I recently came into possession of about 45 lbs of silver coins from the mid-1960’s-mostly Kennedy half dollars, quarters, etc. I doubt they have any numismatic value, so I plant to sell them for their silver value-what are they worth?
I’m not exactly sure, but I think that melting the coins may be illegal. Nevertheless, you should be able to sell them for something very close to the value of their silver content.
First you have to sure they’re all really silver. Naturally one- and five-cent coins from this period had no silver content. The changeover from silver to copper-nickel composition started in 1965. Dimes, quarters and half dollars minted 1964 or earlier contain 89 or 90% silver. No circulating dimes or quarters dated 1965 or later contain any silver at all. Franklin half-dollars up to 1963 and Kennedy half-dollars (1964 dates only) contain the usual 89 or 90% silver. Kennedy halves dated 1965 to 1975 inclusive contain 40% silver, and those dated after 1976 contain no silver. There were no dollar coins produced for circulation during the 1960s. Any Eisenhower dollars (1971 onward) intended for circulation contain no silver. The mint produced some silver-clad Kennedy halves and Eisenhower dollars in 1976, but they’re a minority, and I’m not sure they were intended for circulation.
Also, be sure to check for any Canadian coins that may be mixed in. Canada made switch away from silver at roughly the same time as the US, but the exact dates and percentages above do not apply.
Assuming you have nothing but 1964 or earlier dimes, quarters, and half dollars …
45 lb avoirdupois weight = 720 ounces avoirdupois weight = 656.25 ounces troy weight.
Coinage silver was about 89% silver. 0.89*656.25 = 584 ounces troy weight.
At 12.80/oz, that’s about $7,475.00
Never mind. It looks like the regulation against melting silver coins ended in 1969.
Before you pass them off for silver value, have them inspected. You may have something in there worth more.
Most coin shops will buy them at silver value minus a small fee.
You do realize they aren’t pure silver, right?1965-1970 Kennedy halfs are 80% silver, 20% copper bonded to a core of 21.5 % silver and 78.5% copper, They don’t melt that easily.
An alternative is taking them to just about any coin dealer, who will buy them at a bulk rate.
1964 dated and earlier dimes, quarters and halves are 90% silver, 10% copper. Multiply each $1 face value .725 x spot price of silver for their “melt” value. .715 is a figure used for well worn examples. Half dollars only 65-69 contained 40% silver.
It is illegal to melt cents and nickles once again, since silver coinage has been demonetized, presumably the new law doesn’t apply. In any case it’s legal to sell silver coins for their market value.
Interesting, I’m in the UK and have a load of pre-1947 silver that I collected as a kid.
I need to junk it - it feels like a good 20lbs
“Silver” UK coins minted between 1920 and 1947 were only 50% silver. Before 1920 it was 92.5% but I doubt if you’ll have many of those. Still, 10lbs equivalent of silver sounds worth selling rather than junking.
The scrap value will be less than the current spot or market rate (which as noted above is somewhere around $12.80). But the scrap rate should be a percentage of the market price, so you will get a higher rate when the spot price is high, as it has been recently.
If you go directly to a refiner, there are all kinds of fees that you pay for the refining process before you get paid. I imagine a coin dealer who buys for scrap would turn around and send it to the refiner so you will still be paying those fees one way or another.
This is a moot point if melting the coins is illegal. And I agree it makes sense to see if you can get more selling them as coins. But if it is legal, before you sell as scrap to a coin dealer you might want to try contacting a couple of refiners and see what they say (they can probably also tell you if they can accept coins). It isn’t worth going that route for small amounts of metal but for 45 pounds it might be worth looking into.
Here are a couple of metal suppliers I know of that buy scrap:
I do this for a living. As of Saturday, with spot silver at $12.80, we were paying 8.3 times face value for pre-1965 silver coins. When we ship it to the refiner/agent, we get about 8.8 times face value, less the cost of shipping. So for $100 face value, we pay $830 and get back about $870 net.
For halves made from 1965-1970, the 40% stuff, we pay $1.50/coin and get about $1.70/coin after shipping.
Definitely call a few coin dealers and ask them what they are paying on 90% silver and sell it to them. Tell them about how much you have to get the best rate. Depending on your city, you might get offered a bit lower but not likely much higher.
There is NO numismatic value for average circulated dimes, quarters or halves dated from 1940-1964. Sure, if you have an original roll from the early 50’s, in uncirculated condition, then you have something better.
For US 90% silver coins, there really isn’t any reason for the “consumer” to go the refinery route. Shipping charges alone would make this a dead end.
There is a ready market by collectors and investors for what are known in the trade as “face bags” or $1000 face value bags of dimes, quarters, halves, etc. About 55 pounds and the size of a bowling ball, they are I’m told, rather unwieldy. But any decent sized coin shop is always buying any amount of silver coinage at very near the “spot” price of silver, and it is very unlikely that any refineries (fairly rare) are near the average consumer, so again one is left with the expensive proposition of shipping charges for transport to a refinery. A coin shop is the way to go.
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We in the coin business, since we do ship very heavy bags of coins every week, are always looking for ways to save money. The US Pot Office, in it’s desire to be competitive, finally in the last year or so came up with what’s called a flat rate box. The postage is a flat $8.10 to ship any weight to any state in the US. So, we ship a 55 pound box to California, it costs only $8.10 plus the insurance. Incredible.
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“Melt value” is a general term that refers to the silver content, not necessarily the actual melting of the coins.
As mentioned by others, you can take it to any bullion dealer and get the daily ‘spot’ value for the silver. Condition of the coins means nothing to this type of operation. Or sell them on ebay as ‘unsearched rolls’. People love a treasure hunt.