What to do with common silver coins?

eTXOne

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2017
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I'm a newbie here, and I've been hitting the parks and local tot lots pretty hard lately. I've found some silver, mostly clad, and a tone of pull tabs naturally.

All of this hunting has got me thinking about how to get the most out of this hobby, so I have been looking more closely at the dates of my pocket change, researching Key dated coins, double dies, etc. I even bought a small magnifying glass to check these. I figure if I happened to have some clad with any of these traits I would research them and try and sell it.

But my next thought was about silver coins, I wondered what most people do with their silver coins. I figure the older silver would be easy to find a buyer for, but what about newer silver?
what do you do with your silver nickels, dimes and quarters?
 
Hoard, hoard, hoard those silver coins. Why on earth would you sell? Never could do that myself. It was hard enough to find em to begin with! Just pass them on down to your kin when you're old and grey, that's what I say. :cool:
 
Most of what you're describing would be considered 'junk silver', very easy to sell but not terribly valuable. Because it's silver content is well known and standardized, people usually buy it a markup over face value, like 10 times face or 20 times face, it all depends on where silver spot price is.

As with anything, a coin dealer or metals buyer (cash-for-gold type places) will be quickest sell but lowest price. Ebay, craigslist, or even right here on the forum will probably get you better money.

It sounds like you're already checking dates and condition for things worth more than melt.

Lastly, you mentioned silver nickels? They were only made during part of WW2 and have a different silver percentage than dimes, quarters, and halfs. You are not likely to find them in significant quantities, in ~20 years of looking through change i've only found 10 or so.
 
I have a pile of silver just sitting in a drawer,not doing me any good,,been thinking the same thing..What to do with it..Silver don't pay much,so I guess it'll just accumulate
 
I have a pile of silver just sitting in a drawer,not doing me any good,,been thinking the same thing..What to do with it..Silver don't pay much,so I guess it'll just accumulate

If they're truly junk, and some people will consider this blasphemous, you can send them to a refiner and for a percentage they will send you nice pretty bars. Personally, I would have a hard time doing that to coinage, but for jewelry or other scrap, it would be neat to have 1oz bars with verified purity.
 
If they're truly junk, and some people will consider this blasphemous, you can send them to a refiner and for a percentage they will send you nice pretty bars. Personally, I would have a hard time doing that to coinage, but for jewelry or other scrap, it would be neat to have 1oz bars with verified purity.

Do you have a refiner that you have used before?
 
Its interesting to see some of the different opinions About this subject.
When i first got into this hooby i didn't realize i would also be getting into coin collecting or numismatics.

But, i guess everyone is at a different place mentally in this hobby. Right now i am more interested in my MD paying for itself than i am coin collecting. Second i am more interested in the thrill of the hunt more so than numismatics.

That will probably change with time.
 
I’m hoarding right now, not that I have much to hoard, but at last weigh I had almost 1oz. Of 90% and 1.5 oz of 925 worth about $50 according to my buyer so not worth it to melt. I have a couple of rings and pendants that if I sold would bring more than that. My detector paid for itself in 3 months in clad but I had a very affordable detector so I flipped that into a starter-mid level (Ameritek Liberator) honestly wish I would’ve gone for another 3 with my first one and got a better machine but I’m impatient. I’m not in the hobby to make money but I have decided that since it can, the hobby will pay for itself. I will sell my finds and cash in my clad to move up. I’m goal oriented so it helps me to have a goal to aim for. My next move up will be the e-trac or the other E word that we won’t mention until it’s been out.
 
I’m hoarding right now, not that I have much to hoard, but at last weigh I had almost 1oz. Of 90% and 1.5 oz of 925 worth about $50 according to my buyer so not worth it to melt. I have a couple of rings and pendants that if I sold would bring more than that. My detector paid for itself in 3 months in clad but I had a very affordable detector so I flipped that into a starter-mid level (Ameritek Liberator) honestly wish I would’ve gone for another 3 with my first one and got a better machine but I’m impatient. I’m not in the hobby to make money but I have decided that since it can, the hobby will pay for itself. I will sell my finds and cash in my clad to move up. I’m goal oriented so it helps me to have a goal to aim for. My next move up will be the e-trac or the other E word that we won’t mention until it’s been out.

So this hobby is kind of like a video game. Collect enough coins to level up or get new gadgets
 
So this hobby is kind of like a video game. Collect enough coins to level up or get new gadgets

Yep...I was at the local CoinClub meeting last night...I sold some dug silver Q's and D's..got $40...bought a Morgan for $18 and a silver 1oz rd for $17...

Theres a few other Members here on this Forum that are also members of this CoinClub...We all joined and go hang out with these guys!

I never thought I'd be involved in a CoinClub either, but this Sport fits very well within that group...Those old guys know everything about tokens and coins and whatnot...very friendly and could open up some private hunting areas for you even!
 
I used to keep them for years but now I sell the common (Rosies/Mercs/Walkers/Roosevelts/kennedys) and keep the War nickels, barbers, seated and capped coins. I
 
Do you have a refiner that you have used before?

No but there are people on here that can recommend one or two. I don't find non-coin silver enough to be bothered, as I don't hunt the right places enough. Coin silver is so easy to sell as-is, but really I keep most of what I find as 'just in case' stuff. I do have two gold chains, one quite heavy, and some foreign silver coins I plan to sell the next time spot prices go up.

I'm happy to keep the 'normal' silver US coinage in the safe in case of emergency. Right now, silver is cheap enough I would consider buying up junk silver coins if it was reasonably priced. A friend of mine made a very handsome profit in the last spike.
 
A lot of people will tell you to hoard, and tube, and save in a box, etc. Which are ALL very valid things to do. I on the other hand invested in collector books over the years. No matter how crappy the coin is, if I can read the year and the mint mark, it goes into the appropriate blank spot in a collectors book as a "place holder" FIRST. What that basically means is until I find a better grade coin of that same date and mint mark that is currently in my collection, that one is just part of my current collection. If I do upgrade a coin in my collection, I simply pull the lesser one, THEN deal with it accordingly either as part of my hoard, or as a sellable collectors piece. Believe me, I've pulled coins VF coins worth $30, and replaced them with AU coins worth $1000. Just because I upgrade in my collection, doesn't mean the old coin gets tossed in the hoard.
 
So this hobby is kind of like a video game. Collect enough coins to level up or get new gadgets

HAHA! In reality, the video games were modeled after how coin collectors have been doing it for a 150 years.
 
A lot of people will tell you to hoard, and tube, and save in a box, etc. Which are ALL very valid things to do. I on the other hand invested in collector books over the years. No matter how crappy the coin is, if I can read the year and the mint mark, it goes into the appropriate blank spot in a collectors book as a "place holder" FIRST. What that basically means is until I find a better grade coin of that same date and mint mark that is currently in my collection, that one is just part of my current collection. If I do upgrade a coin in my collection, I simply pull the lesser one, THEN deal with it accordingly either as part of my hoard, or as a sellable collectors piece. Believe me, I've pulled coins VF coins worth $30, and replaced them with AU coins worth $1000. Just because I upgrade in my collection, doesn't mean the old coin gets tossed in the hoard.

That's how I do it as well. I put all my dug silvers in coin holders. The stuff I buy goes in organiser boxes.
 
If they're truly junk, and some people will consider this blasphemous, you can send them to a refiner and for a percentage they will send you nice pretty bars. Personally, I would have a hard time doing that to coinage, but for jewelry or other scrap, it would be neat to have 1oz bars with verified purity.

That seems pretty pointless to me. With American coinage, you already have a verified purity. Plus they have a slight added numismatic value. Melting them down is just a pointless waste of money and American history in my opinion.
 
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