To be straight with you: we do not have a shop in Glasgow. InstaSilver is a Sheffield business and we buy by post from anywhere in the UK. That is why we can pay 80% of live spot rather than the lower rates a high street counter has to offer to cover its premises. Postage is free and tracked both ways, and anything we cannot buy is returned to you free.
A finite supply
Glasgow's assay office operated from 1819 in its modern form and closed in 1964. Nothing new can ever carry a Glasgow mark, which puts a hard boundary around the total quantity that exists. For collectors of regional Scottish silver, that scarcity is the whole appeal, and it can push desirable pieces above their metal value.
Glasgow also has a design story that Sheffield and Birmingham do not. The Glasgow School and the city's Art Nouveau movement around Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the designers working in his orbit produced silver and metalwork that is collected on its own terms. Anything with that distinctive stylised, elongated, organic line is worth having looked at properly before it goes anywhere near a melt.
Reading a Glasgow hallmark
The town mark is the city arms: a tree, with a bird, a bell and a fish. It is unmistakable once you have seen it, and quite unlike anything used elsewhere in Britain. Scottish sterling alongside it is confirmed by a lion rampant, and on many pieces you will also find a thistle.
A Glasgow mark automatically dates a piece to 1964 or earlier, which is a useful shortcut the active offices do not give you.
What silver pays today
The same flat rate applies wherever you are. These figures recalculate from the live spot price:
| Typical lot | Sterling weight | We pay |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed jewellery | 80g | £— |
| Odd flatware | 300g | £— |
| Six-place canteen | 1,400g | £— |
| Tea service with tray | 2,500g | £— |
Sterling holds £— of silver per gram at today's spot price, and we pay 80% of that: £— per gram. Put your own weight into the live calculator for an exact figure.
Selling from Glasgow
Weigh your silver in grams and enter it for a live quote. Accepting locks that rate for 48 hours, and a free Royal Mail QR label appears immediately: no printer needed, the Post Office counter scans it from your phone. Every item is XRF tested and weighed at our Sheffield workshop, and payment is made by Faster Payments within 48 hours of your parcel reaching us. Full detail is on how it works.
Frequently asked questions
What does a tree, bird, bell and fish mark mean?
It is the Glasgow Assay Office town mark, taken from the city arms. It confirms the piece was assayed in Glasgow, which also means it dates from 1964 or earlier, because the office closed that year.
Is Glasgow-marked silver worth more?
For scrap value, no: a gram of sterling is a gram of sterling wherever it was assayed, and we pay the same flat 80%. For collectors it can be worth more, because the supply is closed and finite. If a piece is in good condition or shows Glasgow School design influence, get it valued before selling it for metal.
What is Glasgow School silver?
Metalwork from the city's Art Nouveau movement in the decades around 1900, associated with Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his contemporaries. It is collected for its design rather than its metal, and can be worth substantially more than scrap.
Do you buy silver from Glasgow?
Yes, at the same flat 80% of live spot with free tracked Royal Mail postage both ways, paid within 48 hours of receipt. If anything you send looks worth more than metal value, we will tell you and return it free.