How Much Silver is in Coins?
Bag of miscellaneous silver coins
As a collector, one of my favorite types of purchases has always been miscellaneous world lots. If you're not quite sure what that means, don't worry - it's just a way to describe buying a hodgepodge of different coins all together in a bag or box. From the first time I bought one of these lots, finding both base metal (copper, nickel, zinc) and silver coins, I wondered "How much silver is in coins"? Well, I'll start with the fact that there is absolutely no standard for silver content throughout the world. In this article, we'll review what I've seen and found for coins and their content throughout the world.
Right Here in the USA
A good place to start is the USA because nearly all coins are 90% silver - we'll revisit "nearly" in a little bit. If you have a dime, quarter, half dollar or dollar with the date of 1964 or earlier - it is 90% silver. Knowing this little fact, you can weigh all your coins that fit this description, multiply the weight by 0.9 and you will have the total silver weight.If you don't have a scale to weigh your coins - that's OK! Coins are standard weight and they can be easily counted to find the silver weight. Below are some brief guidelines that you can keep on a note card for reference as you're out and about looking for coins.
$1 in dimes (10) = 0.7234 ounces (1853 to 1964) - you shouldn't worry about silver value if your coins are older than 1853 because they are worth well more than their silver price even though there is slightly more silver in the older coins
$1 in 20 cent pieces = 0.7234 ounces - worth far more than their silver content
$1 in quarters (4) = 0.7234 ounces (1835 to 1964) - same comment about the older coins with slightly more silver as provided for dimes
$1 in half dollars (2) = 0.7234 ounces (1873 to 1964) - older coins have different amounts of silver (1853 to 1873 have less and older than 1853 have more) but there is far more coin value (numismatic value) than silver value in these older coins - even in poor condition.
$1 in dollars (1) = 0.7734 ounces (1878-1935). Although these coins have more silver per dollar of face value than smaller denomination coins, these are typically worth more than just the silver content. It's worth separating these larger coins from the smaller coins when determining how much silver you have (or are going to buy).
The odd-ball: silver 3 cent pieces: These minuscule coins can be counted or weighed but shouldn't be bought or sold for their silver weight in any condition. $1 in silver 3 cent pieces = 0.7050 oz (1851 to 1853 75% silver) or 0.7940 oz (1854 to 1873 80% silver). Special legislation was created to allow the non-standard silver amounts in these coins.
US Coins organized by silver content
After 1964, circulating coins (coins that were intended to be used for commerce) were all issued in non-silver alloys except the half dollar. Between 1965 and 1970, the half dollars were issued in 40% silver with a silver weight of 0.1479 oz per coin ($1 in half dollars = 0.2958 ounces of silver). The easiest way to determine whether a coin is silver or a copper-nickel alloy is to look at the edge - silver coins are the same color through the middle and copper-nickel coins have a copper color in the middle. There are some special issue silver coins with a variety of different silver contents (40% Eisenhower dollars, 90% special silver issue coins, etc) that can be purchased special but you're not likely to have many of these unless you intentionally buy them. The best way to identify these special issues is also by looking at the edge and then doing some research on the specific coin to see how much silver it has.The final silver coin from the USA I'll discuss is the "war nickel". As implied by their title, they were emergency issues during World War II when nickel was needed for the war effort. These coins were issued in 35% silver and included a large mint mark (letter) on the back above the Jefferson memorial. War nickels were issued from 1942-1945 and included 0.0563 oz of silver per coin ($1 in war nickels = 1.1260 ounces of silver). 1942 nickels minted in Denver were not silver. The intent of the large mint mark on the reverse was to allow the US mint to more easily find the silver coins after the war and pull them from circulation.
Coins Around the World
I admittedly started with the easy topic of US coins which were quite consistent throughout the entire duration of their issuance in silver. Making the jump into world coins introduces a large variety of different silver fineness (silver content in a coin - US coins are 900 fine because 900 out of 1000 parts are silver or 90%). There are many resources available on the web for these but I'll summarize some of the most common world coin finenesses that I've encountered below - to make it easier to follow. Everything will be listed as a percentage so you can weigh you coins and multiply by the percent and see how much silver you have. I'll start by saying that there are a LOT of countries out there today and there are many countries that are no longer in existence. For that reason, this is a reference list of some coins that you are more likely to find.
Great Britain: Sterling silver (92.5% / 925 fine) up through 1919 and 50% (500 fine) from 1920 through 1946 (threepence, sixpence, shilling, florin, half crown, and crown)
France: 83.5% (835 fine) from 1870 to 1920
Germany: 90% (900 fine) from 1873 to 1919, 50% (500 fine) from 1925 to 1933, and 62.5% (625 fine) from 1933 to 1939
Australia: Sterling silver (92.5% / 925 fine) from 1910 through 1945 and 50% (500 fine) from 1946 to 1963 (threepence through crown)
New Zealand: 50% (500 fine) from 1933-1946 (threepence through half crown)
Austria: 25 Schilling - 80% (800 fine) from 1955 to 1973; 50 Schilling - 90% (900 fine) from 1959 to 1973 and 64% (640 fine) from 1974 to 1978; 100 Schilling - 64% (640 fine) from 1974 to 1979 and 90% (900 fine) from 1991 to 1999; Thaler - 90% from 1852 to 1971
Spain: between 81.2% and 90.3% (812-903 fine) for 1-8 reales. There was an inconsistent fineness across denominations and time so research needs to go into purchases or sales of Spanish silver.
Scandinavian Countries: Different over time but generally lower denominations has lower finenesses and larger denominations were the higher finenesses. For example, the 1874 Denmark 10 Ore is 40% while the 1974 Sweden 10 ore is 75%. The larger denomination Krone on the other hand from 1875 in Denmark 1 Krone is 75% with the Sweden equivalent 1875 Krona is 80%. With the large variation, each coin should be individually researched if you plan to purchase or sell for the silver value.
Foreign coins grouped by content
I hope this shows just how much the silver content from around the world varies. If you're planning to sell, you should research your coins individually from reputable sources online like the top coin grading services' websites. If you're trying to buy, you should use some of the above references as a guide to say just how complicated it is and reference appropriate sources if you plan to spend significant amounts of money. The intent of this article is to show how varying the silver content is - not to be the sole reference you use for buying coins.
Coins from the Closest Neighbors
You may have noticed that I excluded the largest North American countries in the above list. I did that because those countries tend to show up more in my favorite coin buying locations. Canada is quite simple: coins were sterling silver (92.5% / 925 fine) from 1858 to 1919 (with few exceptions in 1920/21) and were 80% (800 fine) from 1920 through 1967 with a portion of 50% silver and otherwise nickel coins issued in 1968. Mexico wasn't as simple and the list below shows the variety of compositions from the mid-19th century through the mid-20th century.
90.3% (903 fine) from 1864 to 1905 and 80% from 1905 to 1919 (5, 10, 20, 25, 50 centavos)
90.3% (903 fine) from 1866 to 1914, 80% from 1918 to 1919, 72% from 1920 to 1945, 50% from 1947-1949, 30% in 1950, and 10% from 1957 to 1967 (one Peso)
90% for 2 peso coins
90% from 1947 to 1948 and 72% from 1950 to 1951 for 5 peso coins
90% from 1955 to 1960 for 10 peso coins
72% from 1968 to1972 for 25 peso coins
72% from 1977 to 1979 for 100 peso coins
These references are for general coins, special issue and bullion coins are different compositions.
Venturing Out Further
Now, I'm certainly not a financial adviser and can't give you investment advice but I can definitely share some information that I gathered as I've researched my purchases.
Take time to learn - I've made the same mistake a few times buying what I thought were worn old silver coins that ended up being nickel. If you don't know (especially with small European denominations), do some research first.
Act if it feels right - there are a lot of times that you buy or don't buy based on a feeling, don't forget that instincts are there for a reason.
Keep the hobby fun, not stressful - think before you act if a purchase or a sale is causing you stress. You're supposed to enjoy your coins, don't make yourself uncomfortable
Understand if you're collecting or investing - behave accordingly. Investments are supposed to be profitable, hobbies are fun.
I urge you to continue to read all sources available to you and invest time in learning about coin collecting and all your options.
Where to Go from Here
It's always hard to think of next steps when you're enjoying your coin collection. I suggest you take some time with these items listed above and see what you have in your collection. Flip through some world coins that might be lying around or in a box somewhere. If you have some silver, some nickel, some copper, and maybe some aluminum coins that are about the same size, flip them to see how the silver rings the most and how aluminum is just dull (as long as their not uncirculated). Try to learn how they feel and how they look to help you with future events. There's nothing like experiencing the coins separately to get a feel for the different metals.I've made some purchases that were great and I've made some purchases that I learned not to repeat. The biggest lesson I've taken away is to take some risks that are within my financial means and spend time after each purchase (especially if I couldn't spend the time before) to figure out what I did right and what I did wrong. I have now taken the time to learn how different coins feel and would say I'm probably right about the composition 90% of the time (hey - nobody's perfect). If you're making purchases with the intent of making money - this article may be useful for starting the search but you should definitely be completely familiar with the product at a level far deeper than I've addressed before investing. In the end, if you're making purchases for the fun of the hobby without going beyond your means - you can't go wrong!