If you bought a bag of 90% silver coins

laserart · May 31, 2010 9:17PM

What do you think the chances are that you would find something more valuable than a coin worth only melt?

Coll3ctor · May 31, 2010 9:31PM

Slim to none. It depends on where you purchase this bag.

jmski52 · May 31, 2010 9:55PM

100%

Remember that most bags of 90% silver are now 45 years old. Most were searched initially, but how many bags of silver are searched by investors who hold onto them for years? I have two bags of halves that I've not searched in the 11 & 12 years that I've owned them. I've bought partial bags of halves on ebay and found full sets of Frankies in addition to a smattering of Walkers in the same distribution %'s that I would have seen them in circulation 45 years ago.

I think that bags of halves are more interesting and searchable, which leads me to think that both quarter and dime bags are even less searched. JMO.

Coll3ctor · May 31, 2010 10:10PM

<< 100%

Remember that most bags of 90% silver are now 45 years old. Most were searched initially, but how many bags of silver are searched by investors who hold onto them for years? I have two bags of halves that I've not searched in the 11 & 12 years that I've owned them. I've bought partial bags of halves on ebay and found full sets of Frankies in addition to a smattering of Walkers in the same distribution %'s that I would have seen them in circulation 45 years ago.

I think that bags of halves are more interesting and searchable, which leads me to think that both quarter and dime bags are even less searched. JMO. >>

100% ??? Are we going by Red Book/retail prices

jmski52 · May 31, 2010 10:56PM

100% ??? Are we going by Red Book/retail prices

I am 100% certain that there is a 100% chance of finding at least one decent keeper in a bag of 90% silver, regardless of the price book you want to use.

CaptHenway · May 31, 2010 11:39PM

<< What do you think the chances are that you would find something more valuable than a coin worth only melt? >>

FWIW, when we buy in old solid bags of 90% silver we usually do not bother to check them for dates. Statistically it is not worth our time to do so.

That said, we do occasionally look through a bag that looks like it was put together during the Hunt Brothers craze. You can tell because they have stuff in them that dealers used to put in junk boxes (Barbers, dated SL quarters, pre-1934 halves) mixed with BU rolls (loose) and occasionally 1960-64 proofs. Found two 1916-D dimes that way in 25+ years working in coin shops. The trick is to know when to look.

TD

johnny9434 · June 1, 2010 12:23AM

little to none, one never knows thou

roadrunner · June 1, 2010 2:30AM

Yeah, what Capt Henway said.

One of my local dealers routinely runs across older 1/4 to 1/2 bags of "unsearched" 90%. He doesn't have the time to go through them and offers them to me at essentially no premium to what he could get from a regional silver buyer. The last one I got I found a couple of lustrous mercs and XF/AU Walkers within the first minute of looking. Then found a decent AU 1931 Merc. There were lots of XF walkers in that mix....with about 50% walkers among the silver halves. I'm sure there was more to find. It was nice to see a group of 90% where the average grade of Mercs/Walkers is Fine-VF rather than AG-Fine.

roadrunner