MELT VALUES / SILVER
Washington Quarter (–1964, 90% Silver)
Melt value now SNAPSHOT
$12.49
49.9× face value
Designer
John Flanagan, after a Houdon bust of Washington
Years struck
1932–1964 in silver
Mints
Philadelphia, Denver (D), San Francisco (S)
3.8 billion silver Washingtons struck; 0.1808 ozt each.
THE STORY
Struck for Washington's 200th birthday in 1932 and intended as a one-year commemorative, the design simply never left. Silver Washingtons are the most-recognized junk-silver coin, and at 90% silver each carries about fifty times its face value at current spot — the single clearest illustration of what happened to the dollar after 1964.
The 1932 'commemorative' has now outlived every regular design it was supposed to interrupt.
KEY DATES WORTH REAL MONEY
Check these before treating any coin as melt.
| 1932-D | 436,800 — the series key |
| 1932-S | 408,000 — lowest mintage, slightly more available than the D in grade |
| 1943-S Doubled Die | Popular wartime variety |
Think you have one? Check recent auction records before selling — and read our grading basics first.
SPECIFICATIONS
Grading: where wear shows first
Wear shows first on Washington's hair curls above the ear and the eagle's breast feathers.
Never clean a coin. Ever. Cleaning permanently destroys collector value — dark original toning is worth more than shiny damage.
Counterfeit check
Common-date silver quarters aren't faked - the melt-value traps are counterfeit 1932-D/S mint marks. Certify before paying key-date money.
Gear that settles it: an electromagnetic verifier, a calibrated scale and calipers — counterfeit basics.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ACTUALLY ASK
What quarters are silver?
All 1964-and-earlier quarters are 90% silver - about $12.50 of metal at $69 spot, roughly 50x face value.
How much is a 1965 quarter worth?
Face value - 1965 began the copper-nickel clad era. The edge shows a copper stripe; silver quarters have solid silver edges.
Coin image: Wikimedia Commons — Public domain — Numismatic Guaranty Corporation.
