What the silver in it is worth
Melt value is the market price of the metal in a coin. It is the floor under a common date and it is irrelevant to a rare one, so it is worth understanding exactly what this number is before you act on it.
The last 90% silver half dollar made for circulation.
| Composition | Per coin | Per $100 face |
|---|---|---|
| 90% silver | $24.86 | $4,971.15 |
| 40% silver | $10.16 | $2,032.65 |
| 99.9% silver Proof sets only | $27.59 | n/a |
| Copper-nickel clad | none | none |
"Per $100 face" is 200 half dollars at mint weight, and applies only to coins that circulated. A dealer will price worn coins lower, at the trade standard below.
Mint weight against trade weight
Two 90% silver halves leave the press holding 0.7234 troy ounces of silver between them. Coins that spent decades in circulation are lighter than that, because metal wears off. The US junk silver market handles this with a single convention: a dollar of face value is priced as 0.715 troy ounces, whatever the coins actually weigh.
The gap is about one and a half percent. It matters on a bag and not on a coin, and quoting the mint figure to someone about to sell would overstate what they will be paid, so the calculator shows both.
What this number is not
- It is not an offer. A dealer buys below melt and sells above it. That spread is how the business works, and on common circulated silver it usually runs a few percent either side.
- It is not a ceiling. Key dates, high grades and known varieties are worth multiples of their metal. A 1921 Walking Liberty or a 1938-D is a collector coin first and a lump of silver second, and selling one for melt would be an expensive mistake.
- It is not a floor for damaged coins. Holed, heavily scratched or cleaned coins still contain their silver, but some buyers discount them anyway.
- It says nothing about clad. A copper-nickel half is worth fifty cents. There is no melt trade in it and no dealer wants a jar of them.
Before you sell anything
Sort by date first. Everything from 1964 and earlier is silver, 1965 to 1970 is part silver, and 1971 onward is not. That single sort separates the bullion from the pocket change in a couple of minutes, and it is the same sort a dealer will do in front of you. If the dates are worn away, the edge tells you instead.