You may have heard about the great opportunity for investing in precious metals by buying 90% silver. You may even have heard these coins called “junk silver.” The question is, if they’re junk, what’s the point of investing in them, anyway? To help you understand their value and why it makes sense to set them aside, here’s a short primer on 90% silver coins.
Definition of 90% Silver
Ninety percent silver coins are those that are made of an alloy of 90% silver and 10% other metals. This type of alloy, with 90% silver, is also called “coin silver,” because most U.S. silver coins use it. The unit of silver used in the silver spot price figure that you see on charts is one troy ounce of 99.9% silver. A 90% silver coin with a face value of $1 typically has 0.715 troy ounces of 99.9% pure silver. The Morgan Dollar is an exception, as it has 0.7736 troy ounces of 99.9% pure silver.
Which Coins Are 90% Silver?
A variety of U.S. coins fall into the 90% silver category. The U.S. 90% silver coins include:
- The Morgan Dollar (1878-1904 and 1921)
- Peace Dollar (1921-1928 and 1934-1935)
- Liberty Head Half-Dollar (Barber) (1892-1915)
- Walking Liberty Half-Dollar (1915-1947)
- Franklin Half-Dollar (1948-1963)
- Kennedy Half-Dollar (1964)
- Liberty Head Quarter (Barber) (1892-1916)
- Standing Liberty Quarter (1916-1930)
- Washington Quarter (1932 and 1934-1964)
- Liberty Head Dime (Barber) (1892-1916)
- Winged Liberty “Mercury” Dime (1916-1945)
- Roosevelt Dime (1946-1964)
Benefits of 90% Silver Coins
So, if these coins aren’t pure silver, why are they so popular for investors. After all, you can get 99.99% pure coins such as the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf or the Australian Silver Kangaroo. So, why invest in a coin that’s less pure? What are the advantages? As it turns out, there are several good reasons for investors to choose 90% silver coins.
Legal Tender
Because 90% silver coins are still considered legal tender, you feasibly could use them to make purchases if you ever needed to do so. As legal tender, these coins are easy to exchange for their face value in other legal tender coins. In addition, because they are still sometimes used to make purchases, it’s possible that you could receive them in change.
Worth More Than Face Value
Although you could spend your 90% silver coins, it’s always better to hold onto them until you’re ready to sell to a coin dealer or private individual for their silver content. That’s because the actual value of 90% silver is much higher than the amount listed on the face of the coin. For example, a 1916-D Winged Liberty Dime might get you a dime’s worth of candy at the grocery store, but if you sell it to a coin dealer, it could bring anywhere from $20 to $1000!
Highly Liquid
It’s always easy to buy and sell 90% silver coins. There’s a great demand for them because of their intrinsic value to investors. You can sell them to a private individual or a coin dealer whenever you choose. Whether you’re selling to reap the profits of your investment or because you need some quick cash, the process is fast, easy, and efficient.
Low or No Premiums Over Spot Price
If you’re lucky enough to find a 90% coin in change, of course, you won’t have to pay any premium at all. Even if you do have to pay a premium for these coins, though, the premium is relatively low over spot price. Nearly all of the amount you spend goes towards the price of the silver, giving you more silver content for your money.
Widely Recognized
Ninety percent silver coins are among the most widely recognized coins in the world. Because of this, buyers are typically very comfortable with purchasing them. If you had other silver coins, bars, or rounds that weren’t as widely known, the buyer might scrutinize them more carefully and question their authenticity and purity. These 90% silver coins are a known quantity, so sales go smoothly. Just as important, when you are buying 90% silver coins, you know their authenticity and purity immediately.
Flexible Investing
With 90% silver coins, you can invest as much or as little as you like. You can buy them a coin at a time, once a week or once a month. Or, you can buy one or several bags of 90% silver coins at once. If you’re a new investor, you might choose to go slowly to learn about precious metals investing as you go. Or, you might choose to dive right in and build your silver holdings rapidly.
Is 90% Silver Really “Junk Silver?”
Ninety percent silver coins have sometimes been called “junk silver.” This name came about because the coins have no value as collectibles. They’re fairly common compared to most collectible coins. Unless they’re uncirculated, a collector won’t be interested at all, so for them, 90% silver coins truly are junk.
However, for investors, 90% silver coins make all the sense in the world. For all the reasons listed above, investors consider these coins a valid investment that will continue to retain their value for the near future as well as in the years to come. Their value is based on the spot price of silver, so their price isn’t vulnerable to the changing whims of coin collectors.
How to Get a Deal on 90% Silver
The best deal on 90% silver coins, of course, would be to find them or be gifted with them. The problem is that even if someone doesn’t know exactly what these coins are worth, they usually recognize that they’re different. So, they hang onto them if the have them or find them. If any are in circulation, they’re typically taken out of circulation again very soon by people who stumble across them.
The good news is that you can get great deals on 90% silver coins. You can buy them by the face value from GMRgold.com. Choose $1 face value worth of Roosevelt Dimes or $1000 face value worth of mixed coins. The price you pay and the price they’re worth will depend on the amount of silver you have in troy ounces multiplied by the spot price of silver at the time of sale.
To learn more about 90% silver or to begin investing in silver coins, feel free to contact GMRgold at 1 (877) 795-9585 or simply go to our simple contact form to send us a message. With 90% silver, you have an amazing opportunity to invest as much or as little as you like to build your precious metals holdings.