How Much Is Junk Silver Worth? Pricing Per $1 Face Value

Junk silver is worth about $38.18 for every $1 of face value in 90% silver coins at today's silver price. That figure comes from a simple rule: $1 face of worn pre-1965 dimes, quarters or halves holds about 0.715 troy ounces of silver. Dealers buy a little below that melt value and sell a little above it.

So a $10 roll of 1964 quarters isn't worth $10. It's worth roughly 7.15 ounces of silver, minus or plus the dealer's cut.

The 0.715 rule in plain numbers

When the Mint struck them, 90% silver coins held 0.7234 troy ounces per $1 face. Decades of pocket wear shaved off a sliver, so the coin trade settled on 0.715 ozt per $1 face for circulated coins. It applies equally to dimes, quarters and halves, because each holds the same silver per dollar.

For 40% Kennedy half dollars (1965–1970), the number is different. Two 40% halves, or $1 face, hold about 0.2958 ozt, worth roughly $15.80 today.

Step by step: pricing your own pile

1. Sort by type. Separate 90% coins (1964 and earlier dimes, quarters and halves) from 40% Kennedy halves and from clad coins. Our junk silver beginner's guide explains which coins belong in which pile.
2. Count face value. Ten dimes, four quarters or two halves each make $1.
3. Multiply by 0.715 for 90% coins, or by 0.2958 per $1 face for 40% halves.
4. Multiply by the spot price of silver to get melt value.
5. Apply a dealer percentage to estimate what you'd actually be offered.

Or skip the arithmetic. Enter your face value in the calculator below and it does steps 3 and 4 with the live price.

What "times face value" means

Dealers and stackers often talk about junk silver as a multiple of face. If $1 face is worth $28.60 in melt, they'll say it's trading at "28.6 times face." It's shorthand that lets you price a bag of mixed coins quickly.

The multiple moves directly with silver. Here's how it shifts at a few illustrative prices (these are examples, not today's numbers):

Today's live multiples for each common silver coin are shown here, so you can see at a glance how many times its face value each coin is worth in metal.

Dealer bid vs ask: why there are two prices

Melt value is the reference point, but nobody trades at exactly melt. A dealer quotes two numbers:

• Bid is what the dealer pays you. For junk silver it's usually below melt, though in periods of tight supply it can approach melt or go slightly above.
• Ask is what the dealer charges you. It's above melt, and that premium covers handling, counting, storage and profit.

The difference is the spread. It widens when silver is moving fast or when physical coins are scarce, and narrows in calm markets. For the mechanics behind these quotes, read how coin dealers price coins, and for why retail silver always costs more than spot, see our explainer on premium over spot.

Three worked examples

A coffee can of mixed silver

Say you count 120 dimes, 60 quarters and 10 halves, all 1964 or earlier. That's $12 + $15 + $5 = $32 face. At 0.715, it holds about 22.9 ounces. If silver were $40, melt would be about $915. A buyer paying 92% of melt would offer about $842.

A single $10 roll of quarters

Forty Washington silver quarters hold about 7.15 ozt. At $40 silver that's $286 in melt. At a 95% bid you'd get about $272, and if the same shop sold it back to you at 8% over melt, you'd pay about $309. The gap between those two numbers is the spread in action.

Twenty 40% Kennedy halves

That's $10 face, holding about 2.96 ozt. At $40 silver, melt is about $118. These can trade at a different percentage of melt than 90% coins, so ask for a separate quote.

Too many coins to count? Weigh them

Every $1 face of 90% coins weighed 25 grams when new: ten 2.50 g dimes, four 6.25 g quarters or two 12.50 g halves. That gives you a fast shortcut for a big jar.

• Weigh the sorted 90% coins on a kitchen or postal scale in grams.
• Divide by 25 to estimate face value.
• Multiply that face value by 0.715 for troy ounces of silver.

Example: 2,000 grams of sorted silver quarters works out to about $80 face, or roughly 57 troy ounces of silver. Worn coins weigh slightly less than new ones, so the weight method can run a touch low on face value. Treat it as an estimate and count exactly before you sell. One pound of 90% coins (453.592 g) is close to $18 in face value.

Never mix clad coins into the weighed pile. A clad quarter weighs 5.67 g, close enough to fool a rough estimate, and it holds no silver at all.

Mistakes that make people misjudge junk silver

• Using the full-ounce price per coin. A quarter is not an ounce of silver. It's 0.18084 ozt, so it's worth a fraction of the spot price you see on the news.
• Counting 1965 and later coins. Dimes and quarters from 1965 on are clad. The only post-1964 silver in pocket change is the 40% Kennedy half from 1965 to 1970.
• Comparing offers in different units. One shop quotes per coin, another per $1 face, a third as a percentage of spot. Convert everything to dollars per $1 face before you decide.
• Forgetting the clock. Silver trades nearly around the clock on weekdays. A quote from Monday morning may not hold by Thursday.

What moves the value of junk silver?

Almost all of it comes down to the silver price. Our live chart shows how silver has moved over the past year, and every swing passes straight through to the value of a junk silver bag.

The other factors are smaller but real:

• Demand for physical coins. When buyers rush in, premiums rise and dealers may bid closer to melt.
• Lot size. A $1,000 face bag can be priced differently per ounce than a handful of coins. See our breakdown of junk silver bag sizes.
• Coin mix. Some buyers prefer dimes or quarters for divisibility, others want halves for faster counting. Preferences change, and so do small price differences between them.
• Condition extremes. Badly damaged or holed coins ("culls") may be bought at a lower rate. Unusually nice or scarce coins may be worth more than melt.

Quick recap before you get a quote

• Count face value by type: 90% and 40% separately.
• Use 0.715 ozt per $1 face for 90% coins, 0.2958 for 40% halves.
• Check the live silver spot price on the same day you ask for offers.
• Ask each dealer for a bid per $1 face or as a percentage of melt, so offers are comparable.
• Pull out any coin that looks scarce or unusually sharp before selling the rest as junk.

When you're ready to sell, our guide to selling junk silver for the best price walks through quotes, payment and shipping.