The 'Junk' Coins That Could Actually Be Worth A Ton Of Money

In 2012, an episode of the popular History Channel show "Pawn Stars" featured a customer attempting to sell a massive quantity of silver – over $100,000 worth of the precious metal, in fact. What was most surprising, though, was that a significant quantity of the more than 231 pounds of silver that made up this sale was in the form of common coins. That is, regular quarters and dimes like you might use to feed a vending machine or parking meter. However, before you start raiding your pockets for potentially valuable spare change it's important to know that there's a catch — these kinds of coins must be from the year 1965 or older.

Prior to the Coinage Act of 1965, quarters, dimes, and half-dollar coins were comprised of 90% silver. However, as the price of silver rose throughout the 1960s because of industrial use, coins like quarters and dimes approached the point of being worth more for their silver content than their face value of 25 and 10 cents, respectively. This lead to hoarding and a subsequent shortage of certain coins in circulation. As of late-1965, quarters and dimes contained no silver whatsoever in order to dissuade hoarding and profiteering — with the added benefit of lower production costs. If you're lucky enough to stumble upon even a single pre-1965 quarter among your change today, know that it's worth almost $6 for its silver content. 

Pre-1965 quarters and dimes are known by numismatists (coin collectors) as "junk silver" because they're not collectible and don't have unique characteristics, unlike some other valuable coins you might have lying around. However, junk silver coins can still represent a lucrative investing opportunity for some folks. Since these junk coins are made of roughly 90% silver, it takes approximately six pre-1965 quarters to equal one troy ounce of silver. That's a face value of $1.50 worth of pre-1965 quarters in order to generate one ounce of silver that's currently trading at a spot price of around $32. Pre-1965 dimes can be another valuable option since it takes 14 silver dimes (or a face value of $1.40) to equal one troy ounce of silver.

However, the tricky part is how to accumulate a significant quantity of these junk silver coins. After all, the most recently produced examples are now 60 years old, so you're not likely to receive one as part of the change you might get from buying your morning coffee. This is compounded by the fact that savvy coin collectors have been culling them from circulation for decades, with coin and bullion dealers amassing large quantities of junk coins for resale. 

With it already established that finding a decent quantity of junk silver quarters or dimes in the wild isn't likely, that leaves the alternative of purchasing them in bulk from a coin dealer or precious metal vendor. However, these sellers know the intrinsic value of the coins and will be selling them at a price far higher than their face values. In fact, you can count on paying the spot price of silver for any re-sold junk coins, plus a small premium that profits the dealer.

With that in mind, why would anybody buy junk silver coins from a dealer? It's important to realize that the premium charged in excess of the spot price of silver is frequently less for junk coins than it is for many of the other ways you can invest in silver – particularly silver bars and silver rounds. Another perk of junk silver is that old quarters and dimes coins are actual legal tender produced by the US Mint meaning they're easy to authenticate and therefore easy to sell.

Finally, in the event of a crisis or disaster that impacts the banking system, some "preppers" (a person who makes advance preparations for emergencies) favor junk silver coins as a way to store value. Since the quantities are small, and the coins are highly recognizable, junk coins can be easier to trade or barter with for goods or services.