calculating silver in coins

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

So here is what I found from the Red Book as to the amount of silver in US coins (10,25 50) so if I have 10 90% half dollars I multiply by .36169 and get 3.61 ounces of silver, right?

Silver amounts
Dime .07234
Quarter .18084
40% half .1479
90% half .36169

 

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[Death&Taxes]

With silver going to zilch it would be a good idea to spend, I mean sell, them.

 

[luke_00]

A good across the board way to figure is to multiply spot price X 0.713. That gives you the bullion value of $1.00 face, which you would divide by 10 for dimes, divide by 4 for quarters etc. Not 100% accurate but very very close.

 

[Overseas]

Coinmelt.com is a great site

 

[galenrog]

If you have a hard time with the arithmetic, coinflation.com has a calculator.

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

The reason I was asking is I keep hearing people talking about how many ounces of silver they found (not that there is any out there). I have always kept any in coin tube(s) so it is easy to look at. and figure how many coins.
I have figured value by what dealers or refiners will pay, although I like to calculate my junk silver by what I paid for it but that is not a true picture of value, it is what you can sell it for.

 

[Argentium]

I also like coinflation.com - in response to the earlier opinion about selling silver now , I disagree - I think building precious metal inventory makes good sense now . Silver is low relative to the historical highs of even the last 5 to 7 years . Unless selling means enough cash to buy desirable real estate , I don't know why you would sell now .

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I have heard that not only are the world banks but the various governments holding the price of precious metals down. In the next two years I don't see silver going up more than 50% but still that is better than most other investments. I think if PM were to drop to zilch we would bigger problems

 

[TheMastermind]

I do it a more round-about way, I suppose.

I add the total weight of all finds in grams, by denomination; multiply that by .9 for 90%ers, .4 for 40%ers, or .35 for war nickels to get the weight of silver in grams.

I then divide the silver weight by the number of grams per troy ounce (31.1034768) to get a very accurate total ounces-troy in silver.

Doing the math this way pretty well accounts for slicks, holed coins, or any other thing that throws off the weight of a coin.

 

[ArkieBassMan]

The reason I was asking is I keep hearing people talking about how many ounces of silver they found (not that there is any out there). I have always kept any in coin tube(s) so it is easy to look at. and figure how many coins.
I have figured value by what dealers or refiners will pay, although I like to calculate my junk silver by what I paid for it but that is not a true picture of value, it is what you can sell it for.

Even when silver nearly hit $50 awhile back, junk silver coins were mostly bought and sold by the coin, and not the actual weight. While it might be neat to know how many ounces you have, its probably unnecessary unless the price just absolutely skyrockets.

And you are correct, true value is the exact amount at which you can sell - regardless of what any price guide or market summary says.

 

[GlenDronach]

My rough estimate: $1.40 in face 90% to equal one ozt (actually a little over at 1.012)

1 40% half equals a little more than 2 silver dimes, so 7 40%= a little over one ozt.

That's what I do when I'm calculating on the spot.

A dime makes it easy, because if I know the value of a dime, that's .1x face.

I use coinflation to just figure out melt value and figure out current multiples of face. I almost always have my phone, but I use those calculations above if I'm doing some rough numbers.

 

[fistfulladirt]

I have heard that not only are the world banks but the various governments holding the price of precious metals down. In the next two years I don't see silver going up more than 50% but still that is better than most other investments. I think if PM were to drop to zilch we would bigger problems

I wish that were true, but silver is rigged like the rest of the markets except that unlike the rest, it's rigged down, down, and down. Even back in 1980, the price of silver was manipulated up by the Hunts. Most other investments have wiped silver off the map.

 

[cyberdan]

I may be old and cell phone illertate (I only have 3-4 programs loaded on my cell) but I was a number cruncher the last couple decades of my working life. I wrote a spreadsheet in Excel. It lets me know my AU/AG value.

As I get I enter:
silver coin quantity per denomination
silver 925 jewelry by grams
gold quantity by karat and grams

Then I go to a gold refining forum I belong to. At the bottom of the page are up to the minute spot prices. I just update AU & AG and instantly I know to the penny my metal values.

I just increased my net worth yesterday by $1.19 + .95¢ I found a '64 rosie (+ .95¢) in the Coinstar reject box.

 

[Johnnybravo300]

I keep my junk silver separated and in baggies so I can keep track but I always use weight x .90 for bulk. It's the easiest and fastest way to get an overall number.

I also have a running tally in a notebook so I count everything as well for my own inventory and keep track that way.

I only mostly deal with 90 percent and no nickels or 40%. I get rid of them for 90% or better to conserve space. Personally I'd rather have three mercury dimes than one 40% half and with the mercs being the new $1+ coin right now it makes more sense to me.

 

[TxAg]

If you have a hard time with the arithmetic, coinflation.com has a calculator.

Agreed. You can also load the "Coinflation - Gold & Silver" free app on your smart phone. It's awesome...

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

TxAg
I checked out Coinflation on my desktop and that is a neat app. I was paying $5 for halves and I see right now it is $5.90 more than I thought!

 

[TxAg]

TxAg
I checked out Coinflation on my desktop and that is a neat app. I was paying $5 for halves and I see right now it is $5.90 more than I thought!

Yep, Ben. Load the app on your phone and you will have it next time you go to a coin show or LCS.

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Did that and used it 3 times at the gun show as people were asking what their coins might be worth

 

[markmopar]

\
Then I go to a gold refining forum I belong to. At the bottom of the page are up to the minute spot prices. I just update AU & AG and instantly I know to the penny my metal values.

Hey Dan, no need to go there for values(unless you were headed over there anyway). Go to the top of this page and hit quick links and there's up-to-the-minute metal prices.