A silver coin is worth its silver content first, and with silver near $58 an ounce as of late 2026 that means about $4.20 for a US dime dated 1964 or earlier, $10.50 for a quarter, $21 for a half dollar, $8.60 for a 40 percent silver half from 1965 to 1970, $3.25 for a 1942 to 1945 war nickel and $45 for a Morgan or Peace dollar. In bulk, $1 face value of 90 percent coins holds about 0.715 ounces, roughly $41.50 of silver. Dealers buying common "junk" silver in 2026 have usually paid somewhere around 90 to 100 percent of that melt value, sometimes a little less after the big run-up in silver, while bullion coins such as Silver Eagles and Maple Leafs sell at retail for a few dollars over spot and are bought back near spot.
Junk silver means worn, common-date silver coins valued only for their metal. The word is not an insult: it is the standard dealer term, and it covers most of the silver coins people find. The useful skill is knowing the silver content of each coin, the current spot price, and which coins to pull out before anything is sold by weight.
Quick answer
- 90 percent US silver at $58: dime $4.20, quarter $10.50, half $21, Morgan or Peace dollar $45.
- 40 percent halves (1965-1970) about $8.60; 35 percent war nickels about $3.25; 40 percent Ikes about $18.35.
- $1 face value of 90 percent coins holds about 0.715 oz, about $41.50.
- Dealers typically pay around 90-100 percent of melt for junk silver in 2026, varying by dealer and market.
- 1 oz bullion coins: about spot plus $4-10 retail, near spot when you sell.
How to value silver coins, step by step
- Sort out the silver. For US coins, dimes, quarters and halves dated 1964 or earlier are 90 percent silver. Halves dated 1965 to 1970 are 40 percent. Nickels dated 1942 to 1945 with a large P, D or S above Monticello are 35 percent. Our guide on how to tell if a coin is silver covers the edge, ring and weight tests.
- Pull the key dates first. Before anything is weighed, check every coin against the key date lists: a 1916-D dime, a 1932-D or 1932-S quarter, a 1921 Walking Liberty half, an 1893-S Morgan. These are worth far more than melt and must not go into a junk bag.
- Count face value by type. Dealers price 90 percent silver per dollar of face value. Ten dimes, four quarters or two halves each make $1 face.
- Check today's spot price. Use a live quote from a bullion dealer or a financial site. Silver moves every day, sometimes by several percent.
- Multiply. For 90 percent coins, face value times 0.715 times spot gives the melt value of worn coins. For single coins, use the per-coin silver weights in the table below.
- Ask what the dealer pays as a percent of melt. Call two or three dealers with the same list: face value by type, plus the count of any 40 percent and 35 percent coins. The spread between them is often bigger than you expect.
- Price bullion coins separately. Silver Eagles, Maple Leafs, Britannias and other one-ounce coins are priced per coin at spot plus or minus a premium.
Silver content and melt values
Pure silver per coin and melt value at $58 an ounce, as of late 2026. Melt scales with spot: at $50 silver, multiply each figure by about 0.86; at $70, by about 1.21.
| Coin | Years | Fineness | Pure silver | Melt at $58 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dime (Barber, Mercury, Roosevelt) | 1892-1964 | 90% | 0.0723 oz | About $4.20 |
| Quarter (Barber, Standing Liberty, Washington) | 1892-1964 | 90% | 0.1808 oz | About $10.50 |
| Half dollar (Barber, Walking Liberty, Franklin, Kennedy) | 1892-1964 | 90% | 0.3617 oz | About $21 |
| Kennedy half dollar | 1965-1970 | 40% | 0.1479 oz | About $8.60 |
| Jefferson war nickel, large mint mark | 1942-1945 | 35% | 0.0563 oz | About $3.25 |
| Morgan, Peace and Seated dollars | 1840-1935 | 90% | 0.7734 oz | About $44.85 |
| Eisenhower dollar with S, 40% | 1971-1976 | 40% | 0.3161 oz | About $18.35 |
| Bicentennial quarter or half with S, 40% | 1976 | 40% | 0.0739 oz / 0.1479 oz | About $4.30 / $8.60 |
| $1 face of 90% dimes, quarters or halves | Bulk | 90% | About 0.715 oz | About $41.50 |
| Canadian dollar | 1935-1967 | 80% | 0.60 oz | About $34.80 |
| American Silver Eagle | 1986 on | .999 | 1.00 oz | $58 |
| Canadian Maple Leaf, Britannia, Philharmonic | Various | .999 to .9999 | 1.00 oz | $58 |
The 0.715 figure for bulk 90 percent silver is a dealer convention that allows for wear. A brand-new $1 face of dimes would hold 0.723 ounces, but worn coins have lost a little metal, and buyers and sellers in the trade use 0.715.
What dealers actually pay
Melt value is the reference, not the price. What you receive depends on the coin and on the market that week.
| What you are selling | What dealers typically pay, as of late 2026 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 90% junk dimes, quarters, halves | Roughly 90-100% of melt | In 2026 bulk junk has traded near or a few percent below melt after the silver rally; small lots may get less |
| 40% Kennedy halves | Somewhat below their melt | Fewer buyers, harder to refine |
| 35% war nickels | Often below melt | Lowest silver content, least liquid |
| Common Morgan and Peace dollars | Melt or a little above | Dealers resell them as coins, not as scrap |
| Silver Eagles | About spot to spot plus a dollar or two | Easy to resell at a premium |
| Maple Leafs, Britannias, other 1 oz coins | Near spot, sometimes slightly under | Varies by dealer |
| Damaged, holed or worn-smooth coins | At or below melt | Sold strictly as metal |
These are honest ranges, not fixed rates. Buy prices for junk silver swing more than for gold, because they depend on how much dealers already have on their shelves. When silver spiked earlier in 2026 and owners sold heavily, several dealers bought below melt; in tight markets they have paid over melt. Ask for the buy price as a percent of melt or a price per dollar of face, and compare.
A pawn shop or a "we buy gold" storefront usually pays less than a coin shop or bullion dealer. A coin shop also checks for key dates before it pays scrap prices, which protects you, but only if you have not already sold the coins by the pound.
Bullion coins
Bullion coins carry their silver content on their face and are valued by weight and premium, not by date. A common American Silver Eagle sells at retail for about $62-68 with silver at $58 and is bought back near $58-61. Canadian Maple Leafs, British Britannias, Austrian Philharmonics and Mexican Libertads hold one ounce each and sell a little cheaper than Eagles. The exceptions are proofs in original boxes, low-mintage Libertads and certain key-date Eagles, which collectors pay more for.
Fractional silver coins and silver rounds, privately made coin-like pieces, sell close to their silver value. Modern US commemorative silver dollars from 1983 on hold 0.7734 ounces and most trade close to melt.
For silver in bar form, our silver bar value guide covers sizes and premiums.
A worked example
Say you inherit a coffee can with 60 dimes, 30 quarters and 11 halves, all dated 1964 or earlier, $19 in face value, plus 12 Kennedy halves dated 1966 to 1969 and eight war nickels.
First you check dates. One quarter is a 1932 with a D on the reverse. That coin comes out: a worn 1932-D sells for hundreds of dollars, as our silver quarters guide explains. Everything else is common.
The remaining 90 percent coins are $6 in dimes, $7.25 in quarters and $5.50 in halves, $18.75 face. At 0.715 ounces per dollar face and $58 silver, that is about 13.4 ounces, roughly $778 in melt. The 12 Kennedy halves hold about 1.78 ounces, roughly $103. The eight war nickels hold about 0.45 ounces, roughly $26. Total melt for the junk lot: about $905.
A dealer paying 92 percent on the 90 percent coins and somewhat less on the rest would offer roughly $800-840. Add the 1932-D, sold separately, and the can is worth roughly $1,000 or more. If you had sold it all by weight, the dealer would have quietly kept the 1932-D.
Common mistakes
- Selling by weight without checking dates. Key dates hide in junk silver. Spend twenty minutes with a loupe before selling.
- Using the wrong silver figure for 40 percent coins. A 1965 to 1970 half holds 0.1479 ounces, less than half of a 1964 half.
- Counting 1965 and later quarters and dimes as silver. They are clad. The rare exceptions, like a 1965 quarter struck on a silver blank, weigh more.
- Expecting full melt from a pawn shop. Expect less, and compare with a coin shop.
- Cleaning silver before selling. It does nothing for melt value and destroys any collector premium, as our guide on cleaning old coins explains.
- Treating "silver plated" or "silver layered" souvenir coins as silver. They contain almost none.
How WorthPic reads silver coin photos
WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. For silver coins it reads the series, date and mint mark, sorts 90 percent, 40 percent and 35 percent coins, and checks each against the key dates that should not be sold as junk. Where the edge is visible, it looks for the copper stripe of a clad coin. It then gives the silver content and an honest value range. A photo cannot weigh a coin or test its metal, so it cannot catch a well-made counterfeit or a coin struck on the wrong blank, and it says so. It identifies and estimates. It does not authenticate, grade or appraise.
What to photograph
- Coins spread out by type, dates up, in even light, so every date is readable.
- The reverse of each coin for the mint mark on older series.
- The edges of a stack, tilted toward the light, to show silver or copper.
- Any bullion coin straight on, with the weight and fineness legend readable.
- Close-ups of any coin that looks better than the rest, in case it is uncirculated.
When to get it looked at in person
Junk silver does not need grading. Take it to two or three local coin dealers with your face value counts and ask for a buy price. For anything from the key date lists, any coin that looks fully uncirculated, or a large lot you have not sorted, ask a dealer to go through it with you, or bring it to a coin club meeting first. For key dates worth several hundred dollars or more, PCGS or NGC grading can add more than its roughly $20-60 fee. Our coin value hub links to every US series guide.