How to tell if a coin is silver

Hold a loose coin by its edges, turn it sideways and look at its thin side.

A 90% silver coin is the same metal all the way through, so its edge is solid silver in color.

Dimes and quarters dated 1965 or later, and half dollars dated 1971 or later, are clad if they came from circulation: copper-nickel faces over a copper core. The core shows as a copper stripe down the middle of the edge.

The Mint also sells silver versions of some newer coins in collector sets, so keep any Mint packaging with its coins.

Kennedy half dollars dated 1965 to 1970 are 40% silver.

Their outer layers are 80% silver, over a core that is mostly copper with some silver. For these half dollars, go by the date, not the edge.

The 1964 Kennedy half is 90% silver, like the Franklin half dollars before it.

Our silver calculator covers silver dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1892 or later, and the silver nickels and dollars below. Send photos of older ones instead.

The edge won't help with a nickel. It is one mix of metals all the way through, so it shows no stripe, silver or not.

The only silver nickels are Jefferson nickels dated 1942 to 1945 with a large P, D or S above the dome of Monticello, the building on the back. They are 35% silver.

Not every 1942 nickel has the large letter. One without it is ordinary copper-nickel.

No U.S. penny is silver. The silver-colored 1943 penny is zinc-coated steel, made that year because copper was needed for the war.

Keep older pennies and nickels with the collection all the same. Some are scarce, and collectors look for them.

Morgan dollars, dated 1878 to 1904 and 1921, and Peace dollars, dated 1921 to 1928 and 1934 to 1935, are 90% silver.

Some Eisenhower dollars made for collectors at the San Francisco Mint, with an S mintmark, are 40% silver.

These are not silver dollars:

• Eisenhower dollars from circulation, dated 1971 to 1978. They are copper-nickel clad.
• Susan B. Anthony dollars. All are copper-nickel clad.
• Golden dollars. The color comes from manganese brass, and they hold no gold or silver.
• “Silver dollar” medallions sold on TV. They come from private companies, not the U.S. Mint, and may be only silver-plated.

Set the coin aside. It may be a mint error, struck on a blank meant for another year.

Dimes and quarters dated 1965 are known struck in silver, and collectors look for them.

Send photos of both sides and the edge.