How Many Coins Are in a Roll?

US banks and the Federal Reserve use one standard roll size for each coin. The count is set so that a roll comes to a round dollar amount, which is why dimes and pennies come 50 to a roll while quarters and nickels come 40.

Weights are for the coins alone, at current US Mint specifications, in grams and everyday (avoirdupois) ounces. A paper wrapper adds about a gram. Pennies dated before 1982 are mostly copper and heavier, so a roll of them weighs about 155.5 grams.

A roll of quarters holds 40 quarters and is worth $10. It weighs 226.8 grams, or 8 everyday ounces, because each copper-nickel clad quarter weighs 5.67 grams.

A roll of silver quarters is a different matter. Quarters dated 1964 or earlier are 90 percent silver, and 40 of them hold 7.234 troy ounces of pure silver. At the current spot price of $49.14 per ounce, that roll has a melt value of about $355.44, against its $10 face value.

The Washington quarter melt value page has the per-coin figure and the dates to look for.

Dimes: 50 to a roll, worth $5. A roll of clad dimes weighs 113.4 grams. A roll of 50 silver dimes dated 1964 or earlier holds 3.617 troy ounces of silver, about $177.72 in melt value today.

Nickels: 40 to a roll, worth $2. The roll weighs 200 grams. Ordinary nickels are 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel; only the war nickels of 1942 to 1945 contain silver. The nickel melt value page prices the base metal in a regular five-cent coin.

Pennies: 50 to a roll, worth 50 cents. A roll of today's copper-plated zinc cents weighs 125 grams. Cents dated before 1982 are 95 percent copper; see the copper penny melt value page for what that copper is worth.

Half dollars: 20 to a roll, worth $10. Dollar coins: the small golden dollars come 25 to a roll, worth $25. Large silver dollars such as Morgan and Peace dollars are stored 20 to a roll or tube.

A roll of silver coins is worth its pure silver content multiplied by the silver spot price. US dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 or earlier are 90 percent silver, and every $1 of face value in those coins holds 0.7234 troy ounces of silver as minted. A $10 roll of quarters or half dollars therefore holds 7.234 ounces, and a $5 roll of dimes holds 3.617. The melt values below use the current spot price of $49.14 per ounce.

These are as-minted figures. Dealers price circulated 90 percent coins at 0.715 ounces per $1 of face value to allow for wear, which takes about 1 percent off the roll values above. The junk silver calculator switches between the two and values any mix of coins, and the silver coin melt values page lists every coin on its own.

Three checks settle it without unwrapping every coin. First, the dates: dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 or earlier are 90 percent silver, and Kennedy half dollars dated 1965 to 1970 are 40 percent silver. Second, the edge: a clad coin shows a copper-colored stripe along its edge, while a 90 percent silver coin's edge is solid silver-white.

Third, the weight. A roll of 40 silver quarters weighs 250 grams, against 226.8 grams for clad. A roll of 50 silver dimes weighs 125 grams against 113.4, and a roll of 20 silver half dollars weighs 250 grams against 226.8. Worn coins come in a few grams lighter, but the gap between silver and clad is much wider than that.

Banks receive coin from the Federal Reserve in boxes of 50 rolls. A box of pennies is $25, a box of nickels $100, a box of dimes $250, and a box of quarters or half dollars $500. People who search rolls for silver and older coins usually order by the box, and half dollars are the denomination where 40 percent and 90 percent silver coins still turn up now and then.