Junk Silver by the Pound

Reviewed by the Silver by the Pound Editorial Team · Updated September 24, 2026

$839.74 a pound of 90% junk silver

Silver spot $63.98/troy oz · $933.04/lb · updated September 24, 2026

Quick answer. A pound of 90% US silver coins (dimes, quarters and halves from 1964 and earlier) holds 13.125 troy ounces of silver and is worth $839.74 at today's spot price. A pound is roughly $18 in face value. Dealers usually sell junk silver by face value rather than by weight, so it helps to know how the two convert.

What it is

circulated US dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 and earlier

Silver content

90% silver, 10% copper

Fine silver per pound

13.125 troy oz, however worn

Face value per pound

about $18.14 at full weight; a little more for worn coins

Typical premium

at or near melt in calm markets; rises fast in buying rushes

What Junk Silver Is

"Junk silver" is the bullion trade's name for common US coins that are worth their silver and not much more. The word refers to collector value, not condition: the coins are ordinary dates in circulated grades, so nobody pays extra for rarity. Until the Coinage Act of 1965 took silver out of circulating dimes and quarters, every US dime, quarter and half dollar was struck in 90% silver. The familiar designs include:

• Dimes: Mercury (1916–1945) and Roosevelt (1946–1964)
• Quarters: Standing Liberty (1916–1930) and Washington (1932–1964)
• Half dollars: Walking Liberty (1916–1947), Franklin (1948–1963) and the 1964 Kennedy

Kennedy halves from 1965 to 1970 are only 40% silver and are sold separately. Any dime or quarter dated 1965 or later is copper-nickel clad with no silver at all.

Face Value vs Weight: How the Two Line Up

Here's the fact that makes junk silver easy to price: every dollar of face value weighs the same, whatever the denomination. The legal standard weights were 2.5 grams for a dime, 6.25 grams for a quarter and 12.5 grams for a half dollar. Ten dimes, four quarters or two halves all weigh 25 grams and hold the same 0.7234 troy ounces of silver.

That gives two ways to describe the same coins:

• By weight: a pound of junk silver is 453.6 grams of coin, 90% of it silver, so it holds 13.125 troy ounces. That's true whether the coins are sharp or worn smooth, because wear removes silver and copper in the same proportion.
• By face value: at full weight, a pound is $18.14 in face. Worn coins weigh a little less each, so it takes a few more of them to make a pound; a pound of well-circulated dimes might add up to about $18.35 in face.

This is why dealers sell by face value, not by the pound. Selling by face value is fast (you count coins instead of weighing them) and fair, as long as the price accounts for wear. The trade's standard allowance is to value circulated junk at about 0.715 troy ounces per $1 face, slightly below the 0.7234 ounces a brand-new dollar of coins would hold. A classic "$1,000 face bag" is therefore priced as about 715 troy ounces, and weighs about 55 pounds.

If you're buying by the pound, you get 13.125 ounces of silver per pound, full stop. If you're buying by face value, check whether the price assumes 0.715 or 0.7234 ounces per dollar. The difference is about 1.2%.

Dimes, Quarters and Halves: Same Silver, Different Handling

Because silver per dollar is identical across denominations, the choice between them comes down to convenience and price.

Dimes are the most divisible. A single dime holds about 0.072 troy ounces, so dimes are the finest-grained way to hold silver. That divisibility sometimes earns them a slightly higher premium than quarters or halves.

Quarters are the middle ground and often the most plentiful in dealer inventory, since Washington quarters were struck in huge numbers for more than three decades.

Halves mean fewer coins to count and store. Franklin and Walking Liberty halves occasionally carry a small premium over common-date quarters because some buyers like the designs.

For most buyers, mixed bags ("90% mixed") are the cheapest per ounce. Bags of a single denomination or a single design usually cost a little more.

Premiums: What a Pound of Junk Silver Really Costs

In quiet markets, junk silver trades at or very close to melt value, sometimes at low single-digit premiums. That makes it one of the cheapest ways to own silver in small units.

The catch is that its premium is the most volatile in the silver market. The supply is fixed: nobody makes new pre-1965 coins, and most of what exists is in private hands. When demand spikes, dealers can't mint more, so junk-silver premiums jump faster than those on bars. The reverse is also true: when buyers are selling, junk can trade below melt.

To judge a quote, convert it to a price per troy ounce of silver. If a dealer charges $X per $1 face, divide by 0.715 (or 0.7234 if they're selling uncirculated coins) and compare with spot. Our premium calculator has junk silver as a preset.

Buying Tips

• Know the minimum order. Many dealers sell junk in $1, $5, $10 or $100 face lots, but the best prices usually start around $100 face, which weighs about 5.5 pounds.
• Watch for 1965-and-later coins. A bag should contain only pre-1965 dimes and quarters. Clad coins look copper-edged, and one or two in a bag is a sign of careless sorting.
• Magnets don't find fakes here. Silver isn't magnetic, but neither is the copper-nickel in clad coins. The dated side of the coin and the edge are the checks that matter.
• Separate 40% halves. A seller who mixes 1965–1970 Kennedy halves into "90%" silver is shorting you.

Related Guides

• Silver coins by the pound: Morgan and Peace dollars
• What a pound of silver is worth, by form
• Premium-over-spot calculator
• How to buy silver by the pound

FAQ

Reviewed by the Silver by the Pound Editorial Team · Updated September 24, 2026

Data sources: Spot price via api.gold-api.com · COMEX futures (SI=F) via Yahoo Finance. Prices are for informational purposes only and may be delayed. Figures on this page were generated 2026-09-24. Silver is quoted in US dollars per troy ounce.