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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;-jeffB, post: 2349045, member: 27832&quot;]Basically, they go for more because that&#039;s what people are willing to pay. I can <i>guess</i> at a couple of reasons, though.</p><p><br /></p><p>First, half dollars tend to retain more silver in the face of wear. As a coin circulates, metal wears away, at a rate proportional to the coin&#039;s <i>surface area</i> -- and the larger the coin, the larger its volume (and thus its mass/weight) relative to its surface area. So, dimes lose weight fastest, followed by quarters, halves, and dollars.</p><p><br /></p><p>Besides, recent half dollars are likely to be less heavily circulated -- I&#039;ve seen very few Franklins worn down to anything less than F, and 1964 Kennedys hardly circulated at all. I&#039;ve got some slick Barber halves and older Walkers that have lost substantial weight (more than 5%), but those coins still carry a higher numismatic base value.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is even more pronounced for silver dollars. First, they contain more silver than $1.00 worth of dimes, quarters or halves as minted -- equivalent to about $1.07 worth of smaller change. Second, they lose weight less rapidly than smaller change. Most importantly, though, both Morgan and Peace dollars are very heavily collected, meaning there&#039;s more demand -- and any <i>earlier</i> type of dollar coin (Trade, Seated, Bust) still carries a numismatic value that dwarfs its bullion value.</p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, 90% silver <i>in general</i> is trading at a premium these days. At the moment, <a href="http://www.coinflation.com/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinflation.com/" rel="nofollow">Coinflation</a> quotes 90% coinage&#039;s silver value at 11.15x face value. <a href="http://www.providentmetals.com/sell-to-us.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.providentmetals.com/sell-to-us.html" rel="nofollow">Provident</a>, a large online dealer, will <i>pay</i> 12.79x face value for your silver ($1000 minimum, or a bit less than $100 face value); they&#039;ll <i>sell</i> it back to you for 13.86x. This isn&#039;t always the case, but it has been for most of the last few years. Local dealers, with smaller volume, need a bigger spread to make money; they&#039;ll pay you less than Provident, and charge you more if you&#039;re buying, especially for small quantities.</p><p><br /></p><p>(I notice that Provident doesn&#039;t pay extra for half dollars, but does <i>charge</i> extra for them -- 15.29x for circulated 1964 Kennedys, 14.57x for Franklins, and 14.21x for Walkers. I&#039;m a bit surprised at that. They don&#039;t list prices for bulk dimes or quarters.)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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