Do United States Silver Coins need to be melted down to trade them?

Morgan Silver Dollars

Do United States Silver Coins need to be melted down to trade them?

The general answer is no. U.S. junk silver coinage can be traded in the open market as they are. Even though they are only 90% silver and most bullion ingots and bars that are invested into are 99.99% silver, the coins are a well established and people that buy them can easily sell them as is. They are not like flatware, jewelry or other silver items that need to be sent to a refinery and then turned into bars or ingots before they are marketable.

After 1964, all U.S. coinage in circulation was converted to a copper nickel alloy with no silver. The only exception was the Kennedy Half Dollar which from 1965 to 1969 was clad with 40% silver and 60% copper. There has been since then also, silver coins like Silver Eagles minted which do carry a face value amount, but were never intended for circulation due to the fact the silver content in them far exceeds the face value amount. Although, technically a Silver Eagle worth $37 at the time of this writing can be spent at a place of business for its face value amount of $1.

An person can buy and sell an individual coin or sometimes rolls or tubes of coins. They can also sometimes be traded in government issued bags of coins.

Some coins that have better dates or are in better condition or that were specially produced by the U.S. mint are worth more than just silver value. These kinds of coins fall in the category of numismatic collector's coins. Most U.S. silver coinage, however, falls into the category of junk silver coins, meaning that they have no collectors value and are strictly only worth their weight in silver.

We hope this helps you have a better understanding of U.S. Silver Coinage!

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Article Authored by Greg Arbutine on 3-19-25

Greg Arbutine has been dealing in silver since the year 1972.  He has a broad knowledge of silver including: antique silver, silver coins, silver bullion and more!