By private appointment · Mon to Sat, 10am to 6pm
Sell Silver Coins in Chicago
We buy pre-1965 dimes, quarters and half dollars, 40% Kennedy halves and wartime nickels from sellers across Chicago. You watch every coin get sorted and weighed, and we pull out the better dates before anything is priced as junk silver.
- Free appraisal
- No obligation
- Paid same day
Prefer to talk? Call (773) 241-8624
Get your free offer
Tell us what you have. We call back the same business day.
$100M+ in gold and coins bought
How 90% silver coins are priced
Dealers call circulated 90% coins junk silver and price them by face value. One dollar in face of dimes, quarters or halves dated 1964 or earlier holds about 0.715 troy ounces of silver, and that figure times the live spot price sets the offer.
Kennedy halves from 1965 to 1970 and war nickels have their own silver content. Scarce dates come out first and are priced separately.
What sets the offer on silver coins
- The date on each coin tells us whether it holds 90%, 40%, 35% or no silver.
- Face value of the 90% coins sets how much silver is in the pile.
- Spot silver is quoted live at your appointment.
- Scarce dates and mint marks are set aside and priced as collector coins.
- Proof and uncirculated coins from old sets can earn more than their silver.
Melt value today: Pre-1965 Washington quarter
$9.39
6.25 grams at 90% silver, about 0.1808 troy oz, times today's spot. Collector coins can be worth more than melt.Silver coins we buy
- Mercury and Roosevelt dimes dated 1964 or earlier
- Washington quarters dated 1964 or earlier
- Walking Liberty and Franklin halves
- 1964 Kennedy halves
- Barber dimes, quarters and halves
- 1965 to 1970 Kennedy halves (40% silver)
- War nickels, 1942 to 1945 (35% silver)
- Columbian halves and other early commemoratives
- Silver proof sets and mint sets
Silver coins from Chicago jars, drawers and closets
Jars of old change reach us from all over Chicago. Someone emptying a condo in Lakeview or a bungalow in Berwyn finds a coffee can of dimes and quarters and wants to know if any of it is silver. If you want to sell silver coins in Chicago, start with the dates: a dime, quarter or half dated 1964 or earlier is 90% silver, and most coins dated 1965 or later are copper-nickel clad.
The edge gives a quick second check. A clad coin shows a copper stripe around its edge, while a 90% coin is silver gray all the way through.
Sorting a jar this way at the kitchen table takes a few minutes and tells you roughly how much of it we will buy. Keep any blue folders or paper rolls the coins were stored in, since a parent who filled a folder by date sometimes kept the scarcer pieces there.
Chicago jars also turn up a coin with a local story. The Columbian half dollar, sold for $1 at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park, is 90% silver and often hides among ordinary halves.
Worn ones sell for a little more than their silver, and pieces with sharp detail and original luster sell for more. We price them as commemoratives, and our Columbian half dollar guide covers both dates.
Wartime nickels and 40% Kennedy halves go into their own stacks. Nickels dated 1942 to 1945 with a large mint mark above Monticello on the back are 35% silver, and Kennedy halves from 1965 to 1970 hold 40%. The clad quarters and copper cents left over go back to you, and we tell you which pile is which.
We meet sellers from Logan Square and Bridgeport out to Elmhurst and Schaumburg, by appointment Monday to Saturday between 10am and 6pm. A jar of mixed change takes longer than a handful of coins because we read every date, and a large accumulation can run 30 to 60 minutes. The silver is weighed on a calibrated scale you can read.
The written offer lists the 90% coins by face value, the 40% and 35% coins by count, and any better dates by name. Accept and you are paid the same day.
If you would rather hold on to the coins, you keep them and the list. Call (773) 241-8624 to book, and we call back the same day.
How selling works
Three steps, usually done in one visit.
- 1
Tell us what you have
Send the form or call. We call back the same day and book a private appointment, Monday to Saturday.
- 2
Watch the appraisal
We check each coin's date, mint mark, grade and metal in front of you, then write the offer down line by line.
- 3
Get paid that day
Say yes and leave with cash, or a same-day wire for a large sale. Say no and keep everything.
Questions about selling silver coins in Chicago
Where can I sell junk silver in Chicago?
Chicago Coin Buyers buys 90% silver dimes, quarters and halves by private appointment, Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm. Call (773) 241-8624 to book, and we set a meeting place when you schedule. We sort and weigh your coins in front of you, pull out any better dates, and give you a written offer at no charge.
Which dimes, quarters and half dollars are silver?
Any U.S. dime, quarter or half dollar dated 1964 or earlier is 90% silver. Kennedy halves dated 1965 to 1970 are 40% silver, and nickels from 1942 to 1945 with a large mint mark above Monticello are 35% silver. Circulation dimes and quarters dated 1965 and later, and circulation halves from 1971 on, are copper-nickel clad.
How much silver is in a dollar of face value?
One dollar in face value of 90% dimes, quarters or halves holds about 0.715 troy ounces of silver. That dollar can be ten pre-1965 dimes, four quarters or two halves.
Dealers price junk silver by face value because counting is faster than weighing each coin. We still weigh the lot on a calibrated scale so you can check the total yourself.
Do you buy Columbian half dollars as silver?
We buy them and price them above silver when they earn it. Columbian halves are dated 1892 and 1893, are 90% silver and were sold at the Chicago world's fair for $1 each.
Worn ones sell for a little more than their silver. Coins with sharp detail and original luster sell for more, and we grade each one before we quote.
Should I roll or sort my silver coins before the appointment?
There is no need. Loose coins in a jar, bag or envelope are fine, and we sort them at the appointment.
If you want to save time, you can separate coins dated 1964 and earlier from the rest. Please do not clean anything, since collectors pay far less for a cleaned coin and a scarce date can hide in any pile.
Where we buy silver coins around Chicago
See what your coins are worth today
The offer is free, you're under no obligation, and we pay the same day you accept.
(773) 241-8624Monday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm
Get your free offer
Tell us what you have. We call back the same business day.