Do silver coins still get melted ?

Discussion in 'Bullion Investing' started by Doug21, Mar 25, 2010.

  1. Doug21

    Doug21 Coin Hoarder

    I know everything melted back in 1980.

    I'm talking about common stuff like 90% silver washington quarters and such. I imagine WL halves and Merc dimes don't get melted.

    Do investors hold the bags of coins, or melt the stuff ?
     
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  3. LostDutchman

    LostDutchman Under Staffed & Overly Motivated Supporter


    I know a dealer who has a contract with an industrial company to deliver 10 $1,000 face bags of 90% a month to be "processed" and then they make something else out of it... I think it's wiring... but I could be wrong there.
     
  4. Pilkenton

    Pilkenton almost uncirculated

    I thought they were melted down. A contract to deliver 10,000 bucks worth a month!!! WOW.
     
  5. Owle

    Owle Junior Member

    90% Silver

    Some do get sent to refiners. I sold a bunch of 90% silver this week to a well-known coin dealer. I was paid $11X face, I could have travelled and gotten $11.4X. There were some well-worn barber and seated quarters in the mix as well as mercury dimes. None were particularly attractive for the prospective collector.

    Several "damaged" coins were separated out for the smelter. Whether they actually get sent to the refiner is anybodys guess.
     
  6. yakpoo

    yakpoo Member

    There are PM companies that sell buckets of circulated silver coins to investors by face value or weight.

    Personally, if I were going to buy a bucket o'silver, I would only buy by weight...unless the "face value" price somehow takes "wear" into account.
     
  7. bhp3rd

    bhp3rd Die varieties, Gems

    Yes they are melted each and every day and have been for 46 years.
     
  8. Doug21

    Doug21 Coin Hoarder

    even stuff like WL halves ?

    I can see melting the war nickels, Roosevelt dimes,Wash quarters,Franklin and Kennedy halves.....wouldn't even really be worth looking through bags of those for rare dates, nothing really there except 32 D+S quarters.

    I think the WL halves and Merc dimes should carry a small premium, though. That is the way I'd hold silver buillion. Any earlier stuff of course should be saved from melting.

    I wonder how much has been melted already ?

    Silver dollars don't get melted, do they ? I know BU bags did in 1980.
     
  9. cerdsalicious

    cerdsalicious BigShot

    Yup still do. I find it counterproductive and only work with smelters that dotn melt ocins. I also sell the coins to a local coin shop, that sells them off to investors and hoarders.
    However I do melt all libertads, Pandas, Silver war nickels and circulated ASES.
    However another localpawn shop, melts about50lbs of silver coins per week. Any silver bullion he recieves, plus most junk silver.
    Also I was once told and I will tell you "Do you know how many is amillion? And how many a million millions is?"
    Just ponder the thought
     
  10. Pocket Change

    Pocket Change Coin Collector

    The (s)melters even show up at coin shows and buy directly. They then melt them down and do silver rounds, bars, etc.

    What we don't realize is how big a number a MILLION is. And millions and millions and millions of these were made. Boggles the mind.

    So don't expect there to be a shortage of any Frankies or '64 Roosies anytime soon.
     
  11. sunflower

    sunflower New Member

    I heard of similar story/rumor, but they made refrigeration material.
     
  12. sunflower

    sunflower New Member

    Good for you for avoiding the businesses that melt the coins.

    I suppose I just need to wake up. It seems far fetch to think that someone would smelt a 90% silver coin, or any percentage of silver, or any coin for that matter. Coins strike me a little tiny art pieces.

    I suppose the reality is that coins do indeed get melted. I was especially sorry to read about the libertads, and war nickels. I only have a few hand fulls of each. The Libertads are especially pretty. The war nickels are historical in my view.

    Too bad more people do not appreciate coins for just being a coin. Most of my stuff/hoard is circulated. I still appreciate the circulated, and I am grateful that they tend to be more affordable. Most of my dad's old albums held circulated coins, and what a nice experience that was to grow up with.

    I do not intend to be sentimental or insulting to anyone. I am just amazed how easy it is for some folks to toss a coin into a melting pot. I have had some very very tough financial times in my life, but I never considered giving up a coin.

    Oh well, enough on that saga. For those that collect numis and non-numis quality coins, this melting business will likely create more value for their coins. Supply and Demand is a very interesting concept in the coin world.
     
  13. sunflower

    sunflower New Member

    I paid 13 x face for my dimes this week. I only purchased a small selection ($39.00 worth).
     
  14. qsb

    qsb New Member

    I work with a certain dealer that is always buying and selling silver. The scuffed and scratched silver eagles that they buy, they have them melted and minted into new .999 silver rounds. For them, they can sell a brand new bullion privately minted round for more than they can a circulated ASE.

    Personally I wouldn't melt junk silver coins, because once it is melted down, there is no marking on it to show the purity and weight of the piece. It is generally known that pre-1965 coins contain silver, so the coin itself is the proof of silver contant. Once melted it's hard to prove that it is actually silver. Unless there is currently a mint that mints 90% silver rounds. I'm not familiar with one...
     
  15. cerdsalicious

    cerdsalicious BigShot

    They seperate the materials in this case which is copper and silver if im correct. And they make silver bars, I would guess they eitheir make copper bars, or sell that off to copper smelters.
     
  16. Hudson James

    Hudson James Junior Member

    I melted coins weekly for 18 years when I worked part time for a silver smith.
    I focused on Walkers and Mercs primarily. I never really liked either design. Every now and them we would get buckets of SLQs. I tried to pick out the Washington Quarters from the 30's and 40's and set those a side until payday.
     
  17. qsb

    qsb New Member

    This can only be done by refining the coins. The copper, tin, or whatever material is in them does not separate from the silver just by melting it (I've done it...). If that were the case then we wouldn't need assayers and refineries. Usually a refinery will take a certain percentage of the precious metals that they refine as payment, so again personally I think it would be worth it to just keep the coins for what they are worth. There is a large market for "junk silver" and it's anything but "junk."
     
  18. qsb

    qsb New Member

    That's cool that you kept those Quarters as payment.;)SMART! If you don't mind me asking, did the silver automatically separate from the other materials? In my experience, a 90% silver coin will still be a 90% silver blob once it is melted...unless it is refined. THANKS!
     
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