90% junk silver coins, halves vs. quarters and dimes

All other factors being equal, if you were buying a bag of 90% junk silver coins would you pay a 30 cent per ounce premium based on 715 ounces per bag to get halves instead of a mix of quarters and dimes?

 

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That is an interesting question. I have heard that halves demand a premium because (in theory) they circulate less and therefore have less silver lost to wear. I do know that I bought some rolls of mercury dimes for junk silver. Due to the wear these rolls are much shorter than a normal dime roll. I guess I am missing out on that much silver. On the flipside, actual silver content in 90% coins is something like 0.725 per dollar, but when dealing in junk silver everyone uses 0.715 per dollar to account for wear. Personally, I would probably buy some of each.

 

Silver is silver why would anyone pay more just because its in the form of halves? If it was silver dollars that would be little different since even in cull grade they carry a numismatic premium.

 

But if you are not buying by the the number of coins, if you are buying by the weight it don't matter if the coins are worn they will just throw in more coins to reach the right weight. I would not buy coins that were not sold by the weight unless i knew they were all AU or BU

 

Junk silver is most commonly sold by face value, not weight. I buy it because I like it and I think it will all have a numismatic premium some day (like SLQs). And AU and BU coins also carry a pretty high premium.

 

Since 30 cents times 715 is over $200 you cannot get that much extra silver value even if the dimes and quarters only net 715 and the halves are unworn and net 723. But is there a higher probability of finding any numismatic coins in a bag of halves?

 

I think it depends on your purpose for aquisition. If for investment Halves are probably the easiest to resell and get the best premiums. Personally I hold some of each denomination with the majority being in halves (since I've pulled alot from cirulation). Quarters and dimes will be better for barter, remember in the future it may be harder to get "change".

 

I am assuming the market determines desirability and halves usually get more money than quarters or dimes. Therefore, we assume that such a demand exists.

If silver were to ever get to super high values, you would be selling by weight and not face value. This mainly because the dealer who is buying will not be selling by face value but by weight and he's not going to let himself get screwed over by some clown trying to cash in slick barber dimes.

 

I like quarters and dimes. When you can find them in bulk, you end up with some decent Mercury dimes and occasional standing quarters.

 

I like original bank rolls if the premium is reasonable.

It has been rare I can afford a face bag (500 or 1,000) at one time.

 

I want to buy a lot of silver coins like your talking about (for investing reason) I really don't want to pay 14.5-15x face. Where is the best place to find silver coins>?

 

At the last coin show I was at, junk silver was being sold by all the dealers at 16.5X face. (Canadian)

 

Interesting Answer For Interesting Question

I believe there is no definitive "best place" to find Silver coins, as interests generally vary between individuals, based on specific criteria. It appears that your interest is based primarily on price, and your "best place" may be in the future, if bullion prices return to the levels you desire.

I will caution you about waiting, based on personal experience, as I'm still waiting for the time where I can resell bags of common date 90% Silver coins that I acquired in the late 1970's at 30+ times face.

I don't need additional tax deductions at the present time, so I'm waiting until that level again returns. LOL :smile

 

A Rational Answer

If you've read the posts between your initial query and this post, you will have been provided with numerous irrational reasons why you should/shouldn't(?) pay a premium, or purchase halves rather than dimes, quarters.

They are all the equally 90% Silver so it makes no difference. It seems foolish to pay a premium. Except if it is a Silver Dollar, as they command a premium. Yes, they command a premium, as do the ASE, because people like large chunks of Silver. If for no other rational reason, they will pay a premium because it is a large beautiful coin. These same individuals will grope for justification where there is no rational. I have been guilty of the same denial. I just like large beautiful coins, as when I was young, I thought only the wealthy could have a large Silver coin.

I've provided you with irrational justification, and now I will provide you with a semi-rational justification. With elevated PM prices the "poor mans'" large Silver coin of the future may be the half dollar which generally has more affordable design choices (i.e. Barber, Walking Liberty, Franklin, 1964 Kennedy) than the 2 basic affordable(?) Dollar designs. The Ultimate rational reason for paying a 30 cent per ounce premium is: I can show you a buyer who pays a 30 cent per ounce premium when buying your halves.

Are you now more resolute?

Happy Hunting, RICH

 

Many years ago, I learned when buying bulk silver coins to take the halves. There are far fewer slicks, and in fact many will be uncirculated or nearly so (especially true if the lot includes many 64 Kennedys). Plus it's just much easier to deal with 20 big coins in a roll rather than 40 smaller or 50 much smaller ones. Over time I've plucked several 38-D's out of "junk rolls", as well as two VG 21-S' and a VF 16-D on obverse. I still have those.

 

OK I'm a bit confused. If pre-1965 coins are 90% silver, 10% copper, and $1 face value contains 1 troy oz, then the melt value should be .9 troy oz of silver. Thus a bag ($1000 face) should contain 900 troy ounces, minus wear & tear.

My question is, why do they say there is only 715 troy ounces in a bag? That's one hell of a mark up (almost 20%) for coins that aren't very worn. And since all U.S. pre-1965 coins are based on an easy to figure 1 troy ounce per $1 face, it should be easy to determine the actual silver content simply by weighing the coins. I'll bet if you had a bag of very worn coins most dealers would discount the buy price even further.

It seems to me this 715 figure is just a way to scam people or otherwise make what would be easy to understand more complicated.

And so why isn't gold bullion bought / sold like this? I have found the markup always less than 10% on gold.

 

$1 face value is not one troy ounce, unless you're talking about American Silver Eagles. $1 face of uncirculated dimes, quarters, or halves (from the late 1800's until 1964) contains 0.723 troy oz. of silver.

Wear reduces the weight, and thus the silver content, of a coin. Pricing a $1000 FV bag as 715 ounces rather than 723 is apparently the standard way to compensate for this. But if you're buying a bag of 10,000 slick Barber dimes, you're not getting your money's worth, at least in terms of silver content.

http://www.coinflation.com/ is your friend.

 

I think $1.40 face value is one troy ounce, of course that depends on the wear on the coins.

 

Here's what I found out...

You learn something new every day. I was under the impression that
10 dimes = 4 quarters = 2 halves = 1 dollar and all of those has the same silver content when minted. But what I found out based on the link posted earlier in this thread is:

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A bag of silver dollars (never circulated) weighs 859.37 ounces. 90% of that is 773.433 ounces.
773.433 - 715 = 58.433, or 7.555%
A bag of halves weigh 803.76 ounces. 90% of that is 723.384 ounces. 723.384 - 715 = 8.384, or 1.159%
A bag of quarters is the exact same as halves.
A bag of dimes weigh 803.8, slightly more than quarters or halves.
-----------------------------------------------------

So worst case is a 7.55% markup & best case is 1.15%, IF and I must emphasize IF, you got spot price. But that never happens.

 

whats so great about the junk silver pre 65 coins if you cant melt them down anyhow?