It’s important to realize that junk silver has no value to collectors. When the price of silver is high, you can easily turn junk silver into profits.Ĭollectible silver coins have numismatic value their rarity and aspects of their design make them sought after by collectors. As any silver investor knows, it’s imperative that you buy silver at a low rate to see better returns. Buying silver at a discount can be an effective way to maximize the returns on your investment. It costs money to separate silver from other metal alloys and recover silver bullion from the coins. That’s because you would need to take these coins to a refiner to turn them into silver bullion. Compared to RCM silver coins and silver bars, the premiums are heavily discounted. The advantage to buying junk silver is the incredibly low premiums. The silver content is contained in coins like dimes, quarters, and half-dollars. Products are listed according to their face value, purity, country of origin, and coin type. When you buy silver as junk silver, you may buy large bags such as a $100 face value bag of U.S. Silver purity defines the quality of junk silver coins. Even if you had an equal amount of silver total, 90% silver would be worth more than 40% silver, as it’s easier to recover the silver. That depends on the price of silver when you sell and the silver purity of the coins. That becomes a little confusing in Canada, where circulated coins were either 80% or 50% pure silver. Junk silver from the United States was made with a purity of either 90% or 40%, and you will sometimes hear people refer to junk silver as 90% or 40% silver. In fact, junk silver coins can be bought at a discount. Unlike most silver coins, they have no numismatic value for collectors. Millions of these low purity silver coins were struck and circulated as dimes, quarters, and half-dollars. Silver appeared in Canadian coins until 1967 while the U.S.
Junk silver is also called face value silver these silver coins are actually the currency coins that circulated in Canada and the U.S. 999 purity (or higher) that investors prefer. But junk silver isn’t worth as much as the silver bullion coins with. Silver is a rare enough of commodity that none of it is junk. From 1965-1969, the Kennedy Half Dollar's silver content decreased to 40% and the popularity for this history-making half dollar slowly decreased.Junk silver is a bit of a misnomer. The only Kennedy Half Dollars, that featured a 90% silver purity, were the ones minted in the first year of issue in 1964.
Junk silver coins for sale series#
The main series this change affected most severely was the brand new Kennedy Half Dollars. In 1965, the US Mint strived to decrease production costs, exchanging out the beloved 90% silver for 40% silver. 40% SilverĪll good things come to an end, which was the case for the 90% silver coinage. Some of the 90% silver coins include, but are not limited to the Morgan Silver Dollar, the Peace Silver Dollar, the Barber series (dime, quarter, and half dollar), the Franklin Half Dollar, the Washington Quarter, the Mercury and Roosevelt Dimes, and the 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar. Depending on personal investment goals, investors are drawn to the 90% silver coins since they contain a high percentage of silver and are duly recognized as US coinage. 90% Silverĩ0% silver is not only a fading remnant of American history but also has an influential role in the silver market today. Since the Junk Silver coins' content is ranked higher than the coins' actual face value, taking comfort in these coins' intrinsic value can lead to a highly profitable investment. If the rim has a copper tone, then the coin is considered a clad and does not have silver content. If the rim is strictly silver-colored, then the coin contains 90% silver. Collectors can determine if a coin contains silver by focusing on the coin's rim. In 1964 and before, the US minted its coins primarily using a metallic alloy of 90% silver and 10% copper. Junk Silver is a casual term that refers to any silver coin, in circulated condition, and that doesn't have any numismatic value above the market price of silver.