How to Know What Your Silver is Worth
May 21, 2024
This document is designed to be a primer on how to know what the values of your silver pieces are worth, particularly pre-1965 US silver coins. We will focus on dimes, quarters and half dollars. Silver dollars that are 90% silver can get into collector grade pretty quickly, so set that aside for now.
To really understand values, you will need to learn to use the computer and a variety of online metals dealers, to get an average price. For the most part, dealers sell by the roll or bag.
Some dealers will sell by a certain number times face value. For example, 20 times face on a five dollar roll of dimes would be $125.00. 22 times face on a roll of quarters would be $220.00. 22 times face on a roll of halves would be $250.00. This formula works on individual coins as well, in the pre-1965 category.
The difference between a silver round vs a silver coin is that coins are minted by or minted for a government. Examples of coins are 1 oz US Silver Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs, South African Krugerrands, Australian Kangaroos or Kookaburras or Austrian Philharmonics. These coins will generally be dated and have a a value on them. These will cost the most.
Silver rounds are 1 oz or more that are privately minted and sold for silver content and design. These can vary in price depending on who minted them, but are less cost compared to silver coins.
Silver bars are sold in different weights, i.e. 1 oz, 5 oz, 10 oz, 100 oz, and kilo sized. The larger the size, the better the price by weight.
There are other forms of silver available. However, for our purposes these are your best options for trading in the future. We realize to those new to the metals subject this might seem confusing, but you will get the hang of it very quickly when this becomes more widely used.
We here at YCPT are here to help guide you on your journey. Feel free to reach out to us if you need help in starting to collect and stack precious metals.
Note: We are not financial planners or advisors. We merely offer educational analysis. Do your own research and study, while you can.
Jim Arroyo, President
Yavapai County Preparedness Team
928-636-8895 YCPT.org