Your typical 32-piece sterling silver flatware set can easily bring you $800 to $1,200. When my mom died in 2022, my brothers and I sold a hefty box of about 30 pieces of silver flatware for $1,000.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have become something of an auction junkie, and I am surprised at how often I see incomplete sets of sterling flatware for sale. Often, the “set” is just dinner forks and ...