Free Tool · Live Spot
Silver Coin Melt Calculator
Enter the face value of your pre-1965 coins and the count of everything else. The calculator adds up the silver and prices it off the live spot, the same shortcut the trade uses.
The Calculator
What Your Silver Coins Hold
Count dimes, quarters and halves by face value: $10 in pre-1965 change is $10, however it’s split. Count everything else by the coin.
Melt value
$371.80
7.15 troy oz of silver
Melt value is not an offer. Every buyer, us included, pays below melt; the gap covers refining, risk and margin. What matters is how big that gap is and whether the buyer shows you the math. A few dates and high grades are worth more than their silver, so sort by date before you sell anything as melt.
The Numbers
How Much Silver Is in Each Coin
US coins were struck to a fixed standard, which is why face value works as a shortcut for 90 percent coins.
| Coin | Years | Silver | Silver per coin | Per $1 face |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dime | 1964 and earlier | 90% | 0.0723 troy oz | 0.715 troy oz |
| Quarter | 1964 and earlier | 90% | 0.1808 troy oz | 0.715 troy oz |
| Half dollar | 1964 and earlier | 90% | 0.3617 troy oz | 0.715 troy oz |
| Kennedy half | 1965–1970 | 40% | 0.1479 troy oz | 0.296 troy oz |
| War nickel | 1942–1945 | 35% | 0.0563 troy oz | — |
| Morgan & Peace dollar | 1878–1935 | 90% | 0.7734 troy oz | — |
| Dime, quarter, half | 1965 on (Kennedy from 1971) | None | 0 | Face value only |
Per-coin figures are for coins as struck. Circulated 90 percent coins average about 0.715 troy ounces per dollar of face value because of wear, slightly under the 0.723 they started with, and that is the figure the calculator uses.
Before You Count
Sort by Date First
- 1964 is the line
- Dimes, quarters and halves dated 1964 or earlier are 90 percent silver. From 1965 they are copper-nickel, except Kennedy halves, which stayed 40 percent silver through 1970.
- War nickels
- From late 1942 through 1945, nickels were 35 percent silver. They have a large P, D or S mintmark above Monticello’s dome on the back. Some 1942 nickels are silver and some aren’t, so look for the mintmark.
- Coins worth more than melt
- Key dates such as the 1916-D Mercury dime or the 1932-D and 1932-S Washington quarters, Carson City Morgans and coins in high grade sell for more than their silver. Pull those out before counting the rest by face.
- Cleaning
- Don’t clean coins. It doesn’t change the silver and it can wipe out a collector premium.