GoldPaid does not. Instead the process is laid bare: a measured XRF assay, calibrated weighing, the live market rate, and a written breakdown you read at home before you commit to anything. The reassurance here is structural, built into how the service works, rather than asserted in a slogan.
Common questions
Is a silver cigarette case worth anything?
Usually yes, because of sheer weight: a full-size sterling case commonly runs 80 to 200g, which is more silver than most single items of flatware. A plain engine-turned case with a worn monogram is normally a weight-based sale. Enamelled cases, Art Deco designs and pieces with military or motoring crests can carry a premium above melt, and we flag those before you decide.
How do I know if my hip flask is solid silver or plated?
Look for a lion passant with a town mark and date letter near the lip, on the base, and on the cup if there is one. EPNS, EP or A1 means plate, with no meaningful melt value. Many flasks are glass-bodied with silver mounts only, so the weight on your kitchen scales is not the silver weight. Send a photo of the marks on WhatsApp and we will tell you what you have before you post anything.
Will you just melt my antique snuff box?
Not without checking it first. Georgian and Victorian snuff boxes, especially castle-tops and pieces by named Birmingham makers such as Nathaniel Mills, are researched before anything is valued as scrap. If the collector value looks higher than the metal value, the written offer says so plainly, and you can decline and take it to a specialist auction at no cost, with free tracked return.
Does an engraved inscription reduce the value?
It depends. A later monogram tends to reduce collector appeal but makes no difference to melt value. A period presentation inscription with a date and name can add interest. Please do not have engraving polished out, and do not polish the piece at all: polishing removes silver, cannot improve the assay, and strips the patina collectors pay for.
What if I decline the offer?
Everything is returned to you free of charge by tracked, insured Royal Mail post. There is no fee for declining and no follow-up pressure.