Washington Quarter Melt Value (1932 to 1964)

As of July 18, 2026, with silver at $56.01 per troy ounce, a silver Washington quarter has a melt value of $10.13. Any quarter dated 1932 through 1964 contains 0.1808 troy ounces of pure silver; quarters dated 1965 or later are clad and contain none.

The specification behind that number: 6.25 grams gross weight at 90 percent silver equals 5.625 grams, or 0.1808 troy ounces, of pure metal per coin. Four quarters make $1 of face value containing 0.7234 ounces, which is the arithmetic that underlies all face-value junk silver pricing. The quarter sits in the sweet spot of the junk silver market: big enough that a single coin is a meaningful amount of silver, small enough to stay divisible. Compare every denomination on the silver coin melt values table, or price rolls and bags with the junk silver calculator.

The Washington quarter launched in 1932, designed by sculptor John Flanagan for the bicentennial of George Washington's birth, and was struck in 90 percent silver for its first 33 years. The end came with the Coinage Act of 1965. Silver prices had risen to the point where the metal in circulating coins approached and threatened to exceed face value, the public was hoarding coins, and a national coin shortage followed. Congress responded by removing silver from the dime and quarter entirely, switching both to the copper-nickel clad composition still used today. That is why 1964 is the magic date on every coin jar sort: a quarter dated 1964 or earlier is 90 percent silver, and a quarter dated 1965 or later is worth exactly 25 cents unless it is a special collector issue. The changeover also explains the quarter's dominance in junk silver trading: decades of heavy mintages left an enormous, standardized supply of silver quarters that dealers can buy and sell by weight without examining individual coins.

Each row multiplies one silver quarter's 0.1808 ounces by a round spot price. A quick shortcut: a silver quarter is worth about 18 percent of an ounce of silver.

These figures apply to 1932 to 1964 silver issues. Clad quarters from 1965 onward weigh 5.67 grams and show a copper stripe on the edge.

The two first-year branch mint issues tower over the rest of the series: the 1932-D (436,800 minted) and 1932-S (408,000 minted) are the keys, valuable in every grade and always worth pulling from a bulk lot. Beyond those, a few 1930s dates carry moderate premiums in better condition, and uncirculated examples of any pre-1950 date interest collectors. Everything else, which is the vast majority of surviving silver quarters, trades as junk silver at melt plus a small premium. Washington quarters are typically the most liquid junk silver denomination: standard $10 face rolls (40 coins, about 7.23 ounces of silver as minted) and $100 or $1,000 face bags are stock items at every bullion dealer. Check dates once for 1932-D and 1932-S, then price the rest off the live melt figure above; typical premium ranges are tracked on our coin premium page.