# Silver content of coins



## mikeinkaty (Dec 9, 2012)

I did not know this. Maybe some of you did not either.
http://www.coinnews.net/tools/automated-silver-coin-valuator/ Go down toward the center of the page for the calculator.

Pick out the coins you have that are not worth more than the silver content and use those as feedstock for inquarting.

Mike


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## Auful (Dec 9, 2012)

mikeinkaty said:


> I did not know this. Maybe some of you did not either.
> http://www.coinnews.net/tools/automated-silver-coin-valuator/ Go down toward the center of the page for the calculator.
> 
> Pick out the coins you have that are not worth more than the silver content and use those as feedstock for inquarting.
> ...




Mike,

Very handy calculator. I've got it bookmarked. Thanks for sharing.


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## bigjohn (Dec 9, 2012)

I would not tell anyone to melt down US silver coins it a federal crime that could cost you $10,000.
Read this before you decide to melt US coins
http://www.gata.org/node/4613


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## Auful (Dec 9, 2012)

bigjohn said:


> I would not tell anyone to melt down US silver coins it a federal crime that could cost you $10,000.
> Read this before you decide to melt US coins
> http://www.gata.org/node/4613



I haven't plans to melt silver coins, so silver content calculator link is a nice reference, anyway. The link you provide here, John, doesn't mention any coins but pennies and nickels. Does this law, that obviously applies to pennies and nickels, also apply to other coins, especially those no longer produced, such as the 90% silvers? Thanks.


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## philddreamer (Dec 9, 2012)

As I understood, for many years, its any of them! 
I remember when I was a kid, I tried to copy some friends at school who were drilling holes in the coins to make a necklace, and my dad read me my acts!!!!1 :shock: 
Ever since I don't "mess" with them... at least not in public! :mrgreen: 

Phil


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## bigjohn (Dec 9, 2012)

mikeinkaty said:


> I did not know this. Maybe some of you did not either.
> http://www.coinnews.net/tools/automated-silver-coin-valuator/ Go down toward the center of the page for the calculator.
> 
> Pick out the coins you have that are not worth more than the silver content and use those as feedstock for inquarting.
> ...



This is what my comment was in reference to.
He suggest using silver coins for inquarting.
The law covers all US minted coins


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## Anonymous (Dec 9, 2012)

As I have been reading and researching coins lately,,.. it is NOT against the law nor a crime to melt down CERTAIN coins. For example, you can melt down coins that have been defaced, destroyed or otherwise not acceptable at merchant shops. You can melt down coins that aren't in circulation any longer.

I always knew it was illegal to melt down US currency, but it's not exactly the way some of you are thinking. Cull coins, for example are legal to melt down. A cull coin is a coin that is either defaced, bent, worn out to where the date isn't visible, holes drilled through them and anything else that will make them not acceptable, even to a coin dealer. There are plenty of those coins out there. Go on eBay and you'll see people selling them by the bag full. Those coins can be legally melted down.

On the other hand, coins that are still being circulated is illegal to melt down, no matter how old it is and what metal it is. If it's being accepted anywhere in the US, it's US Currency and cannot be melted down.

Should coins be melted down for their metal value? That's for you to decide. Is it illegal to melt down US coins? Yes and No.

I was just now reading another website and someone made a very great point. What's the point of melting down a 1 oz gold coin to get 1 oz gold? You're going to get the same thing. But depending on the condition of the coin, it will be worth more than it's weight in gold.

On the other hand, you have a bag full of cull coins, worth nothing, even to the coin dealers and you have a face value of $100 in silver coins, but the silver value in that $100 face value is $750. What would you do with those coins? 

One thing we should all remember, and that is the only REAL money that exists is gold and silver. 

Kevin


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## butcher (Dec 9, 2012)

If you have a coin and you know the face value and metal value (or can look it up), unless you needed the silver, or other metal why spend money to melt it anyway? as long as it is a coin the value can easily be looked up and the coin can be traded for its silver value without melting it. now if your goal was to refine some silver, and you did not need to trade the silver then I can understand, like copper pennies we know they are copper and have a copper value why not just hang onto them and trade them for copper value if you did not need them to spend on bread. to me it would be like melting copper wire we now the grade of copper wire, but once melted others may not know how pure of copper it is.


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## Anonymous (Dec 9, 2012)

butcher said:


> If you have a coin and you know the face value and metal value (or can look it up), unless you needed the silver, or other metal why spend money to melt it anyway? as long as it is a coin the value can easily be looked up and the coin can be traded for its silver value without melting it. now if your goal was to refine some silver, and you did not need to trade the silver then I can understand, like copper pennies we know they are copper and have a copper value why not just hang onto them and trade them for copper value if you did not need them to spend on bread. to me it would be like melting copper wire we now the grade of copper wire, but once melted others may not know how pure of copper it is.


Yep. True indeed.

I just remember that about a year or more ago, I was looking at a show on tv and they did an interview about a man that bought over (I think) 2 million dollars worth of nickles from the Treasury Department or somewhere related. And the question was asked "Why is he buying all those nickles?", and the person being interviewed said that he was buying the nickles for their melt value. Right now, a nickle (5 cent) is worth 7 cent in melt value. So, just imagine how one can gain money just by melting money. 

So, if you melt 50 nickles ($3) @ 2 cent gain EACH nickle, you'll have $4 in melt value. You'll effectively make $1 gain for every $3 you melt.

I do know for a fact that it's illegal to melt pennies and nickles as of this day. How is that guy getting away with it though? I have no idea. The dime and quarter don't have the same value as the penny and nickle, although their face value is greater.

I don't know how true this story is, but I read the other day that in 2013 around February, they were going to stop minting pennies and nickles. I do know for a fact that on the news last week they're talking about doing away with the 1 dollar bill. Not sure when that'll get done, but they're talking real soon.


Kevin


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## mikeinkaty (Dec 9, 2012)

You wouldn't want to melt down Washington Quarters to get the silver just for profit. They are worth slightly more than the silver value. Once you melt them down then you have to refine them like crazy to get to 999 silver. So, why incur the melting and refining expense for nothing. Now, if you have 2 ozs of gold to refine and no silver feedstock for inquarting and you accidentally dump 30 or 40 defaced quarters in the pot, then that is something else.


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## goldsilverpro (Dec 9, 2012)

bigjohn said:


> I would not tell anyone to melt down US silver coins it a federal crime that could cost you $10,000.
> Read this before you decide to melt US coins
> http://www.gata.org/node/4613


If you do a Google search, you will find 100s of sites that say a 1967 law made it illegal to melt US silver coins but this law was rescinded in 1969. I believe this. Unfortunately, I haven't yet found copies of the '67 law or it's '69 recension. So far, nothing I have found makes it illegal to melt these coins under present law. I did find the 2006 law that makes it illegal to melt pennies and nickels. It is interesting to note that, in that law, it says that war nickels (7% silver) are an exception and are legal to melt. Here's the law
http://www.usmint.gov/downloads/consumer/FederalRegisterNotice.pdf
Here's the part of the law concerning war nickels on page 61056 of the above link:
"_(d)
The prohibition contained in § 82.1 against the exportation, melting, or treatment of 5-cent coins shall not apply to 5-cent coins inscribed with the years 1942, 1943, 1944, or 1945 that are composed of an alloy comprising copper, silver and manganese_

The more I study this, the more I believe that, under present law, the only coins illegal to melt are pennies and nickels, excluding war nickels.

Here's a decent general discussion of the present laws.
http://www.coinflation.com/is_it_illegal_to_melt_coins.html

A couple of questions:
(1) Why would they write a special law in 1967 banning the melting of melting of US 90% silver coins if it were already illegal to melt all US coins?
(2) Why write a special law in 2006 banning the melting of pennies and nickels if it were already illegal to melt all US coins?

I would say that, between 1969 and 2006, it was legal to melt any US coin.


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## its-all-a-lie (Dec 10, 2012)

goldsilverpro said:


> bigjohn said:
> 
> 
> > I would not tell anyone to melt down US silver coins it a federal crime that could cost you $10,000.
> ...



Are you quoting the law as saying the war nickels are 7% silver? Coinflation calculates them at 35% silver content. 
http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1942-1945-Silver-War-Nickel-Value.html


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## goldsilverpro (Dec 10, 2012)

its-all-a-lie said:


> goldsilverpro said:
> 
> 
> > bigjohn said:
> ...


Sorry. It is 35%. My head was somewhere else when I wrote that


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## its-all-a-lie (Dec 10, 2012)

goldsilverpro said:


> its-all-a-lie said:
> 
> 
> > goldsilverpro said:
> ...



Not a problem, i know they contain 35% but i didnt always. I didnt want someone else to be confused or misinformed as i was a couple years ago.


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## FrugalRefiner (Dec 10, 2012)

I posted this in another thread, but here's a link to a document I put together that summarizes US coin metal contents.

US Coin Metal Content

The way I understand the laws, it has always been, and continues to be, illegal to deface or alter any US currency in order to defraud, e.g., glueing $100 bill corners on a $1 bill, or gold plating a silver coin to try to pass it off as a gold coin. But in the absence of an intent to defraud, melting silver coins has always been legal, except in 1967 - 1969. If it hadn't been allowed, there would be no "coin" silver pieces in existence today. Years ago, silversmiths in the far reaches of our country didn't have easy access to refiners to purchase their raw materials. Silver coins were always readily available and of known content. Silversmiths melted coins and fashioned spoons, forks, knife handles, tea sets, etc., and stamped them as "coin" with their maker's mark. They certainly would not have done this if it were illegal.

There have been 3 prohibitions on melting US coins. Melting silver coins was banned from 1967 - 1969 after the silver value exceeded the face value and the composition changed in 1965. There was a ban on melting pennies from 1974 - 1978 during a period of high copper prices. The penny's content was changed in 1982. The reason that has been stated for these bans in the past is to secure the US currency system from shortages of coinage if people start melting them down for their intrinsic value. After the majority of pre 1965 coins had been removed from circulation, the ban was lifted since there weren't enough silver coins left in circulation that their sudden removal from circulation would have any significant effect on the currency's stability. Copper has gone back up again, and there are LOTS of pre 1982 pennies still in circulation. Nickels, of course, are worth more than their face value. So in both cases, melting is again banned. The exception for "war" nickels is because, like pre 1965 silver coins, they are not in general circulation, so there is no risk to the currency system.

Dave


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## goldsilverpro (Dec 10, 2012)

Very good, FrugalRefiner. I agree with every word you said. You did a lot better job of explaining it than I did.


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## Anonymous (Dec 10, 2012)

According to my last post in this thread, if my math is correct, if you had one million dollars in nickles and melted them down, you would end up with 1.3 million dollars in cash. A whopping 333,000.000 dollars profit (minus melting fees and such).

Not bad, especially if you could do it in less than 7 days.

Kevin


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## jimdoc (Dec 10, 2012)

testerman said:


> According to my last post in this thread, if my math is correct, if you had one million dollars in nickles and melted them down, you would end up with 1.3 million dollars in cash. A whopping 333,000.000 dollars profit (minus melting fees and such).
> 
> Not bad, especially if you could do it in less than 7 days.
> 
> Kevin




Then you would have an alloy of 75% copper, 25% nickel, who would you sell that to besides the mint?

Jim


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## Anonymous (Dec 10, 2012)

jimdoc said:


> testerman said:
> 
> 
> > According to my last post in this thread, if my math is correct, if you had one million dollars in nickles and melted them down, you would end up with 1.3 million dollars in cash. A whopping 333,000.000 dollars profit (minus melting fees and such).
> ...


Well, if you separate them it shouldn't be a problem as to where/who to sell to. The work is in separating the metals, after that, it's all good. Hey, sell it back to the mint :shock: and give them a slight discount.

Kevin


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## mikeinkaty (Dec 11, 2012)

Have you checked Wash. quarters and Franklin half dollars on eBay lately? Shoot, I could sell my coins there, use that money to buy pure silver, and have money left over! No melting/refining necessary!

If the world monetary system collapsed, I don't think the average run of the mill folks would be out buying quarters and half dollars! If such did happen, pure silver would probably appreciate more and faster than coins.

Mike


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## Anonymous (Dec 11, 2012)

mikeinkaty said:


> Have you checked Wash. quarters and Franklin half dollars on eBay lately? Shoot, I could sell my coins there, use that money to buy pure silver, and have money left over! No melting/refining necessary!
> 
> If the world monetary system collapsed, I don't think the average run of the mill folks would be out buying quarters and half dollars! If such did happen, pure silver would probably appreciate more and faster than coins.
> 
> Mike


From a report on silver I saw about a month or two ago, at the rate silver is being mined (not much silver underground), and being disposed of through ewaste, silver has been predicted to be gone from the Periodic Table soon. How soon. I have no idea. Point in case?... Silver will probably be worth more than gold one day.

Kevin


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## nickvc (Dec 12, 2012)

Kevin its known here on the forum that there is more gold above ground than silver but the uses for gold are limited , especially at its present price,whereas silver is used in most industries and in thousands of applications where it's irreplaceable. Virtually all the silver entering the market these days comes from secondary sources such as copper or lead refining so go figure why it's price isn't higher and why when it was rising the markets conspired to change the rules on dealing in it to force the price down. We like gold but we need silver.


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## Anonymous (Dec 12, 2012)

nickvc said:


> Kevin its known here on the forum that there is more gold above ground than silver but the uses for gold are limited , especially at its present price,whereas silver is used in most industries and in thousands of applications where it's irreplaceable. Virtually all the silver entering the market these days comes from secondary sources such as copper or lead refining so go figure why it's price isn't higher and why when it was rising the markets conspired to change the rules on dealing in it to force the price down. We like gold but we need silver.


Excellent point!!!

If you save and keep silver, I think you'll have more than the gold you have... no matter the weight. Silver WILL be a commodity that will be needed and sought after. Give it time and it'll come into fruition.


Kevin


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## butcher (Dec 12, 2012)

Look at how much more silver price has increased, compared to the increase in price for gold, then compare these metals against the rise in price of your groceries, and against your paper dollar.

Save a little of each of these metals for those rainy days, in those times, these metals may just glitter like a ray of sunshine.


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## mikeinkaty (Dec 12, 2012)

butcher said:


> Look at how much more silver price has increased, compared to the increase in price for gold, then compare these metals against the rise in price of your groceries, and against your paper dollar.
> 
> Save a little of each of these metals for those rainy days, in those times, these metals may just glitter like a ray of sunshine.



Also, in the event of a VERY rainy day, I'm thinking that 1oz 999. silver coins will be more 'liquid' than 90% silver minted coins and more liquid than marked 1oz gold coins or 1oz marked bullion. 

I just got a bunch of Proof AE silver coins at $1.60 over spot here locally. They are selling for more than that on Ebay right now!

Mike


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## element47.5 (Dec 12, 2012)

You are saying you bought proof American Eagles for $1.60 over spot?? 

Where?


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## mikeinkaty (Dec 13, 2012)

element47.5 said:


> You are saying you bought proof American Eagles for $1.60 over spot??
> 
> Where?



In Houston!  I got a bunch of proof canadian 999 silver coins first at 80 cents over spot then he said, "here, you want these too?" Heck yeah!


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