· The ScrapTally Team · Precious Metals & Microscrapping · 3 min read
Junk Silver 101: The Pre-1965 Coins Hiding in Ordinary Change
Until 1964, US dimes, quarters, and halves were 90% silver — and millions are still sitting in jars and inherited coffee cans. Here's how to spot them in seconds, what they're worth, and where to sell.
“Junk silver” is the least accurate name in scrapping: it refers to ordinary US coins minted 1964 and earlier, when dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollars were struck in 90% silver. “Junk” only means no collector premium — the silver itself is very real, very liquid, and worth roughly 20× face value at recent spot prices. Millions of these coins are still sitting in inherited jars, and telling them apart from modern clad coins takes about two seconds once you know how.
Which coins are silver
| Coin | Years | Silver | Content each |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dime (Mercury, Roosevelt) | 1964 & earlier | 90% | 0.0715 ozt |
| Quarter (Washington & earlier) | 1964 & earlier | 90% | 0.1788 ozt |
| Half dollar (Kennedy, Franklin, Walking Liberty) | 1964 & earlier | 90% | 0.3575 ozt |
| Half dollar (Kennedy) | 1965–1970 | 40% | 0.1479 ozt |
| Dollar (Morgan, Peace) | 1935 & earlier | 90% | 0.7734 ozt |
| Nickel (“war nickel”) | 1942–1945 | 35% | 0.0563 ozt |
Two easy traps: 1965–1970 Kennedy halves look identical to their silver predecessors but are only 40% (still worth pulling — just less), and war nickels are the only silver nickels ever made — spot them by the oversized mint mark above Monticello on the reverse.
The two-second test
- Read the date. 1964 or earlier on a dime, quarter, or half = silver.
- Check the edge. A silver coin’s edge is solid silver-white; a modern clad coin shows a copper stripe through the middle like a sandwich. This is the fastest way to scan a whole jar — tilt the stack and the clad coins give themselves away.
Silver coins also sound different — a higher, longer ring when dropped on a hard surface — and feel slightly heavier for their size, but the edge test settles it.
What a pile is worth
The market convention for circulated 90% coinage is 0.715 troy ounces of silver per $1 of face value (a fresh coin holds ~0.723; the convention discounts for wear). So a $10 face-value roll of pre-1965 quarters carries about 7.15 ozt of actual silver. Count your coins and run them against today’s spot:
Your silver
Look for the stamp: "925"/"STERLING", "800", "999". Silver-plate (EPNS, "silver on copper") has no melt value — a magnet won't tell you, but a hallmark will.
Edit to override.
Coin shops commonly pay 90–95% of melt for recognized junk silver; refiners similar for sterling lots; pawn and walk-in buyers much less.
(Switch the calculator to US 90% coins mode and enter counts — it applies the right content per coin, including 40% halves and war nickels.)
Where to sell — and where not to
Junk silver is the most liquid thing in this entire hobby. Unlike a bucket of wire, it has a published, contested market price, and coin shops commonly pay 90–95% of melt — sometimes at or over melt when bullion demand runs hot. Online bullion dealers buy it too, at tight spreads.
What you should never do is sell silver coins to a scrap yard or a generic “we buy gold” counter — they’ll price them like scrap metal, at scrap-metal discounts. Coins go to coin and bullion dealers, full stop. Walk in knowing your count and the melt number, and the negotiation is already over.
One caveat before you sell by the pound
Scan the pile for anything that looks unusually old or crisp. Key dates and better coins carry collector value far above melt — Barber and Seated Liberty coinage, Carson City (“CC”) mint marks, uncirculated-looking pieces. Five minutes with a coin reference before selling a inherited collection as bulk silver has paid for entire vacations. When in doubt, ask the coin shop to check — reputable ones will tell you.
Keep learning
- Gold in the same inheritance box? How to Sell Scrap Gold.
- The Scrap Silver calculator on its own page.
- All the Precious Metals & Microscrapping guides.