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One of the most advantageous ways to own silver bullion is with 90% U.S. silver coins minted 1964 and earlier. The name “junk silver” was developed in the 1970s to describe these commonly circulated dimes, quarters, and half-dollars that were dated minted from 90% silver. These coins are not considered rare, but do represent an excellent way to own silver in smaller amounts.

90% U.S. silver coins are an attractive way to own silver bullion for several reasons:

Low premiums

Bags of 90% U.S. silver coins carry a low premium over the spot price of silver.

Legal tender

These coins have face value, and are still considered legal U.S. tender.

Recognition

90% U.S. silver coins are easily identifiable, and familiar. This makes their value less likely to be disputed.

Divisibility

With their smaller denominations, 90% U.S. silver coins are ideal for bartering. By contrast, modern silver bullion coins are rarely less than a full troy ounce in weight.

The most popular way of investing in 90% U.S. silver coins is by purchasing bags of a predetermined face value, with the highest being $1,000 USD (715 oz.). It is also common to find them broken down into half-bags of $500 USD (358 oz.), quarter-bags of $250 USD (179 oz.), and tenth-bags of $100 USD (72 oz.).

Bags are most commonly sold by the denomination. For example, if you were to purchase a $1,000 bag of junk silver dimes, you would be receiving a bag with 10,000 1964 or earlier dimes. No nickels, quarters, or half-dollars would be included as mixed bags are not usually sold.

The appeal of junk silver is that it is a way of owning small denominations of silver coins. A full bag can always be broken up into smaller, legal-tender silver coins. Throughout history, fiat currencies have always been subject to inflationary pressure while precious metals have always had intrinsic value and can be used as a standard of financial exchange when fiat currencies fail.