Capacitors · Tier C

Ceramic disc capacitors

Pre-1990 discs with true fired silver are worth something; modern base-metal discs are worth nothing. Date the board before you bother.

Ag 4–10 g/lbPd 0.05–0.3 g/lb

eBay typical$20–70per lb

Refiner pays$7per lb

Metal in it$19.5per lb at 4 Aug 2026 spot

Confidencelowof the yield figures

How to spot it

Small flat lollipops of blue, brown, orange or grey ceramic with two radial leads, marked with three-digit codes like 104, 471 or 220 plus an NPO, Y5P or Z5U designator. Older US, Japanese and Soviet parts are noticeably thicker and duller. Everywhere on tube gear and 70s–80s consumer and computer boards.

Metal content

Metal	Quantity	Notes
Silver	4–10 g/lb	calculated from a 5–10 µm fired Ag electrode on both faces — no assay
Palladium	0.05–0.3 g/lb	only in Ag/Pd-electroded types, mostly pre-1990 and high-K or high-voltage grades — highly variable

At 4 Aug 2026 spot prices that works out to $19.5 per pound of contained metal — Silver 7 g = $13.3, Palladium 0.15 g = $6.19. A refiner paying $7 returns about 36% of that, which is normal: refining costs money and the buyer takes a margin.

Safe removal

Working temperature: Snip leads; burn 400–500 °C

Snip leads flush; individual desoldering isn't economic. Process in bulk — burn the coating at low temperature, crush the ceramic and leach with dilute nitric to take the silver and any palladium into solution.

Hazards

☠ Lead — dust more than fume

NEVER dry sweep or use compressed air on a scrapping bench. HEPA-vac or wet-wipe only.

☠ Cadmium

NEVER grind, burn, torch or braze cadmium-plated or AgCdO material, and don't inhale the black contact dust.

🪚 Fibreglass and board dust

NEVER dry-cut boards indoors without extraction.

💨 Fumes, ventilation and open flame

NEVER burn boards, wire insulation or plastic. Ever.

Before you scrap it

Soviet KSO and K10-7 types and NOS 60s–70s discs sell in assorted lots at $25–70 per pound to restorers, which usually beats the silver.

The common trap

The classic time sink: hundreds of parts per pound, a few dollars of silver, and hours of snipping. Refining forums consistently conclude they aren't worth processing unless they arrived in bulk from a teardown you were doing anyway.

Questions

How much gold is in ceramic disc capacitors?

Silver: 4–10 g/lb. Palladium: 0.05–0.3 g/lb. At current spot that is about $19.5 of contained metal per pound.

How do you identify ceramic disc capacitors?

Pre-1990 discs with true fired silver are worth something; modern base-metal discs are worth nothing. Date the board before you bother.

How do you remove ceramic disc capacitors safely?

Is ceramic disc capacitors worth more working than as scrap?

Soviet KSO and K10-7 types and NOS 60s–70s discs sell in assorted lots at $25–70 per pound to restorers, which usually beats the silver.

Related in Capacitors

MLCC — palladium-bearing (PME, pre-2000) Capacitors · $100–170/lb Pd 2.3–9 g/lbAg 4.5–23 g/lbBase Ni S Tantalum capacitors Capacitors · $18–85/lb Ta 30–40 wt% of the capAg 1–3% in some B MLCC — modern nickel (BME, post-2005) Capacitors · $20–55/lb Pd 0.2–0.7 g/lbAg 1.4–2.7 g/lbBase Ni 5–20% C Silver mica capacitors Capacitors · $80–500/lb Ag 10–20 g/lbCu ~60 g/lb C Aluminium electrolytic capacitors Capacitors · $0.3–1/lb Base aluminium can D Film capacitors (polyester / polypropylene) Capacitors · $10–40/lb Cu ~20 g/lb D

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