My Kids Don’t Want the Family Silver. Should I Melt It Down?

During one of our weekly coffee dates, two friends shared their recent experience at a store that advertises “top dollar” for gold, silver, jewelry, coins and other valuable items. Both women had turned in their family’s silver, and both expressed regret over the time it took to complete the task. “It was a relief to get it all sorted,” one friend said. “I won’t have to bother with it again.” Neither woman had second thoughts.

When I looked at all the sterling silver my mother passed on to me that I have never used—and that our adult children have no interest in—I wondered if I should be heading in a similar direction. Gather up all the boxes of silver, take them to a dealer to be melted down into some form of liquid scrap metal and walk away with a cash windfall.