What kind of junk silver should i buy

Because these coins have stayed in circulation, and were circulated for such a long time, they underwent a great deal of natural wear that ruined the quality of the coins—their face, details, edges and noticeable intricacies.

Coin collectors are most interested in coins that are of a high-quality grade. The quality grade of coins are usually noted by a collector for their detail that is unmarred, edges that are visibly clean and more. This means that the coins should be as close to their original condition as possible— i. While junk silver is of notable worth to investors, it is of little worth to coin collectors.

For investors, be happy for this, as it means you have less of a pool of people to compete against when seeking out bags. One of the main questions people tend to have when searching for junk silver is to question whether or not the coins in your possession—dimes, quarters and half dollars—are actually junk silver or not.

One of the easiest ways to determine this is by looking at the edge of the coin in your possession. If the coins in your possession have this characteristic, it means that the coin primarily consists of copper, not silver. However, if you have an older coin whose edges are still silver, even following a great deal of wear throughout its time in circulation, this means that you are in possession of a junk silver coin.

While there are easy ways to determine whether the coins you own or are considering purchasing are silver or not, there are a number of notions to consider when purchasing.

In particular, if you are unsure of whether the investment is worth it, you should take the benefits of junk silver into consideration—of which these are both numerous and noteworthy. Investing in both silver bullion and junk silver has a great deal of potential for investors seeking to increase the value of their portfolio. The primary benefit with silver is that it is not a flat currency like the U.

Like silver bars, silver rounds represent one of the cheapest avenues for buying silver. Silver coins usually do come with higher premiums, but they are legal tender coins that can be spent as money.

Silver coins are very liquid, in large part thanks to their crossover appeal with coin collectors and widespread popularity in the general marketplace. At times when silver coins temporarily drop in value due to the price of silver falling, one might be able to recoup those losses by selling the coins to numismatic collectors who need silver coins of certain dates and mintmarks to fill holes in their collections.

Junk silver coins may be more expensive than silver rounds or silver bars, but they carry several advantages:. These are automatically worth at least their melt value—i. Some of these old silver coins are rare and valuable and thus worth even more than their silver content. You can search our ever-growing list of articles that address which of these coins are collectible. There are also many guidebooks that can teach you which silver coins are worth saving due to their inherent rarity and numismatic value.

This largely depends on the date, mintmark, and condition of the coin. In most cases, well-worn common-date silver dimes are worth prices quite near their spot intrinsic values. However, you might find this chart below with silver dime value approximations useful:. Junk Silver Dime Prices. The date, mintmark, and individual condition of a coin are all factors in determining what it is worth.

However, most well-circulated, common-date silver quarters made since the mids are worth their intrinsic metal value. So, one way to answer this question is to provide a graph of what a typical silver quarter is worth in terms of its silver content. You'll find these calculations below, based on different silver price points:. Junk Silver Quarter Prices.

As with any coin, the date, mintmark, and condition are all important factors in determining the value of any individual half dollar, including silver half dollars. Most well-circulated common-date silver half dollars made since are worth their intrinsic silver value. Most circulated common-date silver half dollars made since the s are worth only their intrinsic value.

The guide below will help give you an idea what your halves may be worth contingent on the current price of silver per ounce. Junk Silver Half Dollar Prices. In the most basic sense, you can usually determine whether a dime, quarter, half dollar, or dollar coin is clad or silver based on its date. Dimes and quarters produced before are made from silver. All those made afterward, except for some collector-only issues, are clad. All circulating half dollars issued from to date are made from copper-nickel clad.

Circulating issues made afterward were produced in clad. There are a couple caveats here. For one, there are those aforementioned silver-based, collector-only issues. Then there are a handful of errors involving coins that were intended to be struck in clad format but accidentally struck on silver planchets.

Any coins you suspect may be off-metal errors or transitional errors should be weighed to determine their composition and submitted to a trusted numismatic professional, such as a major third-party coin grading service, for further testing, authentication, and official attribution. The United States government stopped making silver coins for circulation because it got too expensive. When this happened, many in the public found it more profitable to hoard these silver coins for their valuable precious metal content rather than to spend the coins for face value.

This helped lead to a major coin shortage in and It persuaded government officials to choose a cheaper metal for minting dimes, quarters, and half dollars. Dollar coins were not officially being produced at this time.

After experimentation, United States Treasury and United States Mint officials decided on a copper-nickel clad composition. Basically, the coins used a pure copper "sandwich" between two copper-nickel outer layers. This was the best choice for minting coinage without compromising the acceptability of these coins in commerce, vending machines, and elsewhere. The United States phased out the use of silver in circulating coins over the course of the s and early s.

The first changes came in , when silver was completely removed from new dimes and quarters. By the late s, the United States government began planning the full debasement of the half dollar. Beginning in , no circulating United States coinage was struck with any amount of silver.

The last circulating silver dimes are dated , and the United States Mint began striking copper-nickel clad dimes in These more recent silver dimes were sold only in proof sets and other special mint products.

As we explained above, the main advantage of buying silver is that it has a much lower spot price than gold. Both gold and silver will be capable of making purchases of key commodities in a world following a major apocalyptic event. But the startup investment cost for gold is great, and even fractional denominations of gold are relatively expensive. It can be difficult to barter for most common items using gold alone.

And in a survival situation, these common necessity items are generally the most important objects to barter for. Survival experts recommend carrying a variety of different currencies. Gold also has a few big advantages.

Specifically, gold is great for making large purchases. It would take a whole lot of silver bullion, silver rounds, or silver coins to pay for an expensive medical procedure or a car, for example. Paying in gold for massive purchases in a survival scenario might require a currency with a higher spot price, because these currencies require less denomination to make these purchases. In our minds, this makes silver the first stop for collectors looking to stock up to be prepared for whatever the future holds.

Big expenditures are sometimes necessary, so diversifying your portfolio is never a bad thing. However, most immediate needs in a survival situation will be better acquired by using silver items as currency. Recognizable silver coins are going to be some of the most valuable trading commodities in any survival situation in the near future. While the design on a coin has little purchasing power on its own, certain coins already have an established value among collectors well-versed in the bullion economy.

Both coins and rounds have popular series. This is particularly helpful when it comes to verifying value. Unrecognizable coins might be composed of high silver content, but distrusting traders might not know this at first glance.

There are multiple easily identifiable coins circulating the American bullion market. The American Silver Eagle Coin is one surefire option. The U. Its image of the American bald eagle is instantly recognizable to anyone who remembers the history and majesty of the US republic. The Morgan Silver Dollar is another popular option for silver collectors. Additionally, the Kennedy Half Dollar, Washington quarter, Roosevelt and mercury dimes as well as a few other denominations that are recognizable American coins minted with a 90 percent of pure silver.

Coins minted in the U. New Gold Jewelry. Platinum Coins. Platinum Bars. Shop by Mint. US Mint. Royal Canadian Mint. Perth Mint. British Royal Mint. Chinese Mint. New Zealand Mint. Mexican Mint. Sunshine Minting. Scottsdale Mint. Germania Mint. Gold Spot Price. Silver Spot Price. Platinum Spot Price. Palladium Spot Price.

Gold Silver IRAs. Gold Silver Storage. Investing Guide. Gold Silver News. July 13, By James Anderson. What is Junk Silver? What is a fair premium for junk silver? Is junk silver a good investment? Check out our post about the Junk Silver Prices How much do you get for junk silver coins? Should I invest in junk silver, silver bars, or silver bullion coins? The list includes: Barber dimes; Mercury dimes; Roosevelt dimes; Barber quarters; Standing Liberty quarters; Washington quarters; Barber half dollars; Walking Liberty half dollars; Franklin half dollars; Kennedy half dollars only in Morgan dollars; Peace dollars; It is noteworthy that any varieties or mint errors in the coins from the list above will substantially increase their value to a coin collector and, therefore, should be separated and sold for more than their intrinsic value.

When did the US Mint stop producing silver coins? What junk silver coins should I buy? How many junk silver coins does it take to make an ounce of silver? That being said, here is a table showing how many junk silver coins it takes to make 1 troy ounce of silver the same amount in American Silver Eagle coins : Denomination Troy ounce per specimen How many to 1 troy oz Silver Dime 0. What is the melt value of the junk silver coins?

Is it illegal to melt junk silver coins? Is it worth melting junk silver coins? What else can I do with my junk silver coins besides selling them? Where can I sell my junk silver coins for melt value? Is it better to sell junk silver coins for melt? You May Also Like. How to Buy Silver Coins. How Much is a Silver Dollar Worth? Melt Value? November 01, October 25, October 18, October 11, October 04,