Which US Coins Are Silver?

How much silver US coins have held over time

The Coinage Act of 1792 set American silver coins at 1,485 parts silver in 1,664, or about 89.24%. The Act of 1837 changed it to an even 90% silver and 10% copper, the alloy that lasted until 1964. Copper was added because pure silver is too soft to wear well in circulation.

In 1853 the California Gold Rush made gold cheaper relative to silver, so silver coins were worth more as metal than as money. People melted and exported them. Congress cut the weight of the half dime, dime, quarter and half dollar by about 7% that year. The new coins carry small arrows beside the date. The silver dollar was left at full weight, which helped ensure it rarely circulated.

The end of 90% silver in 1965

By the early 1960s rising silver demand pushed the metal value of a 90% silver coin close to its face value. The public began hoarding, causing a national coin shortage. The Coinage Act of 1965 switched dimes and quarters to copper-nickel clad and reduced the half dollar to 40% silver. To ease the shortage, the Mint kept striking 1964-dated silver coins well into 1965. The 40% half dollar ended in 1970.

Since then, silver has appeared on US coins only in collector and bullion issues. These include 40% silver Eisenhower dollars sold by San Francisco from 1971 to 1976, silver proof sets from 1992 that were 90% silver through 2018 and 99.9% from 2019, the American Silver Eagle bullion coin from 1986 and the 2021 Morgan and Peace dollars.

Weights that reveal silver coins

A scale reading to a hundredth of a gram is one of the most reliable silver checks. A 90% silver dime weighs 2.50 grams while a clad dime weighs 2.27 grams. A 90% silver half dollar weighs 12.50 grams, a 40% half 11.50 grams and a clad half 11.34 grams. Silver war nickels weigh the same 5 grams as ordinary nickels, so for those rely on the large mint mark above Monticello.

Silver is not magnetic. If a coin that looks silver sticks to a magnet, it is either steel or a fake. A copy can still pass the magnet test, so combine it with weight and diameter checks.

Silver-colored coins that contain no silver

Many coins look silver but are not. Clad dimes, quarters and halves from 1965 onward (apart from the 40% halves of 1965 to 1970) contain none. Circulating Eisenhower dollars, all Susan B. Anthony dollars and every nickel outside 1942 to 1945 are copper-nickel. The 1943 steel cent is gray but contains no silver either. Proof and special collector issues are the main exceptions, so check the composition on each series page.

How dealers count circulated silver

Worn silver coins have lost a little metal through circulation. For bulk 90% coins, dealers often figure about 0.715 troy ounces of silver per dollar of face value rather than the 0.7234 ounces in a new coin. Keep that in mind when you compare melt calculations with real offers.

Before selling any old silver as bullion, check dates and mint marks. Key dates and better grades are worth far more as collector coins. They are easy to overlook in a bag of worn dimes or quarters.

Store silver coins in inert holders away from rubber bands, paper envelopes with sulfur and soft PVC flips. Silver reacts with sulfur to form toning, which ranges from attractive color to dull black. Never polish a silver coin to remove it, since cleaning leaves fine hairlines that collectors spot at once.

Frequently asked questions