Junk Silver is the term used to describe US quarters, dimes, and half dollars produced up to 1964. These Junk Silver coins are composed of 90 percent silver, with the remaining 10 percent of the Junk Silver coins being composed of copper. Most Junk Silver coins are merely worth their weight in silver, though that does make a junk silver coin many times more valuable than a non-silver US coin.
The most common Junk Silver coins are as follows: the Barber, or Liberty Head Junk Silver dime, produced from 1892 to 1916, the Winged Liberty Head or Mercury Dime, produced from 1916 to 1945 is a popular Junk Silver Coin, the Roosevelt Junk Silver Dime, produced from 1946 to 1964, the Barber, or Liberty Head Junk Silver Quarter, produced from 1892 to 1916, the Standing Liberty Junk Silver Quarter, produced from 1916 to 1930, the Washington Junk Silver Quarter, produced from 1932 to 1964, the Barber or Liberty Head Half Dollar Junk Silver coin, produced from 1892 to 1915, the Walking Liberty Half Dollar Junk Silver coin produced from 1916 to 1947, the Franklin Half Dollar Junk Silver coin produced from 1948 to 1963, and the Kennedy Half Dollar Junk Silver Coin, produced in 1964.
Dime Junk Silver coins contain .07234 of a troy ounce of pure silver. Quarter Junk Silver coins contain .18084 of a troy ounce of pure silver. Half Dollar Junk Silver coins contain .36169 of a troy ounce of pure silver. This means that 5 Junk Silver dimes contain the same amount of pure silver as a Junk Silver half dollar or the silver content 2 Junk Silver quarters. There are some key dates in these Junk Silver coins that can make them much more valuable than a standard Junk Silver coin. These include the 1916 Mercury Head Junk Silver Dime with a D mint mark, but not the 1916 Mercury Head Junk Silver dime with no mint mark or an S mint mark, as those are both very common coins. Both the 1932 S mint and D mint Washington Junk Silver quarters are key dates, while the 1932 Junk Silver Washington quarter without the mint mark is a very common quarter. Either way, with a key date or not, Junk Silver quarters, dimes and half dollars are worth looking out for, because their silver content gives than an intrinsic value well beyond their mere face values.