Junk silver: what it is, how much silver it holds and how it’s priced

At a glance

Main coins	Dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 or earlier (90% silver)
Silver per $1 of face value	About 0.715 troy oz in circulated coins (0.7234 oz when new)
Other silver coins	Kennedy halves from 1965 to 1970 (40% silver); wartime nickels (35%)
How it’s sold	By face value, from $1 up to $1,000 bags
Premium in our September 2026 check	0.8% to 7.7% over the value of the silver
Allowed in an IRA?	No

Which coins count

Until 1965, U.S. dimes, quarters and half dollars were made of 90% silver and 10% copper. The Coinage Act of 1965 took the silver out of dimes and quarters and cut the half dollar to 40% silver. The 40% half was made until 1970, when a new law removed the silver altogether. The Mint has since made silver versions for collectors, such as the quarters in its silver proof sets, but those are collector coins, not junk silver.

Coin	Years	Weight	Silver per coin
Dime	1964 and earlier	2.5 g	0.0723 troy oz
Quarter	1964 and earlier	6.25 g	0.1808 troy oz
Half dollar	1964 and earlier	12.5 g	0.3617 troy oz
Kennedy half dollar (40%)	1965 to 1970	11.5 g	0.1479 troy oz
Jefferson “war nickel” (35%)	1942 to 1945	5 g	0.0563 troy oz
Morgan and Peace dollars	1878 to 1935	26.73 g	0.7734 troy oz

Morgan and Peace silver dollars contain more silver per dollar of face value than the smaller coins, but most sell as collectibles at higher premiums. Only heavily worn ones are usually sold as junk silver.

Why 0.715 ounces per dollar

A dollar’s worth of new 90% coins, such as ten dimes or four quarters, contains 22.5 grams of silver, or 0.7234 troy ounces. Coins that spent decades in circulation have lost a little metal to wear, so the trade figures circulated coins at 0.715 ounces per dollar of face value. A $1,000 face value bag is counted as about 715 ounces. That 0.715 figure is a trading convention for normally worn 90% dimes, quarters and half dollars, not a guaranteed amount for every lot, and very worn coins hold less. It doesn’t apply to 40% halves, war nickels or silver dollars.

At Forbes Advisor’s September 25, 2026 silver price of $64.77 an ounce, $1 of face value held about $46.31 of silver, and a single worn dime about $4.63. Our melt value calculator works this out at any spot price you enter. Choose “90% silver coins, per $1 face value (worn)” to use the 0.715 figure; its separate dime, quarter and half dollar choices use the weights of new coins.

How dealers price it

Dealers quote junk silver per $1 of face value, or as a multiple of face value, and sell it in lots from $1 up to $1,000 bags. The price moves with silver and with supply: when buyers rush in, junk silver premiums can rise quickly.

In our September 2026 premium check, APMEX charged $50.08 per $1 of face value in mixed coins, 7.7% over the value of the silver. Money Metals Exchange charged $49.25 for $1 in quarters, 6.0% over. SD Bullion’s smallest lot, a $5 roll of dimes, came to $46.74 per dollar, 0.8% over. Money Metals would have bought the same quarters back for $40.03 per dollar, well below the silver’s value, so check buyback prices before you buy small lots.

The pros and cons

Junk silver has some real advantages:

• Small pieces. A dime holds about a fourteenth of an ounce of silver, which makes it easy to buy or sell a little at a time.
• Low premiums in larger lots. Bags and rolls usually cost less over spot than 1 oz government coins such as the Silver Eagle.
• Familiar coins. U.S. coins with known silver content are recognized by dealers across the country.

And some drawbacks:

• Bulk. $1,000 in face value weighs about 55 pounds, and dimes and quarters take up more room than bars holding the same silver.
• Wear and mixed lots. You get whatever mix of dates and conditions the dealer has, and the silver content is an average.
• Fakes exist. Counterfeit 90% silver coins have turned up in common dates too, so buy from established dealers.
• No IRA. These coins can’t be held in a precious metals IRA.

Junk silver and IRAs

The tax code treats coins bought by an IRA as collectibles, with narrow exceptions. It names specific coins, such as the American Silver Eagle, and allows bullion that meets the purity required for futures delivery, which is 99.9% for silver. Pre-1965 coins are neither, so they don’t qualify. Our guide to silver IRAs lists what does.

Taxes

Outside an IRA, junk silver is taxed like other silver bullion. A gain is taxed as a collectible, at a top federal rate of 28% if you held the coins more than a year, as our guide to how gold and silver are taxed explains. Keep your purchase records so you can show what you paid.

Buying tips

• Compare the price per $1 of face value with 0.715 times the current spot price.
• Ask whether the lot is dimes, quarters, halves or a mix, and whether any 40% or clad coins are included.
• Check the edges. Silver coins have a solid silver-colored edge, while circulation dimes and quarters from 1965 on show a copper stripe. The edge won’t tell you whether a coin is fake.
• Get a buyback quote too, since small lots can cost a lot to sell.

Frequently asked questions