Selling silver coins starts with knowing what you hold. The US Mint has published what the common US silver coins contain. Once you know the silver content and what the day's price refers to, an offer becomes something you can check rather than something you have to take on trust.
How do you sell silver coins?
Sell silver coins in five steps: sort the coins by type, work out the silver content of each type, check the current spot price, ask more than one buyer for a written offer, and agree in writing how the coins will be delivered and paid for before anything changes hands.
The order matters. An offer for “a bag of old silver” can't be judged until you know how many ounces of silver are in the bag. Sorting comes first because each type has a different silver content, and a buyer may price each type differently.
The price you check against is a moving one. The US Mint's bullion consumer guidance says the market (spot) prices of gold, silver, platinum and palladium fluctuate daily, and that you should understand the premiums on the coin involved. That guidance is written for buyers; the same homework applies when you are the one selling.
What kind of silver coins do you have?
Common US silver coins fall into a few groups: modern bullion coins such as the American Silver Eagle, 90 percent silver dimes, quarters and halves made before 1965, 40 percent silver Kennedy half dollars from 1965 on, and Morgan and Peace dollars. Each group has a different silver content, and some coins also carry collector value.
The table sets out what the Mint has published for each group. Where a source gives the composition but not the coin's weight, the table says so rather than filling the gap.
| Coin | Silver | Standard weight | Silver per coin |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Silver Eagle (bullion) | 99.9% | 1.000 troy oz (31.103 g) | 1.000 troy oz; the reverse reads “1 OZ. FINE SILVER” |
| Dimes, quarters and half dollars dated before 1965 | 90% | Not stated in these sources | Weight × 0.900 |
| Kennedy half dollar, 40 percent silver version (from 1965) | 40% overall (80% outer layers, 21% core) | Not stated in these sources | Weight × 0.400 |
| Morgan dollar (1878–1904, 1921) | 90% silver, 10% copper | 26.73 g | About 0.773 troy oz |
| Peace dollar (1921–1935) | 90% silver, 10% copper | Not stated in these sources | Weight × 0.900 |
| 2021 Morgan and Peace anniversary dollars | 99.9% | Not stated in these sources | Weight × 0.999 |
Sources: the US Mint's American Eagle silver specifications; its 1965 record of the first clad half dollars, which describes the 90 percent coins they replaced and the 40 percent half; its history of silver dollar coinage, which gives the standard silver dollar as 26.73 grams, .900 silver and .100 copper; and its note on the Morgan and Peace dollars, which gives the original 90/10 composition, the years each was struck and the 99.9 percent 2021 coins. The Morgan silver-per-coin figure is our arithmetic from the Mint's weight and fineness.
Two details trip people up. First, the date on a Kennedy half is not a clean dividing line: the Mint's 1965 record notes that some 390 million 90 percent silver Kennedy halves made during 1964 and 1965 all bear the date 1964. Second, a 2021 Morgan or Peace dollar is not the same metal as an original; the anniversary coins are 99.9 percent silver.
Circulated silver dimes, quarters and halves from before the clad era are often called junk silver. Some dates and conditions carry collector value beyond the silver. If you think a coin might, ask for that assessment separately from the silver offer so the two numbers don't blur together.
How do you work out a coin's silver content?
Multiply the coin's weight by its silver fineness to get grams of pure silver, then divide by 31.1035 to convert grams to troy ounces. A Morgan dollar at 26.73 grams and .900 fine holds about 24.06 grams of silver, or about 0.773 troy ounce. Multiply the ounces by the spot price for melt value.
The conversion factor is the one the exchange uses. The COMEX silver futures rule converts a weight in grams to troy ounces by dividing by 31.1035.
The worked example for a Morgan dollar runs like this:
- Weight: 26.73 grams.
- Silver: 26.73 × 0.900 = 24.057 grams.
- Troy ounces: 24.057 ÷ 31.1035 = about 0.773.
- Twenty Morgan dollars: 20 × 0.773 = about 15.5 troy ounces of silver.
The Silver Eagle needs no arithmetic: the Mint states 1.000 troy ounce of 99.9 percent silver. For coins where the table shows no standard weight, weigh the coins on an accurate scale and use the actual weight. That also tells you what you are selling today rather than what the coin weighed when it was struck.
The result multiplied by the spot price is the coin's melt value. It is a reference point for judging an offer, not the offer itself.
What is the silver spot price, and why does a quote differ from it?
The spot price is the current market price of silver, and it changes daily. Two published benchmarks show how silver is priced: the LBMA Silver Price, set once each working day in a noon London auction, and COMEX silver futures, quoted in dollars and cents per troy ounce. A buyer's offer for coins is its own figure.
The LBMA Silver Price is set in US dollars per troy ounce in an electronic auction that takes place at 12 noon UK time each working day. IBA, the independent administrator, runs it in rounds of 30 seconds; participants enter buy and sell volumes, and the price adjusts until the two sides balance. The LBMA describes the starting price as likely to be close to the spot price. The result is one benchmark price a day, not a live quote.
COMEX silver futures trade in a different unit. Under the exchange's rule, one contract is 5,000 troy ounces of silver, delivered as bars of 1,000 troy ounces assaying at a minimum of 999 fineness, with prices quoted in dollars and cents per troy ounce. That is wholesale metal in large bars, not a handful of coins.
Neither benchmark is a price for your coins. A dealer buys at one price and sells at another; the gap between them is its spread. When you ask for an offer, ask which spot reference it uses and the time of that reference, so you can compare like with like.
Where can you sell silver coins?
Silver coins can be sold to local coin shops, online bullion buyers, dealers at coin shows, private buyers and pawn shops. Each sets its own offer, terms and payment method. For US Mint bullion coins, the Mint requires its Authorized Purchasers to maintain a two-way market, buying as well as selling.
The options differ mainly in how the sale happens. A local shop or a coin show dealer can examine the coins in front of you. With an online buyer, you send the coins under its written terms. A private sale puts the checking and the payment arrangements on you and the other party.
The current list of Authorized Purchasers is on the Mint's website, as its bullion guidance explains. That is a wholesale arrangement; it doesn't set the price any particular buyer offers you.
You will find percentage-of-spot figures online for each kind of buyer. None of the ones we checked came with a primary source, so we don't repeat them. The only number that counts is the written offer a specific buyer makes for your coins.
How should you compare offers for silver coins?
Compare offers in writing, for the same coins, at about the same time. Convert each offer to a price per troy ounce of silver, and note the fees, the payment method and timing, and who pays for shipping and insurance. Check the buyer's reputation before you agree. A higher headline figure can carry costs a lower one doesn't.
Put each offer through the same questions:
- Which coins and how many does the offer cover, and is each type priced separately?
- What is the offer per troy ounce of silver once you divide by the ounces you worked out?
- Which spot reference and time does it use, and how long does the offer stand?
- What fees come off the total, and how and when is payment made?
- Who arranges and pays for shipping and insurance, and when does the buyer take responsibility?
- What happens if the buyer's count or testing differs from yours?
Check the reputation of anyone buying from you before you agree. Our guide to reading a written quote goes through a quote line by line.
How do you send silver coins to a buyer?
Before sending anything, confirm in writing who arranges the shipment, who pays for insurance, when the buyer takes responsibility for the package and when the price is fixed. Keep a list of the coins and photographs of them. If you sell in person, bring the same list and get a written receipt for what you hand over.
The list should give each type, the quantity and any dates that matter, matching the way the buyer's offer describes them. Photographs taken before packing help settle a later question about what was in the package. Keep the buyer's written terms with the list until payment arrives.
Selling can have tax consequences. Our guide to gold IRA tax rules also explains how metal held outside an IRA is taxed.
Continue with the educational guides on buying, pricing and selling metal.