Can I Sell Silver Coins for Melt Value? Dealer Offer Check
Enter what a dealer offered and the melt value of your coins, or work the melt value out from face value and today's silver price. The tool shows the offer as a percentage of melt.
Page updated
The offer is
% of melt
Enter a price and a quantity.
Sample price, not live.
- Offer minus melt (negative means below melt)
- $
- Melt value of your coins
- $
Percent of melt = offer ÷ melt value × 100, to one decimal. Difference = offer − melt value. If both kinds of input are filled in, only the one you chose is used.
Can you sell silver coins for melt value?
Yes, you can sell silver coins, and some buyers quote them against the silver price. What a buyer will pay is a separate question. It depends on the buyer, the kind and size of the lot, how they weigh and test it, and the day’s price. Published guidance varies a lot: some guides describe small discounts to melt, others large ones, and people selling small lots often report getting less. This page does not publish a typical percentage, because none of those figures is a fact you can rely on for your coins.
What the tool gives you is the comparison: your offer, the melt value, the percentage and the dollar difference. A negative difference means the offer is below melt. That is normal; the buyer has to cover costs and resell. Whether it is acceptable is for you to decide.
What changes a quote
- Collector value. A scarce date or a coin in fine condition can be worth more than its silver. Check before you sell by weight.
- Premiums. Dealers sell at a price above spot and buy at a price below it. The size of the gap is theirs to set.
- Timing. Silver moves during the day, so a quote is only good for a short time and your melt value should use the same price.
- Weight and testing. A dealer may weigh the lot and test some pieces. Know what you have, with the date cutoffs and weights.
- A second quote. Asking another buyer is the simplest way to see whether an offer is typical.
Melt value is the value of the metal at the spot price. It is a reference point, not an offer. A dealer usually pays less than melt, and some coins sell for more than melt because collectors want them. This site does not buy or sell coins or give advice on either.
To find the melt value first, use the calculator by coin or the junk silver calculator by face value. The formula is in how to calculate silver melt value. If you have silver dollars, check the dollar page first, because some are worth much more than melt.
Sources
- NGC, Coin Melt Values: composition, weight and silver content per coin.
- MetalCharts, Silver Coin Melt Values: cross-check of weights and silver content.