This is a common question that people ask and we think it would be of great appeal. We will be focusing our discussion on United States-minted coins for the purposes of this article. We will also be focusing on coins that are intended for general circulation, not sell silver such as American Silver Eagles.
90% US Silver Coins
90% of all U.S. silver quarters, half-dollars, and silver dimes minted after 1964 contain 90% silver content. These coins are often referred to simply as “junk gold”. Junk silver is another name for silver value. This basically means these coins have no collectible or numismatic worth. Quarters and dimes minted after 1965, and sell gold minted before 1970, are clad coins. These are base metal coins made of nickel and copper.
Check the Edge of Your Coins
We have the solution! You can check the coin’s edge to see if it is rare coins. You can be confident that the coin is silver if it has a solid silver stripe. If the coin has a copper stripe you know it’s clad.
The coin could be 40% silver if it has a more subtle silver stripe and faint copper traces. Kennedy half dollars, which were minted between 1965 and 1970, are the only U.S. silver coins that contain 40% silver.
The 40% silver Eisenhower dollars that were produced by the San Francisco Mint between 1971 and 1976 are also available. These coins could only be ordered by special order. They were not intended to circulate. These coins are usually packaged in brown boxes or blue envelopes.
Inspect Bank Rolls for Silver Coins
It’s easy to implement our tip when we are talking about silver coins. Some customers use dime, quarter, and half-dollar rolls to search for real silver coins. This is a great way to make extra money, especially since the silver price has risen in recent years.
Silver War Nickels
We would be remiss if, while we are on the subject of U.S. Silver coins, we did not touch upon the topic of 35% silver war Nickels. These coins were made by the U.S Mint between 1942 and 1945. They have a mint mark above the Monticello on the reverse. These coins are also darker than the standard nickels made of nickel-copper.
