Because plated silver items have so little actual silver in them, they are not worth refining, consequently the tea set that you describe being copper and plated with silver will not be valuable to a precious metal refiner melted down. You may have more luck selling it online or checking with a local antique dealer. First, estimate what your gold jewelry, bullion, coins, coin bullion, gold watch, dental work or other item is worth with this scrap gold calculator. To give you an estimate, a gold dental crown will fetch prices between $40 and $100, depending on the gold market, and quality of gold.