Coins and bars
Coins are the category where the object most often beats the metal, and where sellers most often lose money by not knowing that.
The one rule
- Never melt a coin before someone who knows the series has looked at it.
- Date and condition can multiply the value.
- A scrap buyer will weigh it and pay metal. That is all.
United States silver coinage
The dividing line is 1964. Dimes, quarters and half dollars struck in 1964 and earlier are 90 percent silver. From 1965 dimes and quarters contain none, and half dollars dropped to 40 percent until 1970. This is why pre-65 coinage is called junk silver: not because it is junk, but because it trades on metal content rather than collectability.
| Coin | Years | Purity | Silver content |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dime (Mercury, Roosevelt) | to 1964 | 90% | 0.0715 ozt |
| Quarter (Washington) | to 1964 | 90% | 0.1808 ozt |
| Half dollar (Franklin, Kennedy) | to 1964 | 90% | 0.3617 ozt |
| Half dollar (Kennedy) | 1965 to 1970 | 40% | 0.1479 ozt |
| Morgan and Peace dollar | 1878 to 1935 | 90% | 0.7734 ozt |
| American Silver Eagle | 1986 on | 99.9% | 1.0000 ozt |
Morgan and Peace dollars are the classic mistake
They hold about three quarters of an ounce of silver, so as scrap they are worth a predictable amount. But certain dates and mint marks, and any example in genuinely uncirculated condition, are worth multiples of that to collectors. A scrap buyer has no obligation to point this out. If you have silver dollars, take them to a coin dealer before anyone weighs them.
Bullion coins and bars
Modern bullion is the simplest thing in this whole guide. An American Silver Eagle, a Canadian Maple Leaf, a Britannia, a Vienna Philharmonic and a Chinese Panda all contain a troy ounce of very pure silver, and they trade close to spot in both directions. The premium over melt is small and predictable.
Bars are simpler still. A poured or minted bar from a recognized refiner - Engelhard, Johnson Matthey, PAMP, a major mint - trades on weight and brand. Older Engelhard and Johnson Matthey poured bars carry a collector premium above their metal because production ended and stackers want them, which is worth knowing before you sell one as plain scrap.
Unbranded or homemade poured bars are the exception. Without a recognized hallmark a buyer cannot assume purity, so expect assay costs to come out of your price, or expect a lower percentage to cover the uncertainty.
Where coins should go
Sort by type before anything else
Separate pre-65 United States coinage, silver dollars, bullion coins, and world silver. Each goes to a different kind of buyer at a different price, and a mixed bag gets valued at the rate of its least interesting contents.
Do not clean them. Ever.
Cleaning a collectable coin can remove most of its premium in thirty seconds. Toning that looks like dirt to you is frequently the thing a collector is paying for. If it is dirty, leave it dirty.
Show silver dollars and anything pre-1900 to a coin dealer
This is the step that most often turns scrap money into real money, and it costs nothing but an afternoon.
Sell bullion and junk silver on percentage
For 90 percent coinage and modern bullion, the metal is the value. Compare percentages the same way you would for flatware, using the melt calculation on the valuation page.
Common questions
What is junk silver actually worth?
Its melt value, which for United States 90 percent coinage is about 0.715 troy ounces of silver per dollar of face value. Dealers quote it as a multiple of face, and that multiple moves with spot.
Are silver dollars always worth more than melt?
No. Common dates in worn condition trade close to metal. But the exceptions are numerous enough that it is never worth assuming, and the cost of checking is one visit to a dealer.
Should I get coins graded?
Only if a dealer suggests a specific coin is worth it. Grading costs money per coin and makes sense for genuinely high-grade or scarce examples, not for a jar of circulated quarters.
Do scratched bullion coins lose value?
Barely, because they sell on metal content. Milk spots and scratches matter for proof or collectable issues, not for ordinary bullion.
What about silver-plated commemorative coins?
Almost always worthless as metal. The commemorative medals sold by mail-order mints are typically plated base metal, and the certificates of authenticity attest to nothing about silver content.
Is 40 percent Kennedy silver worth keeping separate?
Yes. Mixing it with 90 percent coinage means the whole lot risks being valued at the lower rate. Sort by purity before you send anything.
Are old Engelhard bars worth more than spot?
Frequently, yes, particularly the poured ones. Production ended and collectors pay a premium. Mention the brand when you get quotes rather than describing it as a generic bar.
World silver coinage worth recognizing
Inherited coin tins are rarely all one country. British, Canadian, Australian and continental European coinage turns up constantly, and the purities differ enough to matter.
| Coinage | Silver years | Purity |
|---|---|---|
| British, pre-1920 | to 1919 | 92.5% |
| British, 1920 to 1946 | 1920 to 1946 | 50% |
| British, 1947 on | none | No silver |
| Canadian dimes to dollars | to 1967 | 80% |
| Australian pre-decimal | to 1945 / 1946 to 1963 | 92.5% then 50% |
| Mexican peso, various | to 1967 | 10% to 90% |
The 1947 line in British coinage
British silver coinage stopped containing silver entirely in 1947. Everything from that year on is cupronickel with no melt value at all, however convincingly it looks the part. Between 1920 and 1946 it is 50 percent, and before 1920 it is full sterling. Three eras, three completely different answers, and a jar of mixed British change usually contains all three.
How to present coins to a buyer
Sorted coins fetch better prices than a bag, for the same reason sorted flatware does: somebody has to do the work, and whoever does it captures the value.
Group by country, then by purity, then by whether a piece might be collectable. Count each group and write the totals down. For United States junk silver, quote the total face value, since that is the unit the trade actually uses. For anything you suspect is better than scrap, keep it out of the bag entirely and handle it separately.
Photograph both sides of anything unusual before it leaves the house. Dates and mint marks are small, and a photograph settles any later question about what was sent.
Finally, resist the urge to tidy. No cleaning, no polishing, no rubbing at the toning with a cloth to see what is underneath. More collectable value has been destroyed by well-meant preparation than by any dishonest buyer.
The three questions that decide a coin's fate
Every coin that crosses a buyer's counter gets sorted by the same three questions, in the same order, and knowing them tells you what will happen to yours.
Does it contain silver at all? For United States coinage the line is sharp: dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 and earlier are 90 percent silver, and almost everything after is not. Half dollars from 1965 to 1970 are the exception at 40 percent. Dollars are their own category. Nothing about appearance settles this; the date does.
Is it worth more than its metal? This is where value is won or lost. A common circulated coin is worth its silver, no more. A scarce date, a scarce mint mark, or a coin in genuinely uncirculated condition can be worth several times melt, and occasionally very much more. A buyer paying scrap rates will not tell you which you have, because it is not their job to.
Has anything been done to it? Cleaning, polishing, mounting in jewelry, or a hole drilled for a chain all reduce a collectible coin to a metal coin. This is permanent and it is the single most common way value is destroyed at home, usually by someone trying to make the coins look nicer before selling them.
How to sort a jar without becoming an expert
You do not need to identify varieties or grade condition. You need to separate the coins that deserve a second opinion from the ones that are simply metal, and that is a mechanical process.
Start by date. Anything dated 1964 or earlier goes in one pile. Everything else, apart from half dollars up to 1970, is almost certainly not silver and can be set aside without further thought.
From the silver pile, pull anything that looks barely circulated: sharp detail, original luster, no wear on the high points. Pull anything with a mint mark you have to look twice at. Pull anything that is not an ordinary dime, quarter or half dollar, including dollars, foreign coins, and anything commemorative. Those are the coins worth showing to a dealer who buys collectibles rather than a refiner who buys weight.
What is left is bullion by another name, and it should be valued exactly as scrap: weight, purity, spot. The arithmetic page covers that sum, and it is the same one you would use for flatware.
An hour of this on a jar that was heading for a scrap buyer is routinely the difference between one number and several times that number. It is also the part nobody does, because the jar is heavy and the pile is boring and the offer is already sitting there.
Why a scrap buyer will not do this for you
It is worth being clear that this is not usually dishonesty. A mail-in refiner is set up to receive weight, assay it, and pay a percentage. Sorting a jar coin by coin is skilled work that takes time, and their business model does not include it. If you send a mixed jar to a refiner, everything in it is priced as metal, and that is what you agreed to.
A coin dealer will sort, because collectible coins are their inventory. That is why the same jar can produce two very different numbers depending on who opens it, and why the sorting question matters more here than anywhere else on this site.
The practical rule: if you have any coins at all, take the silver pile to somebody who buys coins before you send anything to somebody who buys metal. The worst outcome of that visit is that they confirm it is all common, and you send it to the refiner anyway, having lost an afternoon.