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 Replies: 34 / Views: 4,138 |
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Valued Member
United States
54 Posts |
I have some coins passed down to me. They are obviously circulated ones. A couple Morgan silver dollars, a few Peace dollars, a couple Franklin half dollars, a few silver quarters and dimes. They are not overly worn, dates easily legible. Yet in reading up on junk silver, I wonder if that's all my coins are. Of course, to me, they were from my grandfather who passed away in the 1970s so they have more meaning than just cash value. Anyway, as a newbie, I am still trying to figure out what exactly junk silver is and would appreciate a clear explanation. Thanks! |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4589 Posts |
Coins minted in 1964 and earlier (dime, quarter, half, also silver dollars) were made of 90% silver.
Worn coins - except for certain rare dates - do not have a large numismatic premium. Instead they trade based on their silver value.
-----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Valued Member
 United States
54 Posts |
So what I have is considered junk silver?
Can you please define numismatic premium or give an example?
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Valued Member
United States
54 Posts |
And would you say if they're junk silver they could just be stored in coin tubes?
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Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
 Junk silver refers to coins that have no numismatic value and they are only worth the value of the silver. If you can read the dates and the coins haven't been cleaned or run over by a truck or something, your coins are probably worth more than just the price of silver. You may not have any seriously valuable coins but all the coins you mentioned are collectable and there are even collectors vying to get the lowest grade (most worn out) coin for each type or year. If you want to get an idea of what your coins are worth, post a pic for each one and the experts will grade them. You can then look up the "Sold" prices on ebay for each one and see what they're worth. You can also look here: http://www.numismedia.com/fmv/fmv.shtml. This will give you a general idea about the value. |
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Valued Member
United States
54 Posts |
Great info, Buddy and thanks for the link!
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Valued Member
United States
54 Posts |
And they haven't ever been cleaned and no not run over by a truck, ha ha!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
968 Posts |
True junk silver is a coin which has no numismatic value and is worth solely the metal value of the coin. This is generally heavily worn (possibly dateless) coins from years where a lot of that particular coin was made and still survive. We often speak more loosely when using the term and include coins that may have very minimal numismatic value to the point where someone might pay slightly more for the coin than they would a lump of silver of the same weight. A rule of thumb is if it is a common date coin in a low grade then it is effectively junk silver. The older the coin is the less likely it will be junk, especially once you start getting pre-1900. For example, nearly all heavily worn silver Roosevelt dimes would be "junk". So would a lot of similar Mercury dimes, but not as many. Less still among Barber dimes. Once you get to Seated and earlier they have to be in pretty horrendous shape to be classified as junk. If you post some pictures of your coins we can tell you more about them, but they probably aren't junk if they are not overly worn as you say. But, they may only be worth a little more than melt value depending on the exact details of the coin. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4337 Posts |
If you post pics of the coins you will be given exact grading and financial value. Please post both side of the coin in as clear pics as possible.  |
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Valued Member
United States
54 Posts |
Okay, I will get around to taking photos. That's so great to have that kind of input on the coins.
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Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
Start a new thread for each coin in the grading section. Then, in the future, if someone wants to search this site for a particular coin, it will be easier to find.
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
Don't be confused, junk silver is what we call common silver coins with a variety of problems , very badly worn , damaged ,bent , heavily scratched, etc. these generally have no numismatic value . We turn these in for scrap or better known as melt . a lot of people hold all there junk silver hoping it's price will skyrocket before dumping . However I hear of some guys persuing these coins for hole fillers .  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5239 Posts |
The term "junk" is obviously a bit misleading, as it suggests that they are worthless. This is not the case, as was explained.
While technically almost all silver coins, however badly worn, have at least a small premium over melt, in practice many LCS (like in my city) will sell even BU common dates (for example, 1964 dimes and quarters) for melt, as their margins are so low they cannot afford to wait for a slightly better price.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1748 Posts |
I prefer the terms "90 percent" and "40 percent". It accurately describes US silver coinage by its silver content. None of them are "junk".
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
And be careful. Lots of people may say a coin is junk and that is only to them. For example some time ago I mentioned how I found lots of old Mercury dimes in a bin at a flea market. I noted that one was a 26S and most of the others were in decent shape. Yet someone stated those were all just junk Silver. Possibly to that person a 26S Dime is Junk, but to others it is worth a lot of money. And too you have to be careful with coins. A 1955 Lincoln Cent may not sound like a valuable coin but if it's doubled, sort of changes things. Get to know coins and forget such statements as Junk. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3058 Posts |
I would love to see some photos!
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Replies: 34 / Views: 4,138 |
Posted 09/25/2016 6:46 pm
