800 Silver Calculator — Coin Silver & European Purity Values

An 800 silver calculator answers a question that trips up almost everyone who inherits European silver: if it isn't stamped 925, is it even real silver? It is. The "800" means 80% pure — genuine silver, just at a lower fineness than sterling. This guide explains 800, 835, and .900 coin silver, shows you the melt math at $75/oz, and hands you a hallmark table so you can read a German crescent-and-crown or a French Minerva head at a glance.

Introduction: Understanding 800, 835 and Coin Silver

Silver purity is measured in millesimal fineness — the parts of pure silver per 1,000 parts of metal. Sterling is 925 (92.5% pure), but the world used many other standards, and three of them dominate old coins and silverware: 800, 835, and .900. If you've inherited European flatware or a jar of foreign coins, these are the numbers you'll meet.

The confusion comes from the missing "925." People see "800" stamped on a spoon and assume it's fake or plated. It isn't — it's real metal at 80% purity. To find the value of 800 silver, or the 800 silver value of any piece, you only need two things: the weight and the purity. The rest of this guide walks through each standard, then shows the simple calculation that a coin calculator silver tool turns into a dollar figure.

What Is 800 Silver?

800 silver is an alloy of 80% pure metal and 20% other metals (usually copper for hardness). Germany set 800 as its legal minimum standard in the 1880s, and it became the backbone of continental European silver — tea sets, candlesticks, cutlery, and decorative pieces poured out of Germany, Italy, and Austria stamped simply "800."

Because copper makes up a fifth of the alloy, 800 silver is harder and more durable than sterling, which is why it suited heavy serving pieces. The alloy also tends to tarnish to a darker charcoal-grey over decades. Don't mistake the lower number for low quality, though: German 800-grade pieces from the Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) era, by makers like WMF and Bruckmann, sells far above its melt value to collectors. For pure scrap purposes, the price of 800 silver still comes down to that 80% figure.

What Is 835 Silver?

835 is 83.5% pure — a notch above 800 and common on European flatware and everyday items. It shows up frequently on German and Scandinavian pieces; Georg Jensen silver, for example, is often stamped "830S" or "835."

So what is 835 silver worth? Slightly more than 800 and slightly less than sterling, in direct proportion to its purity. At the same weight, an 835 piece holds about 4% more pure metal than an 800 piece and about 10% less than a 925 sterling piece. When you weigh a mixed lot of European silver, sorting by these stamps matters — an 835 fork is worth measurably more than an 800 one of the same weight.

What Is Coin Silver (.900)?

Coin silver is an alloy of 90% pure metal and 10% copper — a millesimal fineness of .900. The name is literal: it's the standard the United States used for circulating dimes, quarters, and half dollars through 1964, and many other nations used it for coinage too.

This is the highest of the three standards in this guide, so .900 coin silver holds the most metal per gram. In the US, these pre-1965 coins are now traded as junk silver, valued purely on content. A scrap coin silver calculator or us coin silver calculator handles these American coins, and a silver content in us coins calculator maps each denomination to its exact weight. If your interest is American coins specifically, our junk silver calculator guide breaks down each US denomination, while this article focuses on the broader European 800/835 standards you'll find on imported coins and silverware.

How to Calculate 800 / 835 / Coin Silver Value

Every coin silver calculator and continental-silver valuation runs on one formula. Purity is the only variable that changes between an 800, 835, or .900 piece.

To find the price of 800 silver per gram on its own, divide the spot price by 31.1035 and multiply by 0.800: at $75/oz that's about $1.93 per gram. The 800 silver price per gram scales directly with spot, so when the live price moves, multiply by (your spot ÷ 75). Any coin silver value calculator or silver content calculator automates this, but the math is identical whether you do it by hand or let a tool handle the conversion. For the gram-by-gram breakdown across purities, see our silver price per gram guide.

European Silver Hallmarks Reference

European silver rarely uses plain numbers alone — each country adds its own pictorial guarantee mark. This table covers the marks you're most likely to find, so you can identify both the country and the purity. Use it as a silver coin content calculator companion when sorting a mixed lot of pieces.

The German crescent-and-crown (Halbmond und Krone) is the single most common continental mark. A bare "800" without a country mark is still valid silver, just harder to attribute.

800 Silver vs Sterling Silver — Comparison

The practical difference between 800 and 925 sterling is 12.5 percentage points of pure silver — and that gap shows up directly in melt value. Sterling holds more silver per gram, but 800 is harder and historically cheaper to produce.

For scrap value, sterling wins per gram — but don't assume an 800 piece is worth less overall. A heavy German 800 tureen can easily out-value a thin sterling spoon. If your piece is sterling rather than continental, our sterling silver calculator guide covers the 925 math in full.

How to Identify European Silver

Identifying continental silver comes down to reading the marks and confirming the metal. Work through these checks before you assume a piece is or isn't real silver.

• Find the fineness number: look for 800, 835, 900, or 925 stamped on the base, rim, or clasp — that number is the purity.
• Read the country mark: a crescent-and-crown means German; a Minerva head means French; a lion with a number means Dutch.
• Rule out fakes: "EPNS," "nickel silver," or "German silver" with no fineness number means no real silver content.
• Weigh it: use a 0.1g scale — weight plus purity is all a calculator needs to value the piece.
• Check with a magnet: real silver is non-magnetic. If a magnet sticks, the piece is base metal or plated.

When a mark is worn or ambiguous, a reputable dealer or an XRF test can confirm purity without damage. For most inherited European silver, though, the fineness number and country mark tell you everything you need to calculate its worth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion: A Number Is All You Need

Don't let a missing "925" fool you — 800, 835, and .900 are all genuine silver, just at different finenesses. Once you read the hallmark, the value of 800 silver (or any standard) is simple arithmetic: weight times purity times spot. Sort your pieces by their stamps, weigh them, and you can value an entire lot of European silver in minutes.

To turn those hallmarks into live numbers, use the calculator below — enter the weight, choose the purity (800, 835, 900, or 925), and see exactly what your continental or coin silver is worth right now, in any currency.