The Junk Silver Calculator

What is junk silver?

"Junk silver" — collectors prefer constitutional silver — is circulated US coinage struck in 90% silver before 1965: Mercury and Roosevelt dimes, Washington quarters, and Walking Liberty, Franklin and 1964 Kennedy half dollars (all three halves share the same 12.5 g, 90% specification). "Junk" only means no collector premium — the coins trade for their silver content. The category extends to 40% Kennedy halves (1965–1970), war nickels (1942–1945, 35%), and — priced differently — Morgan and Peace dollars.

How much silver is in $1 of face value?

By mint specification, $1 face of 90% dimes, quarters, or halves contains 0.7234 troy oz of silver — the denominations were deliberately proportional (a quarter carries exactly 2.5× a dime's silver). That's the uncirculated number. The number the trade actually uses is lower:0.715 oz per $1 face.

Why 0.715 and not 0.7234?

Circulated coins have lost metal to pocket wear — about 1.2% on average across a typical bag. The market long ago settled on0.715 oz/$1 face as the standard haircut for circulated 90% coin, and dealers, refiners and stackers all quote against it. It is a trade convention (DERIVED), not a physical constant: a bag of slick, heavily-worn dimes yields less; a bag of AU halves yields more. This calculator defaults to the circulated convention and lets you switch to mint specification — the toggle above tells you exactly which number you're getting.

What does "20× face" mean?

Junk silver is commonly quoted as a multiple of face value: "22× face" means $22 per $1 of face. Melt value in the same language is 0.715 × spot — at $69 silver, melt is ~49.3× face. The multiple makes dealer quotes instantly comparable: an offer at 47.2× face against 49.3× melt is a 4.3% discount to melt. This calculator always shows your holdings' melt multiple; when OunceDesk dealer-price tracking goes live, real buy/sell quotes will appear beside it in the same units.

90% vs 40% vs war nickels

Not all "junk" is equal. 90% subsidiary coin is the benchmark — most liquid, quoted by face. 40% Kennedy halves (0.1479 oz each) and war nickels (0.0563 oz each) carry the same silver purity arithmetic but trade per coin, usually at lower premiums — more metal for the money, less recognition. Sort them before you sell: a 1964 Kennedy at 0.3617 oz is worth ~2.4× a 1965 Kennedy that looks nearly identical.

Morgan & Peace dollars are different

Silver dollars contain 0.7734 oz each — more silver per dollar of face than subsidiary coin (the 19th-century free-silver lobby saw to that). The trade quotes them per coin at full spec, not by the 0.715 bag convention, and common-date premiums typically run above 90% bags. Many carry collector value well beyond melt — check the key-date listbefore treating any dollar as bullion.

Does wear affect value?

For bullion purposes, only through the 0.715 convention — buyers of bulk bags don't grade individual coins. Wear matters enormously the other direction: an uncirculated or key-date coin in a junk bag is worth multiples of melt. Scan dates before selling anything as bullion; our coin guides list the dates worth pulling.

Buying and selling junk silver

Selling: dealers typically bid 95–99% of melt for 90% bags in normal markets — get quotes as a face multiple and compare against the melt multiple above. Buying: premiums on 90% coin swing with retail demand more than any other product — historically anywhere from under melt to +40% in shortages, which is why premium comparison matters more than spot timing. And silver in hand is subject to dealer spreads both ways: the melt number here is the reference point, not a guaranteed exit price.