The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Share Your Badassity => Topic started by: Mr Mark on May 26, 2013, 03:16:14 PM
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In case you're curious about precious metals, there are certain US coins that are worth more than the face value, due to the actual value of the metal they are made of.
You (and your kids) can keep an eye out for;
1932 - 1964 quarter is worth about $4.50 (1700% ROI)
1946 - 1964 Dime is about $1.90 (1800% ROI)
1943 - 1945 Nickel is about $1.45 (2800% ROI)
And 1909 - 1982 pennies are 95% copper. Illegal to melt down, but worth about double face value. 100%
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Interesting, but how does that help the average person?
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You'd have to be an average person in the USA, and you would perhaps find these in circulation sometimes.
Kids enjoy it.
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Fun post. I'll be checking.
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Good luck! I've been looking for a couple years now for these coins, and I only have a few. So feel free to put your lucky face on if/when you DO come across them.
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Definitely info that everybody should know, but just be aware that there are very few silver dimes and quarters in circulation anymore. I always check my change still though because it is so easy.
If you get used to what they look like you can easily tell without even actually checking the dates. The easiest way is to check the edge of the coin. If you look at a normal non-silver dime or quarter you wil see two distinct colors on the edge: the normal silver color and then a copper penny color too. Silver coins are all the same color and appear a lot more white when next to the non-silver coins. They stand out pretty easily so it's worth it to glance at your change and at least check, even though it's rare to find them in circulation these days.
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And if you find one, what do you do with it? Store it in a drawer for some potential future time when melting it becomes illegal...?
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And if you find one, what do you do with it? Store it in a drawer for some potential future time when melting it becomes illegal...?
I have exactly 1 old silver quarter and I keep it just for fun :p If you flip them, they make a distinctly prettier sound than newer coins. I don't think that I would give it up for less than $100 dollars just because I like that sound so much :)
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If you get used to what they look like you can easily tell without even actually checking the dates.
You can hear them, too! If you have a pocket full of change and there's a silver one in there, it has a very distinct sound. That's always how I notice them.
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I was bored just now and went through my 'laundry money' (about $40 in quarters that I should really cash in as soon as I stop needing to use coin operated machines) to see if I could find any more musical coins and found none. However, I did find 5 quarters from 1965 alone, which seems to suggest that a large majority of the slightly older coins have been grabbed up by collectors over time and are already being held. I'll keep an eye out from now on, though :)
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And if you find one, what do you do with it? Store it in a drawer for some potential future time when melting it becomes illegal...?
Believe it or not, there's a market for this... people will pay a high multiple over face value for "junk silver" such as older US Coins.
An item is only worth what someone will pay for it, and believe or not people will pay up for these.
http://www.ebay.com/ctg/1964-Washington-Quarter-/101941696 (http://www.ebay.com/ctg/1964-Washington-Quarter-/101941696)
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You (and your kids) can keep an eye out for;
1932 - 1964 quarter is worth about $4.50 (1700% ROI)
1946 - 1964 Dime is about $1.90 (1800% ROI)
1943 - 1945 Nickel is about $1.45 (2800% ROI)
I've always wondered about those rare-ish coins, but I was too lazy to search for the exact years. Thanks!!! :^D
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And if you find one, what do you do with it? Store it in a drawer for some potential future time when melting it becomes illegal...?
Believe it or not, there's a market for this... people will pay a high multiple over face value for "junk silver" such as older US Coins.
An item is only worth what someone will pay for it, and believe or not people will pay up for these.
http://www.ebay.com/ctg/1964-Washington-Quarter-/101941696 (http://www.ebay.com/ctg/1964-Washington-Quarter-/101941696)
Thanks Honest Abe!
Or I guess you go to Mexico and melt them down legally? As long as you originally took them to do laundry, say. In case Arebelspy is worried about ebay collapsing.... ;-)
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Many coins are legal to melt, but I wouldn't recommend it. (Nor do I think you'd find a refiner that will melt them and send you a check.) You're better off selling these to the people who want them. (Who many times are silverbugs who don't have the money to invest in bullion.)
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I have a jar with around $100 change in it, no pennies. I've had that jar for around 12 years, I should go through it and see what might be in there. :) Now that I've got new reading glasses, I can see the dates on there. Heh. Will report back.
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I have a jar with around $100 change in it, no pennies. I've had that jar for around 12 years, I should go through it and see what might be in there. :) Now that I've got new reading glasses, I can see the dates on there. Heh. Will report back.
You might have more than you think... We have an old pickle jar we throw change in (pennies included). When it's full, it is usually about $120-$140.
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I collect coins and havent seen a silver dime/quarter since the 80s (super rare even then, I think I've found 2 lifetime, and I think as a habit I still always check/turn them to the side). With dimes/quarters no needs to check dates. Just turn it on its side. Immediately obvious if this is a clad [copper/nickel layers] or silver---one solid layer of silver
However Ive been much luckier with silver nickels. those still show up once in a while. indeed, they are poorly differentiated from any other old nickel to the casual eye. I've found probably ~2 rolls lifetime. woo!
Heres a copper penny sorting machine :)
http://www.pennysorter.com/products/sorting-machines
(http://www.pennysorter.com/sites/default/files/public/legacy300al-product-picwatermark.jpg)
Sounds like its a great way to have to store literally tons of material for sub-minimum wage 'gains'.
Collecting cans is honestly more lucrative. And not federally prohibited
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Just being lucky, I had some friends in magic (sleight of hand) about 10 years ago. One recommended buying some silver dollars because they work better (softer). I went out and bought about 25 of them. I can't remember how much I paid, but it was in the "junk" silver bin at a coin collector shop. I pulled them out recently and found them to be worth about $12-14 each. I need to sell them before the crazy goes.
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I just cleaned out my dad's hoarder house (horrible, so very horrible...) but there were some good thing that we managed to dig out and save...
He used to collect coins. My sister had no interest, and I also collect coins, so now I have about 3 lunch sized coolers (the cleanest containers we could find) filled with coins, in addition to the coin collector folio books that have turned to mush but still contain the coins. Most of the loose stuff are pennies - wheat ones definitely - and silver. I had to fly home, so they are all stored until I can get back up there to haul back my stuff, but I grabbed a few before I came back and looked them up.
I had a 1943 S walking liberty half dollar - worth $8 just for the silver melt value. Maybe $12-20 depending on condition. There were also some Kennedy half dollars (not worth as much obviously) and a 1973 French franc! My dad had never been to France and the homestate is not a port of call for any international entry, so that's a weird one to have... and I think useless since the Euro adoption.
I am going to have to look up the best way to clean them (there was mold in the house and some of the coins are stuck together as well with sticky residue) without damaging the values, but I've got a very long weekend or longer to sort through all of those coins coming!
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Best way to clean coins is to not clean them at all
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I some great luck finding silver coins once. I used to be very much into coin collecting as a kid and I knew about silver coins (and the magic of 1964) but never happened across any in circulation. I worked at Sears while I was in college and one night I was counting down the register and spotted a silver Roosevelt dime. I waited for a manager to come by and had them give me change from the drawer for $1 and include the dime. My first score! It got even better later that night. I was checking the balance in the drawer where we kept packs of bills and rolls of coins when I spotted another silver dime at the end of one of the rolls. Did the same thing again with a manager and had a roll of dimes in my pocket when I left work that night. I opened the roll once I got back to my dorm and discovered that there were not one but ELEVEN silver dimes (a mix of Mercury and Roosevelt ones) in the roll! Over the next week I found about 50 of them. I figure someone probably died and someone else just got rid of the coins without knowing their worth.
I just checked my pouch and I've accumulated 37 Roosevelt dimes, 16 Mercury dimes and 6 Washington quarters. Most of the times coming from that one big score I made at work. Sadly, I saw at least one other roll with a silver on the end that I wasn't able to snag from another register.