Old US Silver Coins

What's actually in the silver coins
your grandparents carried.

A printable reference for every old US silver coin you'll come across — dimes, quarters, halves, dollars, war nickels — with their exact silver content in troy ounces and the formulas you need at the coin shop.

The shortcut to remember $1.00 face = 0.715 troy oz of silver For any mix of pre-1965 US dimes, quarters, or half dollars (90% silver). Multiply face value by 0.715 for ounces, then by spot price. A $10 face roll of dimes ≈ 7.15 oz silver.

Silver Content Reference

All weights are exact mint specifications. Worn coins lose 1–3% silver over a century of circulation.
Troy ounces (ozt) are the bullion standard — 31.1035 g each, slightly heavier than an avoirdupois ounce.
Spot prices used for "Melt": Ag — Cu — Mn — From the calculator; live spot will differ.
Coin Years Total wt Composition Silver (ozt) ≈ Fraction Melt Face
90% silver — Dimes (10¢)
Seated Liberty Dime
 1837–1891 2.49 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.0723 ~1/14 oz — $0.10
Barber Dime
 1892–1916 2.50 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.0723 ~1/14 oz — $0.10
Mercury Dime
 1916–1945 2.50 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.0723 ~1/14 oz — $0.10
Roosevelt Dime (silver)
 1946–1964 2.50 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.0723 ~1/14 oz — $0.10
90% silver — Quarters (25¢)
Seated Liberty Quarter
 1838–1891 6.22 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.1808 ~3/16 oz — $0.25
Barber Quarter
 1892–1916 6.25 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.1808 ~3/16 oz — $0.25
Standing Liberty Quarter
 1916–1930 6.25 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.1808 ~3/16 oz — $0.25
Washington Quarter (silver)
 1932–1964 6.25 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.1808 ~3/16 oz — $0.25
90% silver — Half Dollars (50¢)
Seated Liberty Half
 1839–1891 12.44 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.3617 ~3/8 oz — $0.50
Barber Half
 1892–1915 12.50 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.3617 ~3/8 oz — $0.50
Walking Liberty Half
 1916–1947 12.50 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.3617 ~3/8 oz — $0.50
Franklin Half
 1948–1963 12.50 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.3617 ~3/8 oz — $0.50
Kennedy Half (90%)
 1964 12.50 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.3617 ~3/8 oz — $0.50
90% silver — Dollars ($1)
Seated Liberty Dollar
 1840–1873 26.73 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.7734 ~3/4 oz — $1.00
Trade Dollar
 1873–1885 27.22 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.7874 ~4/5 oz — $1.00
Morgan Dollar
 1878–1904, 1921 26.73 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.7734 ~3/4 oz — $1.00
Peace Dollar
 1921–1935 26.73 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.7734 ~3/4 oz — $1.00
Less common — Half Dimes & Three-Cent Silver
Half Dime (Bust / Seated)
 1794–1873 ~1.34 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.0388 ~1/26 oz — $0.05
Three-Cent Silver ("Trime")
 1854–1873 0.75 g 90% Ag · 10% Cu 0.0217 ~1/46 oz — $0.03
35% silver — Jefferson "War" Nickels
Jefferson War Nickel
 1942–1945 (mintmark P, D, S above dome) 5.00 g 35% Ag · 56% Cu · 9% Mn 0.0563 ~1/18 oz — $0.05
40% silver — Kennedy & Eisenhower (post-1964 transitional)
Kennedy Half (40%)
 1965–1970 11.50 g 40% Ag · 60% Cu 0.1479 ~1/7 oz — $0.50
Eisenhower Dollar (silver, S-mint only)
 1971–1976 24.59 g 40% Ag · 60% Cu 0.3163 ~1/3 oz — $1.00
Pre-1965 "junk" silver Any mix of dimes, quarters, halves: $1 face = 0.715 ozt. A $100 face bag ≈ 71.5 ozt.
40% silver halves (1965–70) Roll of 20 = $10 face. $1 face = 0.296 ozt. A $10 face roll ≈ 2.96 ozt.
War nickels (1942–45) Look for the large mintmark above Monticello's dome. $1 face (20 coins) = 1.125 ozt — the densest face-value-to-silver ratio.
Metal legend — click any badge for details

How to use this card: at the coin shop, multiply the number of each coin you have by the "Silver (ozt)" column, sum the totals, then multiply by the day's silver spot price for the metal value (separate from any numismatic premium for rarity). Click any coin photo to see it at full Wikimedia resolution.

Want to grade your coins? See the companion Mercury Dime grading guide — the canonical teaching coin for learning the Sheldon scale (G → MS-65) without paying for certification.

Note on Eisenhower dollars: only the S-mint Proof and Uncirculated versions from 1971–1976 contain silver. The general-circulation Ike dollars (and all Susan B. Anthony dollars from 1979 on) are pure copper-nickel and contain no silver.

Coin photos via Wikimedia Commons — public domain (US Mint photographs) and CC-licensed contributor uploads. Click thumbnails to view sources and licenses.

Data sources: US Mint historical specifications · ANA Numismatist · Red Book (Yeoman). Conversions mirrored across this site.