How to Calculate the Silver Value of Common-Date U.S. Coins

Common-date U.S. coins refer to coins that were minted in abundant quantities. Because there are so many of them in circulation, they have limited value as collector items. However, many older U.S. coins were made with silver. Silver gives them added value even though they are common-date U.S. coins. This article will help you calculate the silver value of these coins.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Sort through your common-date U.S. coins. Pick out all nickels dated between 1942 and 1945, all dimes dated 1964 and earlier, all quarters dated 1964 and earlier, all half-dollars dated 1970 and earlier, and all dollar coins dated 1935 and earlier. These coins all contain varying amounts of silver.

2. Examine your nickels dated between 1942 and 1945. Some, but not all, nickels minted during this time were made of 35% silver, 56% copper, and 9% manganese. The change was made because nickel was far more important to the war effort than silver during World War II. You can tell if you have a wartime silver nickel by looking at the reverse. If there is a large letter above the image of Monticello then it was made with 35% silver. This is the mint mark indicating where the coin was made. A "P" stands for Philadelphia, a "D" stands for Denver, and an "S" stands for San Francisco.

3. Gather all your dimes dated 1964 and earlier. They are all made from 90% silver and 10% copper. After 1964 the US Mint removed all silver from US dimes.

4. Separate your quarters dated 1964 and earlier. Just like the dimes, they are made of 90% silver and 10% copper. After 1964, dimes and quarters were made out of copper and nickel.

5. Examine your half dollar coins dated 1970 and earlier. The US Mint gradually phased out silver in half dollars. Those dated 1964 and earlier are made from 90% silver and 10% copper. Those dated between 1965 and 1970 are made from 40% silver and 60% copper. After 1970, all silver was removed from US half dollars.

6. Think hard before selling any silver dollar coin just for its silver content. Only US dollar coins dated 1935 and earlier are made out of 90% silver and 10% copper. These coins are prized by collectors and nearly always worth significantly more than their silver value alone. All US dollar coins minted after 1935 contain no silver.

7. Find the spot price of silver. This is what silver is selling for in financial markets around the world at any given time. A link to a silver price tracking website is provided in the References section below. You can see the price of silver today, last week, last month, and last year.

8. Multiply the percentage of silver in each common date silver US coin by the spot price of silver. This will give you the silver value of each coin.

References

• Spot Price of Silver

Resources

• Coin Facts