We are just starting and I have been trying to find which are the best coins in circulation for my niece and nephew to collect. I thought I would have them collect pre-1965 coins due to the metal content, but I read in one of the threads that these coins don't have the right quality silver in them, can someone clarify for me? By the way, thanks for all the help, I enjoy the forum and I'll try to contribute to other postings whenever I can... -J
Pre-1965 quarters, dimes, and halfs are 90% silver. 1965-1970 half dollars are 40% silver. I hope this helps! - James
You will be hard pressed to find silver coins in circulation dated before 1965. In the late 70's when the Hunt brothers were trying to corner the silver market (prices reached over $50 per troy ounce), most were pulled and scraped for their melt value. I remember those days as a teen. I had rolls of silver coins (from my days as a paper boy) that were worth nothing from a collector standpoint. A local pawn shop have ran full page ads offering 1000% face value for pre-1965 coins, then 1500%, then 2200% all the way up to 4000% CASH value which is when I SOLD! My Dad thought I was crazy, but I figured anybody offering $4 for a dime and $10 for a quarter was also insane!! Weeks later it all came crashing down! So...many silver and gold items in the late 70's and early 80's were scrapped for their melt value and finding a pre-1965 dime, quarter, and half dollar in circulation would in fact be rare. Good luck!
go to the bank and get rolls of dimes and quarters and keep the pre 65s, theres the silver u want or for a little challenge get nickel rolls i believe 42 to 45 has the silver
About ten years ago I was a cashier at an art/office supply store. I was giving someone their change one day and noticed that one of the dimes I was about to give him was silver. I quickly swapped it for a non-silver one, and then went back to check the drawer. There were 33 silver dimes in all! That might be the last time I found a silver dime, though it seems like I've found one or two in circulation since then. I found a silver nickel from WWII in the office Coke change box a few weeks ago. And I've found a total of 17 silver clad half-dollars (all but one of them in one single batch) in the past year of going through half dollars, but I probably only go through an average of a roll every week or two. It's getting scarcer and scarcer, but it's still around.
