How much silver is in $1 face value of junk silver?

Any mix of pre-1965 dimes, quarters, or half dollars totaling $1 of face value contains 0.7234 troy ounces of pure silver as minted. Dealers price circulated coins at 0.715 ounces per dollar to account for wear. Silver dollars are heavier: each Morgan or Peace dollar holds 0.7734 ounces on its own.

Should I use 0.7234 or 0.715 in the calculator?

Use 0.715 when buying or selling typical circulated junk silver; it is the multiplier virtually every dealer prices with. Use 0.7234 for uncirculated or lightly worn coins, or when you want the theoretical maximum. The difference is about 1.2 percent, which matters on large bags.

Can this calculator value war nickels and 40% halves?

Yes, in per-coin mode. Face value multipliers only work for 90 percent coins, so select Jefferson War Nickel (0.0563 oz each) or Kennedy Half Dollar 1965 to 1970 (0.1479 oz each) from the coin list and enter the count. Every coin type uses its exact US Mint silver specification.

Will a dealer pay me the calculated melt value?

Close to it. Junk silver trades tighter to melt than almost any other silver product: dealers commonly buy within a few percent of melt and sell at melt plus a small premium that widens when retail demand spikes. Get more than one quote and compare each against the calculator's baseline.

Where does the silver price in this calculator come from?

The same live spot feed that powers all of MetalCharts, updated continuously during market hours. The page itself is refreshed on roughly a one-minute cycle, and the calculator updates in your browser as new prices arrive, so results never rely on a hand-entered price.

Junk Silver Calculator

As of July 18, 2026, with silver at $56.01 per troy ounce, $1 face value of circulated 90 percent silver coins is worth about $40.05 in melt value (0.715 oz of silver). Enter any face value or coin count below to price your coins at the live spot price.

Junk Silver CalculatorSilver spot: $56.01/oz

Face value (90% coins)

Silver per $1 face

Melt value

$400.48

$10.00 face value x 0.715 oz = 7.150 troy oz of silver

Melt values use the live silver spot price and each coin's actual silver weight (ASW). Dealers buy and sell at melt plus or minus a premium, so treat these figures as the baseline, not a quote.

How the Junk Silver Math Works

Junk silver is priced by face value because the US Mint made the math uniform: every $1 of face value in 90 percent dimes, quarters, or half dollars was struck from 25 grams of coin metal containing 22.5 grams of silver, which is 0.7234 troy ounces per $1 face value. Ten dimes, four quarters, and two halves are interchangeable in silver terms.

The full formula: face value x ounces per dollar x spot price = melt value. The only judgment call is the middle term. Freshly minted coins carry the full 0.7234 ounces, but coins that spent decades in circulation lost a little metal to wear, so the bullion industry settled on 0.715 ounces per $1 face as the standard for circulated coins. A $1,000 face bag is traded as 715 ounces of silver for exactly this reason.

Coins outside the 90 percent system need their own factors, which is what per-coin mode is for: war nickels carry 0.0563 ounces each, 40 percent Kennedy halves 0.1479, Morgan and Peace dollars 0.7734, and American Silver Eagles exactly 1 ounce. Full specifications for every coin are on our silver coin melt values page.

Worked Examples at the Current Spot Price

All three examples use the same live spot price of $56.01 per troy ounce (as of July 18, 2026):

A roll of 40 silver quarters ($10 face): 10 x 0.715 oz = 7.15 oz of silver, worth $400.48 at the dealer convention, or $405.18 at the full 0.7234 standard.
A single silver quarter: 0.1808 oz x $56.01 = $10.13 in melt value.
A $100 face value bag: 100 x 0.715 oz = 71.5 oz of silver, worth $4,004.80 before any dealer premium.

These figures refresh with the market; check our live silver price page for the current spot chart.

Junk Silver Calculator FAQ

How much silver is in $1 face value of junk silver?: Any mix of pre-1965 dimes, quarters, or half dollars totaling $1 of face value contains 0.7234 troy ounces of pure silver as minted. Dealers price circulated coins at 0.715 ounces per dollar to account for wear. Silver dollars are heavier: each Morgan or Peace dollar holds 0.7734 ounces on its own.
Should I use 0.7234 or 0.715 in the calculator?: Use 0.715 when buying or selling typical circulated junk silver; it is the multiplier virtually every dealer prices with. Use 0.7234 for uncirculated or lightly worn coins, or when you want the theoretical maximum. The difference is about 1.2 percent, which matters on large bags.
Can this calculator value war nickels and 40% halves?: Yes, in per-coin mode. Face value multipliers only work for 90 percent coins, so select Jefferson War Nickel (0.0563 oz each) or Kennedy Half Dollar 1965 to 1970 (0.1479 oz each) from the coin list and enter the count. Every coin type uses its exact US Mint silver specification.
Will a dealer pay me the calculated melt value?: Close to it. Junk silver trades tighter to melt than almost any other silver product: dealers commonly buy within a few percent of melt and sell at melt plus a small premium that widens when retail demand spikes. Get more than one quote and compare each against the calculator's baseline.
Where does the silver price in this calculator come from?: The same live spot feed that powers all of MetalCharts, updated continuously during market hours. The page itself is refreshed on roughly a one-minute cycle, and the calculator updates in your browser as new prices arrive, so results never rely on a hand-entered price.