Scrap Silver Coins
The phrase sounds a bit odd doesn’t it? Can there really be such a thing as scrap silver coins? Well sort of. These types of coins are also called junk silver coins which may be even more misleading.
When people talk about scrap or junk silver coins what they really mean -at least in the United States- is previously circulated silver coinage.
You don’t think that the quarters or dimes in your pocket are anything special right? I mean, you can buy yourself something refreshing to drink if you have 5 or 6 of them but you aren’t that sad to part with them and don’t see much value in them beyond what they will buy you.
The same was true for the silver coins that our grandparents and great grandparents used to use. Before 1965 all quarters, dimes and half dollars were 90% silver but no one really hung on to them as something special because of their silver content.
It was just money and money in that time was mostly silver.
When Scrap Silver Coins Were Money
Even the paper bills were backed by gold until 1933. What I mean by the phrase “backed by gold” is that it was explicitly written on each bill that you could bring it in to the Treasury and receive gold in exchange for the paper bill.
Makes you wish you could go back in time doesn’t it? After all gold is now over 1,600 dollars per ounce. Back then it was a bit over $20 an ounce then about $35 and then starting in ‘33 you could no longer trade your paper for gold.
But back to the silver…
So to folks in the 60s and earlier, silver quarters were common but once their production stopped -and even a little before- they became more special since the coins which replaced them had no silver at all.
People now valued these coins for their silver content and yet many of them were worn, scuffed and generally in rough condition.
Yet they were still more valuable than the new zinc and copper coins.
So what do you call something that is valuable yet rough and abused? That is why these types of silver coins became known as scrap silver coins. It was a way to differentiate them from brilliant, clean and un-circulated coins that are valued by collectors for more than just their silver content.
The Value of Scrap Silver Coins Today
Scrap silver coins are still quite valuable. Actually in recent months they have been more valued in dollar terms than at any time for several decades with silver quarters running at $5-7 per coin.
Right now silver can be a good way to begin protecting your savings from the inflation we are experiencing right now and the more serious inflation many experts expect we will experience in a few years time due to profligate money creation by the Federal Reserve and spending habits to match by the United States government.
So, if you get a chance pick up some scrap silver coins from a coin shop or online retailer (or eBay) sometime soon!