“Junk silver” is the common name for pre-1965 US dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollar coins, all minted in 90% silver. Enter the total face value of your coins to estimate their melt value at today’s live silver price.
Add up the face value printed on your dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollars dated 1964 or earlier.
Uses the standard industry multiplier of 0.715 troy oz of silver per $1 of face value.
Unlike jewelry, junk silver isn’t priced by weighing each coin — the industry uses a standardized multiplier instead: face value × 0.715 troy ounces × the current silver price per ounce. That 0.715 figure accounts for decades of circulation wear on coins that originally contained slightly more silver (about 0.723 oz per dollar when freshly minted).
Any US dime, quarter, half dollar, or dollar coin dated 1964 or earlier — these were all struck in 90% silver before the US Mint switched to copper-nickel clad coins in 1965.
Those are 40% silver, not 90%, and use a different conversion factor than this calculator. Treat them separately from pre-1965 90% silver coins.
It reflects real-world circulation wear. A dollar's worth of 90% silver coins contained about 0.723 oz when new; the market has standardized on 0.715 oz per dollar face value to account for average wear across circulated coins.
For sterling silver jewelry or flatware instead of coins, use the Silver Calculator.