Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Circulating U.S. Silver Coin Melt Values

1964 Silver Kennedy Half Dollar

Melt values for old U.S. 90% silver coins have been soaring right along with the recent 30-year high silver prices. Silver rallied 9% last week, capping a 59% gain for the year.

With such increases, it is simple math to calculate how much silver bars, rounds or American Silver Eagles have increased in value. However, it is more challenging to determine how much old worn out coins composed of 90% silver are worth.

Specifically, we're talking about coins minted before 1965 that circulated in daily change and have little to no numismatic value due to their poor quality, lack of rarity, etc.

Take a look at how melt values for several old U.S. circulating coins have changed in recent years, to include their latest values based on an early Monday AM spot price of $26.80.

Coin Melt Values
(Silver at $5.30 on Jan. 4,
2000)Coin Melt Values
(Silver at $6.39 Jan 4,
2005)Coin Melt Values
(Silver at $17.17 on Jan 4,
2010)Coin Melt Values
(Silver at $18.30 on June 1,
2010)Coin Melt Values
(Silver at $26.80 on Nov. 8,
2010)Washington Quarters (1932-1964)Walking Liberty Half Dollars (1916-1947)Franklin Half Dollars (1948-1963)Kennedy Half Dollars (1965-1970 at 40% silver)

The above are all 90 percent silver coins. Taking wear and tear into the equation, which dealers will, $10 combinations of the coins calculate to about 7.15 ounces of silver. However, instead of doing the math, their are melt calculators on the Internet that do the work automatically. Two of them reside on Coin Collecting News partner sites at:

These melt calculators take the daily silver spot price, ask for the quantity of coins by type and then automatically calculate the intrinsic silver or melt values. They also provide a variable bid/ask price spread since a consumer buying from a dealer will pay more than spot price for silver coins while a dealer will pay less to acquire them.

Often, pre-1965 coins that offer little numismatic value may be purchased in rolls or bags. These bags can usually be found in face amounts ranging from $50 to $1,000.

Related posts:

US Circulating Silver Coin ValuesGetting 10 Times a Coin’s Face ValueTagged as:


View the original article here

No comments:

Post a Comment