Silver · Quick answer
Your silver is worth its melt value — the value of the metal inside it. That is the live spot price of silver multiplied by the pure-silver weight you own. The table below converts the most common silver items to a live dollar figure, and the calculator gives you an exact number for anything else.
| Fine silver | Melt value |
|---|---|
| 1 troy oz | — |
| 5 troy oz | — |
| 10 troy oz | — |
| 100 troy oz | — |
Live spot via gold-api.com. Melt value = spot × fine-silver troy ounces. Your item's value = its own fine-silver oz × the per-ounce figure above.
Open the full calculator →Each row shows the pure-silver content of the item and its live melt value at the current spot price. (Ignore any collector value — this is the metal alone.)
| Item | Fine silver | Live melt value |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-1965 US dime (Mercury / Roosevelt) | 0.07234 oz | |
| Pre-1965 US quarter (incl. 1964) | 0.18084 oz | |
| Pre-1965 US half dollar (Franklin / 1964 Kennedy) | 0.36169 oz | |
| 1965–1970 Kennedy half (40%) | 0.14792 oz | |
| Silver dollar (Morgan / Peace) | 0.77344 oz | |
| War nickel (1942–1945, 35%) | 0.05626 oz | |
| $1 face value of US 90% "junk" silver | 0.715 oz | |
| American Silver Eagle (1 oz) | 1.000 oz | |
| Silver round / bar (1 troy oz) | 1.000 oz | |
| Sterling silver (1 troy oz, .925) | 0.925 oz | |
| Sterling silver (1 gram, .925) | 0.02974 oz |
Figures use published mint specifications (full weight). Worn coins hold a little less silver. Values refresh on each page load.
There is one formula behind every number on this page:
When you already know the fine-silver weight — e.g. a pre-1965 quarter is 0.18084 oz of pure silver — it collapses to spot × 0.18084. If you only have the gram weight, convert first: 1 troy ounce = 31.1035 grams. So a 100 g bag of sterling (.925) is 100 × 0.925 ÷ 31.1035 = 2.974 troy oz of fine silver, then × spot.
The two things you must know to value silver are its purity and its weight.
Fine (pure) silver is worth the spot price divided by 31.1035 per gram. Sterling silver is 92.5% silver, so a gram of sterling is worth 0.925 × (spot ÷ 31.1035) — about $1.04 per gram at a $35/oz spot. The live table above uses the current market price.
Melt value = weight in troy ounces × purity × current spot price per troy ounce. For coins with a known silver content (a pre-1965 US quarter is 0.18084 oz), it simplifies to spot × fine-silver ounces.
No. Sterling is 92.5% silver, so its melt value is 92.5% of an equal weight of fine silver. Pure .999, US 90% and 40% silver are all valued on the same formula using their actual purity.
Usually not — most pay about 85–95% of melt for common coins and scrap, keeping a buy-back spread. Rare, uncirculated and error coins can sell above melt to collectors. Check more than one buyer.
Slightly. Heavily circulated coins weigh a little less than mint specification, so their true melt value is a touch below the published figure. Dealers often price worn US 90% at 0.715 oz of silver per $1 of face value.
This page values your silver one item at a time. The Silver Stacking Spreadsheet keeps the whole record — every coin, what you paid, and your running profit or loss, auto-calculated from the spot price you enter.