Coin melt value calculator

How the coin melt value calculator works

Melt value is what the metal in a coin is worth at the spot price, and nothing else: not its face value, its condition or what a collector would pay. The sum is short: the fine metal in the coin, in troy ounces, times the spot price per troy ounce. The calculator does that for every coin you enter and adds the results up by metal.

The metal content comes from the US Mint and the coinage laws. Where the law or the Mint states the fine metal outright, as it does for the American Eagle and Buffalo bullion coins and for the wartime nickel, we use that figure. For older silver coins the specification gives the weight and the share of silver, so the ounces are calculated from the US Mint specification: silver by weight, converted at 31.1034768 grams to the troy ounce. The table under your result marks those calculated figures with a star.

You type today's spot price for each metal. The calculator holds no price of its own, so the result is only as current as the number you type.

A worked example

Take a roll of 40 Washington quarters dated 1964 or earlier and 10 Morgan silver dollars. We use an example silver price of $30 a troy ounce. That is a round number for illustration, not today's price.

• Each quarter weighs 6.25 grams and is 90% silver: 5.625 grams of silver, or 0.18085 troy ounces. Forty quarters hold 7.234 troy ounces.
• Each Morgan dollar weighs 412.5 grains (26.73 grams) at 90% silver: 371.25 grains of silver, or 0.77344 troy ounces. Ten dollars hold 7.7344 troy ounces.
• Together that is 14.9684 troy ounces of silver. At the example price of $30 an ounce, the melt value is $449.05.

Why is 90% silver called junk silver?

Dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 and earlier are 90% silver and 10% copper. Common dates in worn condition carry little or no collector premium, so they trade for their silver alone. The "junk" refers to their collector value, not to the metal.

They are often counted by face value, because every dollar of face holds the same silver. Ten dimes at 2.5 grams, four quarters at 6.25 grams and two half dollars at 12.5 grams each come to 25 grams. At 90% that is 22.5 grams of silver, or 0.72339 troy ounces per $1 of face value. That figure sits behind the face value box. It assumes full-weight coins; worn coins weigh a little less. Silver dollars are richer: a Morgan or Peace dollar holds 0.77344 troy ounces.

What this calculator leaves out

• Collector value. Rare dates, mint marks and coins in top condition can be worth far more than their melt value.
• Dealer spreads. Dealers buy below spot and sell above it, and bullion coin prices include a premium over the metal.
• Wear. Every figure assumes a coin at its full standard weight.
• Copper cents and nickels: there is no copper price box.
• The Mint's modern Morgan and Peace dollars from 2021 on, the 1976 Bicentennial silver dollars, proofs, commemoratives and foreign coins.
• The small amount of silver in a Gold Eagle, and taxes or fees on a sale.

How much silver is in a quarter?

Only quarters dated 1964 and earlier are 90% silver. Each holds 0.18085 troy ounces: 6.25 grams at 90% fine. At the example price of $30 an ounce, that is $5.43 of silver. A 90% dime holds 0.07234 troy ounces and a 90% half dollar 0.3617. The 40% silver Kennedy half dollars of 1965 to 1970 hold 0.14789 troy ounces each: 4.6 grams of silver in an 11.5 gram coin.

What is a silver dollar worth in melt value?

A Morgan dollar (1878 to 1921) or Peace dollar (1921 to 1935) holds 0.77344 troy ounces of silver: $23.20 at the example $30 an ounce. A 40% silver Eisenhower collector dollar from 1971 to 1974 holds 0.31627 troy ounces, or $9.49 at the same example price; the copper-clad Eisenhower dollars made for circulation hold no silver. An American Silver Eagle holds one troy ounce of .999 fine silver, so its melt value is the silver price itself. Scarce Morgan and Peace dates can be worth far more to collectors.

How much gold is in a 1 oz Gold Eagle?

One troy ounce of fine gold. The coin itself weighs 33.931 grams, or 1.0909 troy ounces, because it is 22 karat: 91.67% gold, 3% silver and the balance copper, a harder-wearing alloy than pure gold. Its melt value is the gold spot price. The 1/2, 1/4 and 1/10 ounce Gold Eagles hold exactly that fraction of an ounce. The American Gold Buffalo also holds one troy ounce, in .9999 fine 24 karat gold, and the American Platinum Eagle one troy ounce of .9995 fine platinum.

Will a dealer pay melt value for my coins?

Usually a little less. Dealers buy below spot and sell above it; the gap is how they are paid, and it differs by coin and by dealer. Melt value is a reference point for reading an offer, not a quote. Bullion coins also sell with a premium over their metal, so an Eagle usually costs more than its melt value.