A question costs nothing
Before you decide anything, send a few clear photos of your silver coins on WhatsApp, or call. You will get an honest quick indicative figure and a straight answer about hallmarks, the postal cover, the XRF assay or the free return if you decline. None of it commits you to posting.
GoldPaid is a UK-wide postal gold and silver buying service with no branches. The flagship guide, selling gold by post in the UK, walks through how the whole thing works before you send a thing.
Which silver coins are worth sending
The silver content of UK coins changed over the years, and it makes a real difference:
| UK coins | Silver content | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-1920 | 92.5% (sterling) | Florins, shillings, half-crowns, crowns |
| 1920–1946 | 50% silver | Same denominations, lower silver content |
| 1947 onwards | No silver | Cupro-nickel, face value only |
- Pre-1947 UK silver, florins, shillings, sixpences, half-crowns, crowns
- Britannia silver coins and other modern silver bullion coins
- Silver Eagles, Maple Leafs, Philharmonics and Kangaroos
- World silver coins and mixed inherited tins and jars
Pre-1920, 1920 to 1946, and the 1947 cut-off
Britain struck its circulating silver at the sterling standard, 92.5%, up to 1919. The 1920 coinage halved that to 50%, and 1947 removed silver altogether. Size and design barely changed, so a 1919, a 1921 and a 1953 half-crown look much the same in the hand. The date is your quickest guide at home; the XRF assay settles it here.
| UK coin | Nominal weight | Fine silver if pre-1920 | Fine silver if 1920 to 1946 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crown | 28.3 g | about 26.2 g | about 14.1 g |
| Half-crown | 14.1 g | about 13.1 g | about 7.1 g |
| Florin (two shillings) | 11.3 g | about 10.5 g | about 5.7 g |
| Shilling | 5.66 g | about 5.2 g | about 2.8 g |
| Sixpence | 2.83 g | about 2.6 g | about 1.4 g |
| Silver threepence (small) | 1.41 g | about 1.3 g | about 0.7 g |
Those are weights for new coins, and circulation wears a little off. Two quirks: the small silver threepence gave way to the brass twelve-sided one from 1937, and Maundy money stayed sterling, so a 1950s Maundy set is silver when ordinary 1950s coins are not.
Coins dated 1947 onwards contain no silver
We would rather say this plainly than take your postage. From 1947, UK circulating coins were struck in cupro-nickel, copper and nickel with no silver content at all. That covers most of what fills an inherited tin: post-war shillings and florins, the 1951 Festival, 1953 Coronation and 1965 Churchill crowns, and every decimal coin since. They are worth face value or whatever a collector pays, not scrap.
The exceptions matter. Royal Mint silver proof, commemorative and bullion issues, including silver £5 crowns and Britannias, are genuinely silver despite their modern dates. If a coin came in a capsule, a box or with a certificate, send that too; it often tells us which version you have.
World silver coins
Foreign coins from holidays, service abroad or an inherited collection are welcome in the same parcel. Standards varied by country, denomination and year, so nobody should be identifying these from memory, ours included:
| Where from | Silver period | Typical fineness |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Dimes, quarters, half dollars 1964 and earlier | 90% |
| United States | Half dollars 1965 to 1970 | 40% |
| Canada | Pre-1920, then 1920 to 1966 | 92.5%, then 80% |
| Australia | Pre-1946, then 1946 to 1963 | 92.5%, then 50% |
| Ireland | 1928 to 1943 coinage | 75% |
| Europe generally | Pre-1960s francs, marks, guilders, lire | commonly 80% to 90% |
Tins, jars and bulk lots
Silver value is weight-driven, so mixed lots are worth sending whole rather than picking out what looks interesting. Two rough guides help: £1 of face value in pre-1947 UK silver, twenty shillings or eight half-crowns, holds roughly 1.8 troy ounces of fine silver, and the same £1 of face value in pre-1920 sterling holds roughly 3.4 troy ounces. A dull-looking bag of old shillings is often the most valuable thing in a parcel.
Do not sort, clean or polish anything first. Cleaning can reduce what a collector will pay and does nothing for melt value. Tip the tin in as it is.
Melt value or collector value, and how we tell you
Most silver coins are worth their silver, but some are worth considerably more, and it would be easy for a buyer to stay quiet about that. Key dates, high-grade uncirculated pieces, proofs sealed in their capsules, error coins and complete Maundy sets can carry collector value above melt, so we check as a matter of routine. When a coin is worth more to a collector than to a refiner we say so in the written offer, and if a specialist or auction would serve you better we say that too. For coins assessed piece by piece rather than by weight, see sell coin collections. For the British pre-decimal denominations on their own, with the silver-content sums for every date range set out so you can check them, see sell pre-1947 British silver coins. For the British pre-decimal denominations on their own, with the silver-content sums for every date range set out so you can check them, see sell pre-1947 British silver coins. For the British pre-decimal denominations on their own, with the silver-content sums for every date range set out so you can check them, see sell pre-1947 British silver coins.
The process, step by step
- Get in touch and show us. A WhatsApp photo of your silver coins 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 tracked.
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.
Coins are grouped by type and period, since one tin can hold three or four different finenesses, then weighed on calibrated scales and XRF-assayed to confirm the silver content of each group. Gross weight multiplied by confirmed fineness gives the fine silver weight, and that weight is priced against the silver market rate on the day. Your written breakdown shows group, weight, fineness, rate and figure, with non-silver coins listed separately at nil. Indicative per-gram silver rates sit on the gold and silver calculator, last reviewed 4 August 2026, and move with the market.
Postage and cover
Your parcel travels on Royal Mail Special Delivery, and Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. The label we send is Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed: tracked end to end, signed for on delivery, and arranged with that compensation cover per parcel. If you believe your items are worth more, message us before posting. We will arrange the right approach, either extra cover or splitting the items across more than one parcel. Full detail is on postage and cover, and is it safe to post gold? walks through posting valuables safely.
Declining, made simple
A quick message is all it takes to decline, and you do not need to give a reason. Your items are then returned free of charge on a tracked, signed-for service, with no fee and no pressure to reconsider. What happens if I decline the offer covers it fully.
Who this helps
The inherited tin of old UK coins is the classic one: nobody is sure which of them hold silver and which are cupro-nickel. Holders of modern silver bullion coins use the service for a simple postal sale. So do people clearing a home who have come across a collection and want the silver value confirmed properly rather than guessed at.
The payment step
Acceptance triggers payment: a direct bank transfer by Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance, to the account you give us. Nothing to bank and nothing to chase.
Built to be trusted, not just believed
- Owner-run, with founder Rocco Clayfield personally accountable for the service
- Every item XRF-assayed, the result shown to you in writing
- Free tracked postage both ways, so a valuation is genuinely no-obligation
- Honest about its limits, including when a specialist would suit you better
- No fabricated reviews and no invented numbers, anywhere on the site
Common questions
Do you buy modern silver bullion coins?
Yes, Britannias, Silver Eagles, Maple Leafs, Philharmonics and similar. They are weighed and XRF-assayed and valued against the live silver rate.
I have a jar of mixed coins, do I need to sort them?
No. Send the jar as it is. We separate silver from non-silver, weigh and assay the silver, and your written breakdown shows each group. Anything with no silver value is returned at no cost.
Are UK coins dated 1947 or later silver?
No. UK circulating coins from 1947 onwards are cupro-nickel and contain no silver, including the 1951 Festival, 1953 Coronation and 1965 Churchill crowns found in most tins. The exceptions are Royal Mint silver proof, commemorative and bullion issues, and Maundy money, which stayed sterling.
How much silver is in a pre-1947 shilling or half-crown?
A shilling weighs about 5.66 g new and a half-crown about 14.1 g. At the pre-1920 sterling standard that is roughly 5.2 g and 13.1 g of fine silver; at the 1920 to 1946 standard, roughly 2.8 g and 7.1 g. Circulated coins weigh slightly less, so yours are weighed and assayed before any figure is set.
Do you buy American, Canadian or other world silver coins?
Yes, on weight and confirmed fineness, from 40% up to 92.5% depending on country and year. Send them in with your UK coins and they are sorted and assayed here.
What if a coin is worth more to a collector than as silver?
We tell you. Key dates, sealed proofs, error coins and complete Maundy sets can be worth more than their silver content, so we check rather than weigh everything by default. If a specialist or auction would serve you better, that goes in the written offer, and you can decline and have everything returned free.
What if I decline the offer?
Your coins are returned to you free of charge by tracked, signed-for Royal Mail post. There is no fee for declining and no follow-up pressure.
Request a free prepaid Royal Mail label
Tell us where to send it. The label arrives by email, usually within about 30 minutes during working hours. Requesting one commits you to nothing: you get a written offer after the XRF assay, and if you decline, your items come back to you free.
Would you rather ask a question first, or send a photo? Message us on WhatsApp . It is the fastest way to get a sense of what something is worth before you post anything.
Related pages
- Sell gold & silver coins
- Sell coin collections (collectable)
- Sell pre-1947 British silver coins
- Sell silver
- Sell silverware & cutlery
- Sell silver bullion
- How we value gold
- What we buy
- Gold price today, UK rates
- Silver price today, UK rates
- UK gold hallmark guide
- Sell charm bracelets
- Sell gold bars and bullion
- Sell Indian gold jewellery