US Silver Coin Melt Calculator


The US Silver Coin Melt Calculator lets you determine the value of silver within circulating coins quickly and easily. Simply enter the quantity of coins in the yellow boxes, adjust the silver spot price (if you wish), or even the default bid/ask spread percentage. The Silver Coin Calculator does all the rest!

The U.S. spot silver price was last updated on 10/6/2017 5:59:25 PM EST.

 

Silver Coin Type

Year of Issue

Coin Face Value

How Many Coins?

  Jefferson War Nickels
1942-1945
$0.05
  Mercury Dimes
1916-1945
$0.10
  Roosevelt Dimes
1946-1964
$0.10
  Washington Quarters
1932-1964
$0.25
  Walking Liberty Half Dollars
1916-1947
$0.50
  Franklin Half Dollars
1948-1963
$0.50
  Kennedy Half Dollars
1964
$0.50
  Kennedy Half Dollar
1965-1970
$0.50
  Morgan Dollars
1878-1921
$1.00
  Peace Dollars
1921-1935
$1.00
  Eisenhower Dollars
1971-1976
$1.00
  Silver Eagles (1 oz)
1986-2010
$1.00

Silver Coin Value, Spot Price and Coin Total

Silver Spot:
Total Coins:
Coin Value:

Silver Weight


Bid/Ask Price Spread

Default %
Ask Price:
Bid Price:

 

An important fact to remember about the US Silver Coin Melt Calculator is it measures a coin or coins silver value content, not its numismatic value. Rare or better conditioned coins will always exceed their silver melt value.

 

Coins sold or purchased for their intrinsic or melt value alone are often referred to as "junk silver coins," and are typically composed of 90 percent silver. A few samplings of such coins are shown above in the block of eBay auctions.

As must be realized, the value of these coins -- since they have no real worth to collectors because they are not rare or have poor quality due to their wear, can change daily depending on the silver market.

For example, at the very end of 2009 the price of silver was often quoted at $17 an ounce. Using that price and the melt calculator above, a silver 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar had calculated melt value of $6.15. That is pretty impressive for a coin that could be found in every day change, and was only worth 50 cents back in 1964. However, silver prices topped $23 an ounce during the first week of October 2010. Placing $23 in the coin melt calculator shows that the Kennedy Half Dollar's intrinsic value then jumped to $8.32 -- more than $2 in 10 months.

Of course, junk silver coins are not only affected by the daily price of silver, but also by demand. Finding bags and rolls of US 90 percent silver coins can be difficult at times, especially when silver prices are moving higher. During those times, coin and precious metals dealers have to pay more to acquire them, and they will also charge more when selling them. Therefore, the bid/ask spread for such transactions can be fluid.