Should I consider my pre-1964 silver coins junk?

Is it really junk when you have several hundred silver coins from back when they were 90% silver. I am going to sell these and my question centers around whether I am shooting myself in the foot by not sorting the better looking coins from the real dogs? Most are nice coins AU or better with most likely some mint state ones as well. Of course some are not too nice but all have readable devices and dates.

Should I just leave them all together in a bag and sell as they are without regard to checking dates, mint marks, condition etc. I am only talking about $40.00 face value total in a single bag......thoughts? I plan to perhaps trade for ASE's or maple Leafs.Thx all.

 

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"Several hundred" doesn't sound like that big of a project so I would at least carefully sort them out by denomination, date and mint and see what you have. Any particular reason for swapping for ASE's or maple leafs? You might have a specific collecting goal with those, but to me they're just overpriced silver and you already have silver.

 

If you have 90% silver coins AU or better, it would be foolish to sell them without checking them first. I wouldn't consider AU silver coins "junk".

 

I'd be happy to have several hundred Silver of anything ... at this point in my collection .

 

Check the dates, mints and conditions, and once you're sure of what you have, you could then cash in the real dogs in the pile.
Check with several buyers before you sell. Some will offer you more than others.

 

I do a lot of trading in junk silver. I get bags of the stuff from a friend that buys abandoned storage rooms. I barely give the stuff a look before I roll it up.... If I was covered up in free time, I would maybe enjoy inspecting them, but for me it is a risk/reward deal. I just don't have the time.... Keep in mind that in typical stacks of junk silver, you will see quite a few pristine 63 & 64 dates because it was the last year of silver coinage. Maybe keep one or two of those for your own enjoyment and sell the rest the way I see it.

 

Depends on the time and effort you're willing to expend. For instance, some collectors who need a particular date/mintmark combination for a Franklin half or Washington quarter might be willing to be a premium above melt if you sell them separately and use a cheap shipping option, like Ebay standard envelope. Then again, it takes time and energy to go down that route and you may have to wait for the right buyer to come along.

 

it's "junk" silver because of the composition and it not being pure.
it's "junk" silver when it has no collector value above it's silver content.

feel free to search it for better condition or better dates, but the common stuff is very common and only really going to sell for around meltish even at the coin shops.

the term "junk silver" just means it's not pure silver and it's common date or lower condition that collectors wouldn't really want for their collection.

that all said, sometimes good things turn up in junk silver lots.

 

Personally, I hate the term “junk silver”. Its silver, not junk. I personally will never consider any of my thousands of pre 1964 coins as such. But however, the only good thing about that term and thinking, is that often you can get silver coins much cheaper. For me sometimes even face value from my dealer in their junk pile.

 

Many older, worn silver, usually below VF20 have approached their melt value, barring key dates and mintage numbers. It is these, and damaged coins that are assigned the term “junk”.

This is mostly because when you try to sell them most buyers want a bargain from the get-go and anything still slightly above melt value gets lumped in with the rest, regardless.

Remember, going forward, these types are common and will appreciate very slowly past melt. I have sold off most of these, but I still have some Roosevelts to go through.

I have saved for my sons only silver coins at or above VF20. I have already presented ALL of these, in several volumes, to them. They now have total ownership. They now control whatever they want to do with them, and later no squabbling over them. When they appreciate in the future, my sons know what to do, and how to do with them.

Passing the torch…Spark

 

I was being lazy, they just grew over the years, one here and one there with some from childhood, I'll sort thru them.

 

Too painful to sell thru Ebay, buying is fine, thanks tho.

 

Personally I keep the junk silver and forget the ASE’s and maple leaves. Silver is one price point, spot. You’re just trading one form for a different form but in the end it’s all the same.

 

SILVER IS SILVER. After you have removed any that you want to keep just keep throwing the dogs in that bag. Buying .999 silver in any form costs you a premium over spot that you will never get back when you sell. If you trade your junk to a dealer for ASE you end up with LESS silver than you already have. Even if you get all different dates you still have less silver than you began with.

 

I experience a lot of joy giving such pieces to youngsters (not the ankle biting ones.... a little bit older children, 3rd/4th grade or so).

They are genuinely appreciative, especially when the coin has a date and/or subject that they have never seen or a subject that they don't know about. It is fun. They ask questions, and I get to indoctrinate the little money grabbers.

 

Pre 1965 silver coins are only considered junk silver if they are a common date silver coin that is heavily worn or damaged. Even some Morgan & Peace dollars can be considered junk silver. Same for coins from other countries. The coins that tend to be considered in the junk silver group are Kennedy & worn Franklin half dollars. Worn Walking Liberty half dollars. Even mint state 1964 Kennedy half dollars can be considered junk silver because they were horded. Washington quarters, Roosevelt and Mercury dimes of non key dates. However, you should always check for key dates and error coins. Also if they are extra fine or better you may want to set those aside. Early dates in the Washington quarters and Mercury dime series tend to be sought after by collectors to fill their Dansco Albums. Trading for ASE's isn't worth the effort because they are currently over priced.

 

I think most people don't have this in mind when they use the term. 90% silver, where you know the other 10% is pure copper, is at least 90% as good as .999 silver. In fact, if it's well-known and rarely-counterfeited US coinage, it's better -- there are plenty of knockoff silver-plated bars out there, but not so many knockoff circulated Roosevelts. You see that in the premiums, where US 90% silver coinage is bought and sold for higher premiums than generic silver rounds or bars.

I think nearly everyone would agree with this. During the silver spike in 1980, this meant MS Morgans were suddenly "junk" silver.

In the same sense, non-key, non-high-MS pre-1933 double eagles are "junk gold", because their value is almost entirely driven by their gold content.

 

I have started an new collection system. I am collecting All of the Wheat Cents, Buffalo Nickels, All Mercury Dimes and FDR Dimes to 1964, all Washington Quarters to 1964, and all Liberty Walking/Franklin and Kennedy Half Dollars to 1964. I am really enjoying working with those coins. When I finish collecting them, I will find another set to collect. It has really been fun and exhausting.

 

I couldn't agree more. Why sell silver at X% of melt (I doubt you will get 100% of whatever current melt rate is), and then buy different silver at a premium. You'd then have to hold the new silver bullion for (most likely) decades just to break even.

 

To me, all of the coins you are describing have a value greater than melt. They are history and will never be minted again, so for that reason alone, I would keep them all and pass them down. Just my 2¢ worth.