How to Calculate Spot Price

Newbie question here,

90% Silver Half weighs .4 Troy Oz
Silver price is...let's say $20 / oz
If someone sells silver half at spot price, is it
$20 x .4 x .9 = $7.20 or
$20 x .4 = $8.00
Which is the norm?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

It's easier to use the coinflation calculator http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1916-1947-Silver-Walking-Liberty-Half-Dollar-Value.html

But if you want to use the formula its in the link above

 

Try this link. You don't have to do the math, it does it for you.

http://www.silvercoinstoday.com/silver-calculators/us-silver-coin-calculator/

 

I just use a free app called Silver Wallet on Android. It tells you spot for silver and lists the melt value for most denominations. You can even put in the number of coins of each denomination and it will give you the total melt value at the current spot price.

 

I did the calculation for 10 Roosevelt dimes and it gave me a value of $14.08. There is .07234 troy ounces in a single dime. Times ten equals .7234 based on their spot price of $19.46 the $14.08 would be the value of the ten dimes had they been uncirculated. Industry standard is .715 times face per dollar of dimes, quarters, and halves to allow for wear since circulated coins do not have full weight. If you use this calculator you will be overpaying for your 90% silver coins by .03844. That does not look to be much but if you have hundreds of dollars face value then it becomes a very sizable amount.

You do not want to use this calculator because it ADDS the melt value of copper in the final melt value. So to use their final melt value to buy 90% silver coins you are paying too much.

I would check to see what the difference between their calculations for melt value versus .715 x spot x face value of your 90% silver coins. If their dollar value is more than it is based on full weight whereas you must account for wear to have a more accurate melt value.

 

The reason I post this one is it shows it broke down silver and copper, as well as the formula as what the OP was looking for. I could of just posted this instead http://www.coinflation.com/coins/silver_coin_calculator.html but it was the formula that he wanted

 

@KoinJester http://www.coinflation.com/coins/silver_calc.php still calculates the melt value at full weight. If you a 90 silver buyer using this web sites' calculations you are paying too much. Go into any coin shop, APMEX or any other online 90% silver seller and they clearly state the value of their rolls and bags is based on .715 ounce troy not .723.

 

sigh I guess you cant scroll down far enough
1. Calculate 90% silver value :

(19.43 × .0321507466 × 12.5 × .90) = $7.0277513224

 

I did scroll down far enough. If you were to crunch the numbers they calculate the melt value using .723 ozt per dollar face value. NO one who buys and sells 90% silver on a daily basis pays at that rate. As I said, the industry standard for buying and selling 90% silver coins has been .715 for decades. It was that way when I began collecting coins in 1966 and it is still that way today. These online calculators were programmed by people who do not take into account that the coins do not remain full weight after they have been in circulation for a period of time.

If you want to overpay using these calculators then that is your choice.

.715 x spot x face value is such an easy calculation to remember a person does not need to have to use an inaccurate online calculator.

 

My favorite site by far.

 

Here's also a good site for finding gold and silver at melt values for US and world coinage. Obviously gold can hold a hefty premium, but the site has a lot of good info.

http://www.ngccoin.com/priceguide/Coin-Melt-Values.aspx

 

My favorite site for calculating the price for each denomination sits on my shoulders.

Chris

 

http://www.coininfo.com/mobile/usSilver.php

This site just tells you what silver is worth with spot

 

Only if the silver you have is uncirculated.

What the online 90% silver coin calculators ALL fail to take into consideration is the fact that all circulated coins of any denomination do NOT weigh the same. They base their calculations on the weight of a brand new shiny silver coin and that is the problem with using these web sites. Fill a plastic coin tube with the correct number of coins for a full roll and see how far from the top it goes. If the coins have no wear you cannot get more than however many a full roll of that denomination contains. The more circulated the coins the lower from the top the same number of coins will be. Because there is LESS silver in each coin.

 

The free Android app I mentioned, Silver Wallet, uses 0.71 ozt per dollar face of 90% silver for older dates.

 

Very true but I have never sold circulated silver to a dealer who then weighed the coins and paid me accordingly. My experience is that the buyer counts face value and multiplies by a number. I'm sure someone could give me an example where your point was valid but in my opinion the overwhelming majority of circulated silver deals are not made with a scale.

 

@Vegas Vic That is why dealers do NOT pay .723 times face they pay .715 to account for wear. The ethical dealers I know in my area and myself do not pay that rate for Barber coins and Standing Liberty quarters because those coins in average circulated condition contain on average less that .715 per dollar face. Those coin I do put on a scale before I buy them and they go on a scale when they are sold. But then a lot of the younger dealers of today just do not do the things the way they used to be done.

 

I didn't see your prior posts. I get it now

 

Ed, you bring up some good information with accounting for wear (.715 vs .723), however... why would using a calculator that also adds the value of copper into final melt value be "paying too much"? Is the seller supposed to just give the copper away for free???

EDIT: I've heard others mention before that an adjustment should be made for the cost of smelting (aka separating the metals). Is this why someone would be paying too much?

 

If you were going to be sending the coins to be melted in large quantities then yes you would factor in the value of the copper but, the vast majority of the 90% silver coins are not melted when sent to a smelter. Only the ones which are severely worn, bent, holed or otherwise in a non collectible condition are actually melted. The rest are bagged either by denomination or in mixed bags (Dimes, quarters & halves) and sold wholesale to companies such as APMEX or to investors and speculators.

Of course a person would make that adjustment. That is one of the factors in determining how much below melt value of the metal you are buying destined to get melted. You would be paying too much if you paid full melt value and the smelter you send it to is paying you anywhere from 2 to 10 percent under full melt value for your metal depending on the metal you have sent them.