For years, people have been saving up there up their coins for a rainy day. Whether or not you ever cash them in, it feels good to know that they are there if you ever need them.
But what you may not realize, especially if you have inherited a family members old coins, or you yourself have a jar stashed somewhere that you started collecting many years ago, is that there may be a lot more value in that old jar of coins than meets the eye.
In fact, at Atlanta Gold and Silver, we have been seeing a lot of people coming in with old coin collections and walking out the door with a large check in hand. Of course, not every old jar of coins is valuable (in terms of silver, you want to look for dimes and quarters pre 1965), but there is no harm in looking.
So, how do you know if your bag of dimes is worth more than, well, a bag of dimes? Here are some things to look for and some tips that may help you find some substantial money laying around the house.
Note: these values are not absolute and they are based on the price of silver in May 2013. These are based the melt value, and do not consider condition or possible collector's value.
- 1916-1945 Mercury dimes. These are 90% silver (10 percent copper) and each dime can fetch a price of around $1.50
- 1946-1964 Roosevelt Dime: Despite the year, these dimes are the same weight (2.5 grams) as the Mercury dimes and are worth the exact same as the earlier dimes.
- The rest of your dimes (beginning in 1965), are simply dimes worth 10 cents each.
- 1916-1930 Standing Lady Liberty Quarter. If you happen to have these in your old stash, you are in luck. At 6.25 grams, you have a little over $4 in silver value.
- 1932-`1964 Quarter. Any quarters during this period (before 1965) are worth the same as the Lady Liberty Quarters and weigh the same 6.25 grams.
- While you are less likely to have half dollars just collecting dust in the house, it's still worth looking. Any half dollar minted in 1964 or earlier can be worth about 12 dollars.
- Even the ones that are made between 1965-1970 still have a little value in them (they are composed of 40% silver, compared to the pre-1964 90% silver ones)
Here are a few more coins that may bring you some extra cash..
- Morgan Dollar (1878-1921). Based on the price of silver, you could have about 17 dollars in just one of those.
- Peace Dollar (1921-1935) Same as above
To find out more about the different types of coins and mintage of the coins, visit http://www.usmint.gov/
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