3 Comments on How many troy ounces of silver is there in American silver coins?

Smokin' Joe on Wed, 6th Jan 2010 12:10 pm


U.S. dimes, quarters, and half-dollars dated prior to 1965 were minted of 90% silver/10% copper.

Don E knows on Wed, 6th Jan 2010 12:38 pm


I did a little research and found out that $100 of 90% silver coin is 71.5 troy ounces of silver. So it is 0.715 troy ounces to the dollar. This means that it takes about $1.40 in silver coin dated 1964 or before to equal one troy ounce of pure silver.

Also be sure to save all half dollars dated 1965 to 1970, since these are 40% silver. About six of these also will yield one troy ounce of silver. (The calculation is $3.15 per troy ounce)

Another source of silver is the nickels dated 1943, 1944 and 1945 (and also some of the 1942′s as well). These are 35% silver, and will yield one troy ounce of silver for every $3.60 (or 72 coins).

Laurence on Wed, 6th Jan 2010 1:18 pm


Money is supposed to be $20/pound Av.Face value
(excluding pennies and nickels as they are not lawful
money, but tokens ), and 90% silver. As this law was
not always obeyed, check / research your individual coins.
This equates to 13.156 troy oz./pound silver/coins
A ($1000) bag has about 715 troy oz silver

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