Buying silver by the bag
Pre-1965 US silver coin is the cheapest way most people can own recognisable silver. It trades as 'junk silver' or 'constitutional silver', it is priced by face value rather than by coin, and the premium over melt is the only number that separates a good buy from a bad one.
How it is priced
Junk silver is sold by face value, not by weight or by coin. A “$100 face bag” is any mix of pre-1965 dimes, quarters and halves adding up to $100 in face value, and every such bag contains close to the same amount of silver whatever the mix.
The trade prices a dollar of face value at 0.715 troy ounces of silver, which allows for the metal worn off in circulation. At today's spot that makes $100 face worth $4,913.48 in metal, and a single 90% silver half worth $24.86. What you will be asked to pay is that figure plus a premium.
The premium is the whole decision
Premium is the difference between what a dealer charges and what the metal is worth. It covers their cost of doing business and it varies with demand, which on constitutional silver can swing hard. In quiet markets it is modest; when retail demand spikes it can climb sharply, and buying into that is how people end up underwater on an asset whose metal price never moved.
Why halves are their own thing
Dimes and quarters are the default junk silver. Half dollars usually carry a slightly higher premium, for two reasons: fewer of them survived, because the public hoarded halves heavily in 1964 and again through the 40% silver years, and they are more popular with buyers who want a larger, more recognisable coin.
The 40% silver halves from 1965 to 1970 are the exception. They are the cheapest way into US silver per ounce, they are often sold at a low premium precisely because bullion buyers find them awkward, and each coin holds 0.1479 troy ounces. If you care about ounces rather than about coins, they are worth a look.
Where to buy
These are the retailers that consistently carry constitutional silver in quantity. None of them paid to be here, and the notes are ours.
The largest online precious metals retailer in the US, and the one most likely to have a specific date or a specific bag size in stock.
Rarely the cheapest. You pay a premium for the breadth of stock.
Consistently competitive premiums on 90% silver bags, and free shipping thresholds that suit the size of order junk silver tends to come in.
Bank wire pricing is better than card pricing, as it is almost everywhere.
Usually among the lowest premiums in the market on constitutional silver, which is what matters most if you are buying metal rather than collecting.
Stock on specific denominations moves quickly.
Sells the same constitutional silver and also runs a storage and monthly accumulation programme, which suits someone buying steadily rather than in one go.
Storage fees are a real cost. They only make sense above a certain holding.
A full-service dealer that handles both bullion and collectable coins, which is useful if your interest sits between the two.
Compare the premium against the pure bullion houses before committing.
Before you buy anything
- Decide what you are buying for. If you want metal, premium is everything and the coins are interchangeable. If you want coins, you should be shopping for dates and grades instead, and a bullion dealer is the wrong shop.
- Do not buy graded common dates as bullion. Paying a grading premium on a coin you are treating as silver is paying twice for nothing.
- Check the buyback. The spread a dealer will buy back at tells you more about the real cost of the trade than their sell price does.