Guide · 7 minute read
Weighted and loaded silver: why candlesticks, trophies and knife handles weigh more than their silver
The short answer
Weighted or loaded silver is a thin sterling shell filled with pitch, cement, plaster or resin, usually around a steel rod, so that a light piece stands like a heavy one. Candlesticks, trophy bases, knife handles and dressing-table sets are the usual cases, and the silver can be a small fraction of what you feel in your hand. There are two ways to establish how much silver is there: assess the shell from its measured thickness and dimensions and say so as an assessment, or open it and weigh what comes out, which destroys the piece as an object. Before any offer only the first is possible, because nothing is opened before you have accepted (clause 4.4 of the terms), and no figure taken from the weight in your hand means anything at all.
No obligation. Decline and it all comes back free; ask for part of it back and a fresh offer is made for the rest.
What loading is and why silversmiths used it
Pick up a pair of silver candlesticks and the weight in your hands feels like money. Most of it is not. Sterling silver is costly and, in thin sheet, light, and a candlestick made of solid silver thick enough to stand steady would have cost more than most buyers would pay. So from the eighteenth century onwards makers raised the visible shape from thin sheet and filled the inside with something heavy and cheap.
The result looks and feels substantial, is entirely proper as a piece of silverware, and holds far less silver than its weight suggests. The loading was poured in hot through the open base, which is why so many candlesticks have a felt or baize disc glued over the underside to close and hide the fill.
- Loaded, weighted, filled
- Interchangeable terms for a silver shell filled with non-silver material. American pieces are often stamped “weighted” or “reinforced”; British pieces usually carry no such mark.
- Pitch
- A bitumen-based filler poured hot into the shell. Dark, brittle, and smells of tar when cut.
- Cement and plaster
- Mineral fillers, white or grey, used in the same way and common in twentieth-century pieces.
- Resin
- Modern synthetic filler, found in later and reproduction pieces.
- Steel rod
- A central rod or threaded stud running through a candlestick or trophy stem, giving rigidity and letting sections be bolted together. It pulls a magnet.
The pieces most often loaded and what to expect inside
Common weighted items and their typical construction
| Item | Construction | Non-silver content | Signs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candlesticks and candelabra | Thin shell over pitch or cement with a central steel rod; baize or felt base | Usually most of the gross weight | Magnet pulls at the stem; base covered in felt; sounds dull when tapped |
| Trophy and cup bases | Silver cup on a loaded plinth, often with a wooden or bakelite base | Plinth mostly filler; cup may be solid | Cup and base assessed separately |
| Knife handles | Hollow handle shell filled with pitch or resin, holding a steel or stainless blade by a tang | Blade, tang and filler; shell is a few grams | Magnet pulls at the blade; handle light for its size |
| Dressing-table sets | Silver back on brush, mirror and comb, filled behind with pitch or plaster and set on wood, bristle or glass | Glass, bristle, wood and filler | Silver is a thin back only |
| Salts, peppers, sugar casters | Usually solid, but weighted bases exist | Filler in base if present | Unexpectedly heavy for size |
| Bud vases and small vases | Thin shell over a loaded base, often with a glass liner | Filler and liner | Removable glass liner; felt base |
The pattern across all of these is the same. The silver is where you can see it and nowhere else. A dressing-table brush weighing 180 g may carry 15 g of silver on its back, and a knife with a sterling handle can weigh 90 g with a handle shell of 8 g. Gross weight is the wrong place to start, and any figure quoted on it is either a mistake or a marketing number.
Why gross weight is misleading and why XRF does not help
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) reads the surface. On a weighted candlestick it reads sterling silver, correctly, because the shell is sterling silver. It says nothing about the pitch and steel inside, which is where nearly all the weight is.
A hallmark on the base is just as correct and just as silent about the filling. The XRF guide explains why surface tests cannot see internal construction.
The checks that do work are weight against size, the magnet and the tap. A piece far heavier than its size and the thinness of its silver would allow is loaded. A magnet pulling at the stem or base means a steel rod. A dull, dead note when the piece is tapped means filler behind the shell, where solid silver rings.
What a loaded piece weighs is not what its silver weighs
A buyer who invites you to work something out from what a candlestick weighs is inviting you to count the pitch. On a loaded piece the two numbers differ by a factor of several, and the correction arrives at the bench after you have posted it. Ask any buyer, before you post anything, how they establish the silver in a loaded piece and whether they will tell you before they open it.
Two ways to establish the silver in a shell
There are two sound ways to establish the silver in a loaded piece, and they come in a fixed order: the assessment before any offer, and the opening, if at all, only after you have accepted one. Neither involves guessing at the bench and presenting the guess as a measurement.
- Before any offer: a stated assessmentThe silver is assessed from the shell's measured thickness at accessible edges, the piece's dimensions and how it is built, and stated as an assessed silver weight. The assessment, what it rests on and how uncertain it is are all written down, and the offer rests on it.
- After you accept: the loading comes outOnly once you have accepted an offer can the shell be opened, the filler and the rod taken out and the silver weighed on a calibrated balance. That figure is exact, and getting it destroys the piece as an object, which is why clause 4.4 of the terms rules it out before acceptance.
- Either way: the filler and rod listedWhat is not silver is listed as filler, steel rod, felt, glass liner or wood, with a measured or estimated mass for each, so you can see what is in the piece rather than being handed one number for the whole of it.
The share of silver in a loaded piece varies widely from one maker and one pattern to the next, so no percentage rule is used and none should be quoted at you. A pair of candlesticks of a given height can hold twice the silver of another pair the same height. What goes on the list is an assessment of the piece in front of the person doing it, not a rule of thumb applied to everything of its kind.
What is actually inside a pair of candlesticks
Loading is the one place where what you are holding and what you are selling part company completely, so it is worth picturing the inside of one.
What is inside a pair of hallmarked sterling candlesticks
| Part | What it is | Why it is there |
|---|---|---|
| The visible shape | Sterling sheet, often under a millimetre thick, raised or spun and soldered | It is the whole of the silver, and it is thin because silver is expensive |
| The filling | Pitch, cement, plaster or resin, poured in hot through the open base | Weight and stability, cheaply |
| The rod | A steel rod or threaded stud up the stem | Rigidity, and it lets the sections bolt together |
| The base disc | Felt or baize, glued over the underside | It closes the poured base and hides it |
| The hallmark | Real, and struck on the sheet | It certifies the sheet it is struck on and says nothing about what is behind it |
Every one of those parts is doing an honest job. Nobody was defrauded when the candlestick was made and it is not a fake. But three of those five parts are not silver, and on many pairs they are most of what your hands are telling you about the piece.
You can confirm the construction yourself in under a minute. Turn the pair over and look for felt or baize. Hold a magnet to the stem and see whether it pulls. Tap the piece with a fingernail and listen: solid silver rings, and a loaded shell answers with a dull, dead note. Three checks, with nothing needed but a magnet, and they will tell you more about what you have than any number taken off a kitchen scale.
This is also why photographs of the base, the stem and the hallmark are worth sending before anything is packed. Loading usually shows in those three views, and it is far better spotted while the pair is still on your own table.
Seller risks and exceptions
- An assessment is an estimate, and it says how uncertain it is. Certainty would mean opening the piece, and nothing is opened before you have accepted. Once you have accepted, the sale is made (clause 6.4 of the terms) and the amount is the one on the offer (clause 5.3).
- Opening a loaded piece destroys it as an object, and once it is open it cannot be sold as a candlestick again. Opening only ever follows acceptance, so do not accept an offer on one until you are sure it is worth nothing beyond its silver, and if you are not sure, have it looked at first.
- Knife handles hold very little silver and the blades are steel. A canteen of sterling-handled knives is usually worth more as a canteen than as a handful of shells, and the cutlery page explains how the two are told apart.
- Dressing-table sets combine thin silver backs with glass, bristle and wood. The silver is a small share of the weight, and a complete set by a known maker can be worth more intact.
- Some pieces described as weighted sterling are silver plate over a loaded base-metal shell. The absence of a hallmark and base metal showing at a worn edge usually give it away, and there is no silver in such a piece to speak of.
- Trophies are often engraved with names and dates. That does not change what the silver is, but you may want to keep the engraved plate, which can usually be taken off after you accept and sent back, if you ask beforehand.
When not to use the scrap route
Weighted silver is often worth more as furniture than as metal
Because there is so little silver in a loaded piece, what it is worth as an object beats what it is worth as metal far more often than for anything solid. A pair of Georgian or Victorian candlesticks with full hallmarks, a trophy with sporting or regimental history, or a dressing-table set by a recognised maker should go to a specialist dealer or an auction house before this route is considered at all. We say so rather than opening them.
The silverware antique or scrap guide sets out how to tell the difference, and the tea sets and hollowware page explains how other hollow pieces, which are usually not loaded, are assessed.
Questions sellers ask
How do I know if my candlesticks are weighted?
Almost all silver candlesticks made from thin sheet are, so start by assuming yes. Check the base for felt or baize, hold a magnet to the stem, and tap the piece: a loaded candlestick has a covered base, pulls a magnet at the stem because of the steel rod, and gives a dull note. American pieces are sometimes stamped “weighted” or “reinforced”.
How much silver is in a weighted candlestick?
It varies widely by maker and by pattern, and it cannot be read from what the piece weighs. Two pairs of the same height and the same weight can hold quite different amounts. The figure you are given is an assessment of your pair, stated with what it rests on and how uncertain it is.
Will you open my candlesticks to weigh the silver?
Not before you have accepted an offer, because opening destroys the piece as an object. The offer rests on an assessment of the shell, stated as an assessment, and nothing is done to the piece until you have accepted.
Are silver-handled knives worth selling as scrap?
Rarely on their own. Each handle shell holds a few grams of silver over pitch and a steel blade. A full canteen may well be worth more sold complete. The cutlery page explains how knives are assessed if you do decide to sell them.
Why does the hallmark not tell me the silver weight?
A hallmark certifies the fineness of the silver it is struck on, not the weight of silver in the piece or what is inside it. A loaded candlestick is hallmarked sterling because its shell is sterling. The filling is outside the scope of the mark.
Can I keep the engraved plate from a trophy?
Usually, if you ask before the piece is processed and the plate can be taken off without destroying it. It comes off only after you accept. Say so when you send photos and check that the arrangement is written down.
Ready to ask about yours?
Send photographs and a person will tell you what the marks suggest, what looks plated, and whether anything ought to be seen by a specialist first. Free, in writing, no obligation.
Nothing is sold until you say yes. Decline and it all comes back by tracked post, free; ask for part of it back and a fresh offer is made for the rest.
If a piece is worth more than its metal
A signed brooch, a date-run sovereign, a watch that still runs, a piece of early silver: anything that looks worth more whole is flagged to you before it is treated as metal, and you can take it back at that point.