Can I send you the information and you can talk to him?

No, I told you to talk to him!

Does one need some kind of special container to bury his bit coins in?

Mine are in quart ziplock bags in one of the gun safes.

Need to go down to a coin shop or book store and buy a "RED BOOK" guide book of United States Coins, if you really want to know what something is worth. Grade, year, mintage, all makes a difference in value. Interesting and fun to look coins up, even if not interested in collecting.

When it comes to quarters, dimes, and half dollars all minted before 1965 are 90% silver. Today's melt value is approximately $10.70xface. 1942-1945 nickels are %35 silver they must have a the large mint mark on them.



Not quite true. Half dollars minted between 1965 and 1970 are 40 percent silver. Today's melt value is $2.18. There were roughly 800 million minted during this time period. It's not unique to find a silver Kennedy half dollar in circulation.

Silver eisenhower dollars were minted between 1971-194 in 40 percent silver. These were not intended for circulation but if you were able to go to the bank and get a 1000 dollar bag of Ike's there is a chance one would show up.

In 1976 40 percent there were silver quarters, halves and Ike dollars minted with 40 percent silver. Also not intended for circulation but they are out there.

Beginning in 1992 until the present day, %90 quarters, dimes and halves were/are minted for collectors set. There were several million made so it isn't inconceivable there is some circulating in the wild so to speak.

There are also some commemorative coins like a 1982 George Washington half dollar that were minted for collectors set.

Confused yet?

Best rule of thumb is anything pre-65 in quarters and dime and pre-71 in halves.

"Bad choice cause the chock end of the barrel is smaller than a dime when it comes down the barrel.................kaboom


Wouldn't that only apply to a full choke? I was taught that a dime was used as a gauge to determine if the choke was full. If a dime passed through the end of the barrel, then it is not a full choke.

I have been rightly corrected.

Osky

If it only blows the ribbing at least you have some silver for the soudering the barrels back to the ribs.
It's a 50-50 chance what barrel goes first.
but I'm not standing around or behind the shooters.`

Consider that a 2 inch column of dimes is 40 @ $ 1.26 = $50.40 worth of silver.

Had to move a" safe "one time and the old Combiner Scout broke down and got towed to be repaired. The seller got ahold of the buyer and said he did not empty out the hidden bottom before we took it. Monday morning we went to get it and retrieve the mystery bottom for the coin and stamp person. I wonder why the safe was so heavy when we loaded it. In the bottom was 150 pounds of silver coin.......and that was back in the "corner the market " days when it was 40$ ounce.

Steven 49er knows his stuff when it comes to collecting "junk silver" coinage. He's been very helpful to me in understanding the U.S. silver coin world.

It sort of depends on your intensity in looking to still find silver-based coins in circulation, and I think how big of a population base (with the regional fed reserve churning lots of coin through) to see how much is out there in general circulation. To be more than hit and miss, it takes a considerable amount of work (some may disagree) to keep finding anything on a continuing basis, sort of like long-line trapping. About 4-5 years ago I bought a $500 "box" of Halves looking for those 40% silvers (finding an actual 64 Kennedy or a pre-Kennedy Ben Franklin would have been double back flips!) right after Christmas (figured some grandkid might have spent grandpa's collection during that time). Out of those 1,000 Halves, I found one silver-based collectors series (1992, which has bounced under an old heavy book case of mine and has yet to be retrieved) and nothing else of silvers (lots and lots of 1971s!!). I did strip off about 16 Bicentennials Philly mint Havles (because I think their cool!) but nothing else. I find maybe a handful or less of pre-64 or war nickels in my circulation in using my allowance to buy things. The vast majority of the silver stuff has been picked off long ago during various silver booms, unless you really "pour" through the coins. But, if that's your thing, go for it and you'll get to know the various tellers of your bank(s) by their first names.

So, if you don't want to spend the hours going through old coins ,you can buy them outright from various companies or you can buy new(er) silver bullion also through various companies. They may never yield a great return but if you like to have a little silver around and look at beautiful clean silver coins, that's certainty an option. They will always be worth something. I buy a handful of U.S. silver eagles a year, the Canadian mint produces some beauties as well. But there isn't much thrill of the hunt in doing that so it all depends on what you like to do. Have fun either way!!

P.S. By the way, my wife got one of those 1974s U.S. $20 the other day. Someone must have unleased a bundle somewhere for a "good" number showing up again...

Red book is not what you would get if you sell ,but the blue would be close.

just a few weeks ago they were having a nation wide coin hunt , coin dealers and others were putting old coins and paper money back in circulation to get interest back in coin collecting , I was going to do the same and for got about it , but I may still put some out there .

how many of you collect coins?

If you go to grocery stores that have the green exchange machines, check the return slots. I pretty sure those exchangers will kick out silver coins. When my son was young he just happened to look a there was an old dime ( maybe one of those mercury dimes?). I changed about $200 in change once and it kicked out 2 pre 64 quarters and a nickel. It's worth looking!!

Here is one than I have been told might be worth more than a 1.00

Bet everyone has a few of these....Are they worth more than 2.00 ?

That one might be because of its age but not the newer ones, unless you can sucker someone. They made a printing in 2009 (I think) and there's still a bunch that Carter printed during his admn from the later 70s (1977?). The non-ferrous scrap guy I go to around here has a quirky sense of humor, he likes handing out $2 bills and 50 cent pieces when possible. I like giving them to the kids at the fast food places and watch them either get excited or freeze them in place

I had a 40 year old women at Dunkin Donuts take my 2.00 bill as payment for my coffee.....she told me it was fake,then ran to her Boss with the 2.00 bill....only to do the walk of shame back to the drive up window ..to hand me my change.

As I said, my non-ferrous guy uses $2 and 50 cent pieces all the time. He has to special order them from his bank and the bank has to request a certain amount from the regional Fed Reserve but it doesn't seem to be a problem. I'm sure this guy's bank likes seeing his revenue stream through them and is accommodating to his particular desires.

I'm glad a number of you find old/some silver-based 50 centers and pre-64 quarters and dimes still out and about in circulation. I think part of that is a function of where you sit in relationship to your regional Fed Reserve and the overall pop of your region; how much metal currency is moving through the system. A couple of banks here in bedroom town just don't carry half dollars that a person can buy from them. I've told this story before, but about 4-5 years ago, right after Christmas, I bought a $500 box of half dollars from a local bank (they thought I was a customer--I guess if I pushed it hard enough I'm because my mortgage is through them but no checking or saving accounts). Anyway, I found no old or % silver 50 centers except a 1992 S mint proof that had got out into the wild. I did strip off about 16 Bicentennial Philly mint half dollars because I think they are cool. I suppose its like anything else, the more and harder one does it, the more success a guy will have.

Steven 49er and I have had some conversations over this and he thinks I should be able to do better in my metro. And he's probably right and its probably that I need to push it harder. But it has to be one of your hobby passions and its just not there for me, at least not yet...

Nothing rare about a $2 bill.

If a.bank doesn't carrying some, they can order some if asked.