Oh, the family silver. It’s the stuff of legends, lore, lust and lawsuits. At least it used to be. Once a requisite on every bride’s registry, today, sterling flatware is a luxury few can afford, and many don’t even want. Buying silverware you have to polish is like buying dishes you can’t microwave.

As a result, sales for sterling flatware have sunk lower than the Lusitania.

“People are not going out and buying sterling flatware when they get married like they used to,” said Martin Biro, co-owner with his brother of Biro Silver, a San Francisco-based silversmith company that their father founded in 1977.

What they are doing is inheriting it. That’s where silver restoration companies like Biro Silver come in. “Our customer is often the mother or grandmother of the bride,” said Biro. “They bring in the generational silver and want to restore it so they can hand it down as a wedding gift.”

Those not fortunate enough to have been handed the family silver can buy a complete 65-piece set (five-piece place settings for 12, plus standard serving pieces) of used silver today for between $1,200 and $3,000 depending on the pattern, Biro said.

That price is a steal compared to buying it new. Sandy Bourbonnais owns Silver Superstore, a Seattle-based company she and her husband opened 23 years ago. “Some people are funny about their sterling silverware,” she said. “They don’t want any that others have used.”

Her company sells only new ─ no used ─ sterling online and through their brick-and-mortar store. A new, 65-piece set sells for between $8,000 and $20,000, Bourbonnais said.

I need to mute my phone to gasp. When I recover, I ask: And who’s buying it?

“Often it’s someone older who has come into some money and who’s always wanted a set, or it’s a grandmother buying a set for her granddaughter as a wedding gift,” she said. “Recently a man in his early 40s came in and wanted a plain set. Younger customers all want very plain patterns. Ornate patterns are not as popular.”

Although fine sterling may not be as sought after as it once was, if a box of it has landed in your lap, don’t just shove it under the bed. Count your blessings, then consider your options:

Join me next week when I find out what the silverware mom left me would cost new today, and what it’s worth on today’s market.

Marni Jameson is the author of six home and lifestyle books, including What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want, Downsizing the Family Home – What to Save, What to Let Go, and Downsizing the Blended Home – When Two Households Become One. You may reach her at www.marnijameson.com.