Intrinsic Value of Some US Silver Coins

Have you ever wondered how an old silver coin (or any other coin for that matter) appreciates in value? To understand this, you have to know the intrinsic value or the melt value of the coin. Basically, this is measured by the content of silver plus any other metal (normally copper) found in the coin multiplied by the current market values of the metals.

Since the price of silver has increased many folds through the years, the intrinsic value of all silver coins which were struck more than 50 years ago would be much higher than the face value. For instance, the total melt value of a 1932-1964 Quarter (face value of USD 0.25) is a whooping USD 2.6577! The weight of the Quarter is 6.25 grams and it has composition of 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper. On May 22, 2009, an ounce of silver is priced at USD 14.68 and a pound of copper costs USD 2.0628. By multiplying these numbers by some tedious ounce/gram and pound/gram conversion factors, we arrive at silver value of USD 2.654847 and copper value of USD 0.002842, yielding a total of USD 2.657689 which can be rounded up to USD 2.6577. As you can see, the total intrinsic value of the 1932-1964 Washington Quarter is more than ten times its face value!

Among circulated silver coins, the Morgan Dollar and the Peace Dollar has the highest intrinsic silver values. Minted from 1878 to 1935, the Morgan and Peace dollars have intrinsic silver value of USD 11.3542 and if we account for the copper, they have a total value of USD 11.3664, which is more than eleven times higher than their face value of USD 1. The next silver coins with the highest intrinsic silver values are the 1916-1947 Silver Walking Liberty Half Dollar, the 1948-1963 Silver Franklin Half Dollar, and the 1964 Silver Kennedy Half Dollar. All of these silver half dollars have melt silver value of USD 5.3096 and total melt value of USD 5.3154. There is also a 1971-1976 Eisenhower Dollar which contained only 40 percent silver. Its intrinsic silver value is measured to be USD 4.6423 with total intrinsic value of USD 4.7094. 

Based on the current price of silver, it can be seen that most silver coins with content of 90 percent appreciate more than ten times above their face value. In the world of collectable coins, sometimes, the law of intrinsic value is moot. Rarity is extremely important. A PF-65 1895 Morgan Proof can fetch a cool USD 100,000. Go figure. Do you have some silver for sale? Get in touch with the best silver buyer today and receive instant cash for silver!