90% Silver U.S. Coins

Prior to 1965, all U.S. dimes, quarters and half dollars were minted with a composition of 90% silver and 10% copper. However, the rapidly rising commodity cost of silver in 1964 lead to the production cost to produce these silver coins to far exceed their face value. This forced the U.S. government to change the composition of these coins to a less expensive metals, and beginning in 1965, dimes and quarters have been minted with a 91.67% copper and 8.33% nickel composition ever since (half dollars beginning in 1971). While these pre-1965 coins still remain legal tender today at their face value of 10, 25 and 50 cents, they are now rarely found in circulation. In the years since 1965, people have picked these silver coins from circulation recognizing that they were worth more than their face value as compared to their non-silver counterparts.

These pre-1965 U.S. silver coins are today a popular way to invest in and own silver. There are several reasons for this. For instance, the coins themselves consist of a unit of silver small enough to be affordable to most people interested in buying silver. Also, many people like to own these coins as “emergency money” in the event of an economic crisis. Many believe that if paper currency or electronic transactions were to fail, these silver coins would still be accepted as money to trade for day-to-day purchases of goods and services.

These 90% silver coins that are in common, circulated condition are often referred to by the unfortunate term “junk silver.” In this case, “junk” is a term assigned to coins that are simply in circulated condition, the same condition as most of the coins in pocket change today. It does not mean they are necessarily damaged or somehow “garbage.” The term is used in the same way it is used to describe junk bonds; it simply means the quality is below what is considered the highest grade. Junk silver is considered below collector-grade condition and is valued almost solely for its silver content.