Hi all, I had some coins that I wanted to get valued. The place I took them to simply counted the coins that were 90% silver and multiplied the face value by 14 to tell me how much they'd pay if I was to sell. I have looked around online a bit and I don't see any formula or explanation of this multiplier. I found melt value calcs, however am just more curious about this multiplier to further understand it. Anyone have any explanation?
It's just an easy way to quickly convert the face value of 90% coins into their approximate silver value. When silver prices weren't so volatile 12-14x face was the normal range dealers were charging for 90% coins. Considering current spot on silver is roughly 17.5x face they may be charging somewhere between 18 - 20x face now. At current spot prices: a half dollar is worth ~8.80 a quarter ~ 4.40 a dime ~ 1.76 So if you were to buy a $1 face value lot of each of those denominations you'd be getting $17.60 worth of silver. ...Thus the multiplier method.
Indeed. You say you desire to 'further understand" the melt value calculators or formula...they're based on a very simple premise: All 90% silver US coinage, even that minted "today' for proof/commem sets, contains the same amount of silver. $1 of coinage contains 0.7234 troy oz of silver (Frequently, in the spot market, you'll find this number trimmed down, and everyone agrees on .715 toz. This accounts for wear, and also makes an easier number to handle) Understand here that it doesn't matter how you make up the $1 of face value. 5 pre-65 dimes, and a 64 Kennedy half will contain the same silver (.7234 toz) as 10 pre 65 dimes, or 4 pre 65 quarters, etc. So...if the spot price were, say, $20 per toz, then 20*.715 = 14.30 - There's your multiplier...$14.30 for every $1 of face value is spot price. If you're even a little patient and willing to haggle, you SHOULD be able to find a dealer who will pay YOU 90-95% of spot price for "junk silver", and you should expect to pay THEM 100-105% or so. Anyone who wants you too far outside of those lines is, in my opinion, not the person you want to trade with that day. You may be able to move those numbers more in your favor if you do private deals on the side, via craigslist for example. Finally, I know you said you'd found some calculators, but let me share one more. My apologies if you've already seen it, but ime this is the one dealers AND collectors seem to commonly reference as a starting point for negotiations, so I always recommend it. http://www.coinflation.com/coins/silver_calc.php Hope that helps!
Thanks for the great information everyone. It really is quite simple. I feel much better understanding how and where this multiplier came from and being able to determine the true price they're offering. Thanks again for the quick response and thorough explanation. :thumb:
