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You might be carrying real silver in your pocket and not even know it. The United States minted coins with significant silver content for decades, and millions of them are still in circulation or sitting in jars, drawers, and inherited coin collections. Here's what to look for.
Before 1965, U.S. dimes, quarters, and half dollars were struck from an alloy containing 90% silver and 10% copper. These are commonly referred to as "junk silver" in the industry — not because they're worthless, but because their value comes entirely from metal content rather than numismatic rarity.
If you find any of the following dated 1964 or earlier, they contain real silver:
The easy rule: if the date is 1964 or earlier, check the edge. Silver coins have a solid silver-white edge. Post-1965 clad coins show a visible copper-colored stripe on the edge.
Kennedy half dollars are the trickiest because the silver content changed over time:
The 1965–1970 Kennedy halves are often overlooked because they look similar to the clad versions. They're worth checking — 40% silver still has meaningful melt value, especially in quantity.
Regular U.S. nickels are made of 75% copper and 25% nickel — no silver. But there's one important exception:
1942–1945 "War Nickels" contain 35% silver. During World War II, nickel was a critical war material, so the Mint substituted silver into the five-cent coin. You can identify war nickels by the large mintmark (P, D, or S) above the dome of Monticello on the reverse. No other nickels have a mintmark in that position.
Morgan Dollars (1878–1921) and Peace Dollars (1921–1935) are 90% silver and weigh 26.73 grams each. These are well-known collector and bullion coins, so most people who have them already know they're silver. But they do turn up in inherited collections and safe deposit boxes fairly often.
Eisenhower Dollars (1971–1978) are generally copper-nickel clad and contain no silver, with the exception of special 40% silver collector versions sold by the U.S. Mint.
The value of silver coins fluctuates with the spot price of silver. At any given moment, a pre-1965 90% silver quarter contains roughly 0.1808 troy ounces of pure silver. Multiply that by the current spot price to get the approximate melt value.
For bulk quantities, dealers typically quote prices per dollar of face value. For example, "$1 face" of 90% silver (four quarters, ten dimes, or two half dollars) contains approximately 0.715 troy ounces of silver.
Florida Gold Exchange posts live buyback bids for silver coins on our website, updated in real time.
The most common places people find silver coins:
If you've found silver coins, you have a few options. You can hold them as a silver investment, sell them for their metal value, or sell rare dates individually to collectors. For most people with common-date coins, selling for melt value is the simplest approach.
At Florida Gold Exchange, we buy all U.S. silver coins — 90%, 40%, and 35% compositions. Walk-ins are welcome, or you can ship them to us with a free insured label. We pay by cash, check, wire, or Zelle.
Related reading:
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