What is each 90% silver coin worth right now?
Each row shows the actual silver content of the coin, a minting fact that never changes, multiplied by the live silver spot price, which updates through every trading day. Silver spot right now: — per troy ounce.
| Coin | Years | Silver content | Melt value now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury / Roosevelt dime | 1892–1964 | 0.0723 troy oz | — |
| Washington / Standing Liberty quarter | 1892–1964 | 0.1808 troy oz | — |
| Kennedy / Franklin / Walking Liberty half dollar | 1892–1964 | 0.3617 troy oz | — |
| Kennedy half dollar (40% silver) | 1965–1970 | 0.1479 troy oz | — |
| Morgan / Peace silver dollar | 1878–1935 | 0.7734 troy oz | — |
| Wartime "silver" nickel (35%) | 1942–1945 | 0.0563 troy oz | — |
| American Silver Eagle | 1986–present | 1.0000 troy oz | — |
Melt value is the floor, not the ceiling. A date, mint mark or condition that collectors want puts a coin above these figures, and at the counter every coin is checked for that premium before it is ever valued as metal, you are offered the higher of the two.
What is a pile of silver coins worth per dollar of face value?
The trade convention for circulated 90 percent US coinage is 0.715 troy ounces of silver per $1.00 of face value, the coins started at 0.7234 and the difference is a century of pocket wear. At the current market that makes each $1.00 of face value worth about —.
So a coffee can holding $14.50 in old dimes and quarters is not $14.50, count the face value, multiply by the figure above, and that jar is usually the most surprising thing a seller brings in. A $10 face-value roll of pre-1965 quarters carries roughly 7.15 troy ounces of actual silver.
Two things the quick rule deliberately ignores, both in your favour at the counter: half dollars and dollars often carry small premiums over the rule, and any coin with collector value is pulled out and priced on its own rather than averaged into the pile.
Counted your face value? Bring the coins in as they are, no cleaning, no sorting, and watch them checked piece by piece.
Find your nearest of our 8 storesHow do I know if my coin is actually silver?
For United States coins the date does almost all the work. Dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 or earlier are 90 percent silver, every time, regardless of how worn or dark they look. From 1965 the mint switched dimes and quarters to copper-nickel clad, and only the half dollar kept silver, reduced to 40 percent, through 1970.
The quickest home checks, in order of usefulness: read the date; look at the edge, where a clad coin shows a copper stripe and a silver coin shows none; and listen, silver rings with a higher, longer chime when balanced on a finger and tapped. None of these substitute for the XRF reading at the counter, which settles composition in about two minutes without marking the coin.
One warning worth more than the rest of this page: do not clean a coin before bringing it in. Toning that builds over decades is not dirt, collectors pay for original surfaces, and polishing strips a layer that can never be put back. A cleaned rarity drops to melt value; an untouched one can be worth multiples of it. Bring it dull.
When is a silver coin worth more than its melt value?
When collectors want it more than refiners do. Key dates and low-mintage years, better mint marks, uncirculated or lightly-worn condition, and whole original rolls or sets all push a coin above the table on this page. A common-date worn Mercury dime is a melt coin; a 1916-D in any honest grade is emphatically not.
You do not need to know which is which, that judgement is the buyer's job, done in front of you. Coins are sorted at the counter into melt and collector piles, and anything with a premium is priced on it individually. If you would rather keep a piece or seek a second opinion, you leave with it.
Silver coin melt value FAQs
How much silver is in a pre-1965 dime, quarter or half dollar?
A 90 percent silver dime contains 0.0723 troy ounces of silver, a quarter 0.1808, and a half dollar 0.3617. A Morgan or Peace dollar contains 0.7734 troy ounces. Multiply by the live silver spot price for the melt value of each coin.
What is $1.00 face value of silver coins worth?
Circulated 90 percent US coinage carries about 0.715 troy ounces of silver per dollar of face value, so multiply 0.715 by the current silver spot price. The live figure on this page does that arithmetic for you and refreshes with the market.
Are Kennedy half dollars silver?
It depends on the year. 1964 Kennedy halves are 90 percent silver, 1965 through 1970 are 40 percent silver, and from 1971 onward circulation halves contain no silver at all. The 40 percent coins hold 0.1479 troy ounces each, which still adds up quickly in a roll.
Should I clean my coins before selling them?
No, and it can cost you real money. Collectors pay for original surfaces, and cleaning strips a layer that can never be restored, a cleaned rare coin falls to melt value while an untouched one can be worth several times more. Bring them exactly as found.
Is melt value what I will actually be paid?
Melt value is the reference floor computed from content and the live market. An actual offer is made in person after the coins are checked, because condition, dates and collector demand can only raise a coin above melt, and buying margins, which every buyer has, are explained at the counter with the arithmetic in view.
Do worn coins contain less silver?
Slightly, which is exactly what the 0.715 convention accounts for, the coins were minted at 0.7234 ounces per dollar of face and a century of circulation wears a little of it away. Ordinary wear does not otherwise reduce value on a melt coin, and heavy wear only matters to collector pieces.
Where can I sell silver coins in Central New Jersey?
Cash 4 Gold Trading Post buys silver coins at all 8 stores: Aberdeen, Brick, East Brunswick, Farmingdale, Manalapan, Middlesex, Millstone and New Brunswick. Coins are checked in front of you, collector pieces are priced above melt where deserved, and accepted offers are paid the same day.
Are you a coin dealer or a pawn shop?
A dealer, in the buying sense: coins are purchased outright and paid for the same day. Nothing is pawned, nothing is held as collateral, and there is no loan or interest involved in any transaction.