How Many Silver Quarters Does it Take to Make an Ounce of Silver? - APMEX (2024)

FAQs

How Many Silver Quarters Does it Take to Make an Ounce of Silver? - APMEX? ›

To compile a full troy ounce of silver, you would need about 5.5 Pre-1965 U.S. Quarters.

A 90% silver quarter contains 0.1808479 of an ounce of silver, so 5.5 of them adds up to one troy ounce. Since you can't have half of a coin, rounding up means it takes six silver quarters to make more than a troy ounce.

The 1964 Washington Quarter has 5.625 grams or about one-fifth of a troy ounce of silver. Their composition was 90% silver and 10% copper, with copper used to strengthen the coin.

The most common silver dimes available in the marketplace are Mercury and Roosevelt silver dimes, which by and large are valued for their silver content. They may be the easiest coin to remember, as there are exactly 14 silver dimes in an ounce.

The weight of a U.S. quarter in grams is 5.67 grams, equal to 0.2 ounces or 0.0125 pounds. This weight has been maintained consistently for all quarters minted after 1965.

Pre-1965 90% junk silver quarters contain 0.17875 ounces of silver per coin. To compile a full troy ounce of silver, you would need about 5.5 Pre-1965 U.S. Quarters. Since we don't commonly cut quarters in half, we will round that up to six.

14.6 lb (453.59237g/1 lb) (1 quarter/5.67 g) = 1167.980353 quarters on average, so I would round this to 1168 quarters. Working backward,, that's $20 per pound - for next time!

Silver 1965 quarters are special because they're transitional error coins. In 1964, quarters were still struck with a 90% silver planchet. In 1965, quarter production changed to a clad composition planchet made of copper and nickel. However, a few (the exact number is unknown) were struck on a silver planchet instead.

According to the NGC Price Guide, as of June 2024, a Washington Quarter from 1964 D in circulated condition is worth between $5.75 and $8.25. However, on the open market 1964 D TYPE C REV Quarters in pristine, uncirculated condition sell for as much as $3100.

The 1941 quarter has at least six doubled-die errors plus the Large-S and Small-S mint mark varieties, according to Coin Value Lookup. All these errors make these quarters worth big paychecks. Regarding finding a quarter worth $35,000, the coin sold had the Canadian “1941” imprint behind the U.S. “DOLLAR.”

What is considered junk silver? ›

Junk silver refers to coins minted pre-1965 that are worth their content of silver. They were once commonly used in everyday transactions before the transition to base metals like copper and nickel due to rising silver prices. Junk silver coins include war nickels, dimes, quarters, and half-dollars.

To identify junk silver coins, look for U.S. dimes, quarters, and half dollars minted before 1965. These coins contain 90% silver, making them valuable for their precious metal content rather than their collectible or numismatic worth.

Per the U.S. Mint, a quarter has a nominal mass of 5.67 g. $500 = 2000 quarters. Doing the arithmetic, that comes to 11.34 kg or 25 lbs.

Generally, the starting price for a Washington Quarter comes in at closer to $3, but this is the price reserved for coins that have been heavily circulated. For versions of the coin that have been well-preserved, the price you are going to be asked to pay can reach the hundreds, and sometimes even thousands of dollars.

Before 1965, US quarters were made of 90 percent silver. That means that due to the silver alone it would be worth about $3.50 (depending on silver prices). After 1964, the quarter is just made of nickel and copper and worth just 25 cents.

A silver dollar contains 0.7735 troy ounces of pure silver, so at the time of writing a silver Dollar would be worth over $17 on metal value alone. However, as a famous coin that attracts significant interest from coin collectors, some Dollars will sell for much more than others.

All pre-1965 silver half dollars are silver coins containing 0.362 troy ounces (11.4 grams) of physical silver weight and value.