For coins made to spend, the cutoff is 1964. US dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 or earlier are silver. From 1965 on, dimes and quarters are copper-nickel clad, with no silver. The half dollar is the one exception: Kennedy halves dated 1965 through 1970 are 40% silver. Nickels contain silver only in the wartime years 1942 to 1945. Dollars are silver in the Morgan and Peace series, and in special 40% versions of the Eisenhower dollar.
Is My Coin Silver? A Year-by-Year Guide to US Silver Coins
Which US coins are silver, by year: dimes, quarters and halves through 1964, 40% Kennedy halves, war nickels, silver dollars, and how to check a coin.
The Short Answer
Dimes, Quarters and Half Dollars
The Coinage Act of 1965 replaced the 90% silver dime and quarter with a three-layer coin: copper-nickel outer layers on a copper core. The half dollar kept 40% silver until a law signed on December 31, 1970 made it clad as well.
Two dates catch people out:
- 1964. The Act ordered that any 90% coins struck after it passed still carry the 1964 date. NGC notes that three quarters of all 1964 dimes were actually made in 1965. A 1964-dated coin is silver no matter when it was struck.
- 1970 halves. The 1970-D and 1970-S Kennedy halves are 40% silver, but neither was released for circulation.
| Denomination | Silver years (circulating issues) | Fineness | Silver weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dime | through 1964 | 90% | 0.0723 oz |
| Quarter | through 1964 | 90% | 0.1808 oz |
| Half dollar | through 1964 | 90% | 0.3617 oz |
| Half dollar (Kennedy) | 1965–1970 | 40% | 0.1479 oz |
Weights shown apply to the Barber series (from 1892) through 1964. Older Seated Liberty coins are silver too, but their standards shifted over the years (an 1860 half dollar, for example, is 12.44 grams), so check each series page.
Series covered by these figures:
- Dimes: Barber, Mercury and Roosevelt dimes through 1964. Roosevelt dimes from 1965 on are clad.
- Quarters: Barber, Standing Liberty and Washington quarters through 1964. Washington quarters from 1965 on are clad.
- Half dollars: Barber, Walking Liberty, Franklin and the 1964 Kennedy are 90%. Kennedy halves of 1965–1970 are 40%. Kennedy halves from 1971 on are clad.
Nickels
Regular nickels are copper-nickel and contain no silver. The exception is a wartime alloy (copper 56%, silver 35%, manganese 9%), adopted during World War II to cut the use of copper and nickel. A war nickel weighs 5 grams and holds 0.056 troy ounce of silver.
These coins are easy to spot. The Mint put an oversize mint mark on the reverse, directly above Monticello's dome, so they could be pulled out later. It was also the first time Philadelphia used a P mint mark. The wartime series runs eleven coins: 1942-P and 1942-S, then P, D and S for each year from 1943 to 1945.
Watch 1942 closely. The 1942 with no mint mark and the 1942-D were struck in copper-nickel before the change and have no silver. Jefferson nickels went back to copper-nickel in 1946.
Dollars
- Morgan and Peace dollars: 90% silver, 26.73 grams, 0.7734 troy ounce of silver.
- Eisenhower dollars: the coins made for circulation are copper-nickel clad and contain no silver. The same 1970 law also authorized up to 150 million dollars in a 40% silver version. Those were struck at San Francisco with an S mint mark, in proof and uncirculated finishes, from 1971 to 1974. Each weighs 24.59 grams with 0.3162 troy ounce of silver. A 40% Bicentennial dollar followed.
- Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea dollars: no silver. The Anthony is copper-nickel clad and the Sacagawea is manganese-brass.
Proof and Collector Coins
Some later coins contain silver even though they share designs with clad pocket change:
- Bicentennial, 1975–1976: quarters, halves and dollars were offered to collectors in 40% silver. The silver pieces carry an S mint mark. CoinWeek suggests testing any S-mint 1976 quarter found in change.
- 1982 George Washington half dollar: a 90% silver commemorative.
- Silver proof sets, 1992 on: the dime, quarter and half dollar in these sets are silver, starting at 90%. From 2019 the Mint switched these coins to .999 fine silver.
Proofs are not automatically silver, and neither is every S mint mark: the 1971-S proof half, for example, is clad.
How to Check a Coin
- Read the date. For circulation coins, the date answers most questions using the years above.
- Look at the edge. A clad coin shows an orange or brown copper band. A 90% coin shows a solid silver-colored edge. PCGS notes that 40% halves also lack the copper sandwich look.
- Weigh it, with care. Silver and clad weights differ: 2.5 against 2.268 grams for a dime, 6.25 against 5.67 for a quarter, 11.5 against 11.34 for a 40% Kennedy half. CoinWeek warns that a scale alone cannot separate a 40% quarter from a clad one, since the 0.08-gram gap is smaller than the allowed tolerance.
- Treat the ring test with caution. PCGS describes dealers who hear silver ring and clad click as coins run through counting machines, but says plainly that not everyone has the ear for it. Use sound as a hint, not proof.
No single check settles every case, so combine them. For a coin that may be valuable, consider professional authentication.
FAQ
Are 1971 half dollars silver?
No. Regular 1971 Kennedy halves, including the 1971-S proof, are copper-nickel layers over a copper core and weigh 11.34 grams. The last silver halves made for general use are dated 1970, and those came only in collector sets. The exceptions after 1970 are collector coins, such as the 1976-S Bicentennial silver pieces and the silver proof sets sold from 1992 on.
How much silver is in a 1965 half dollar?
Kennedy halves dated 1965 through 1970 are 40% silver. Each weighs 11.5 grams and holds 4.6 grams of silver, or 0.1479 troy ounce.
Is a 1966 dime silver?
No. Dimes dated 1965 and later are copper-nickel clad and contain no silver, except for silver proofs sold to collectors. The last 90% silver dimes are dated 1964, although the Mint kept striking 1964-dated dimes into 1965.
How much silver is in a Roosevelt dime?
A Roosevelt dime dated 1946 through 1964 weighs 2.5 grams at 90% silver, which is 0.0723 troy ounce of silver. Circulating Roosevelt dimes dated 1965 or later have none.
How can I tell if a 1971 half dollar is silver?
Every 1971 Kennedy half is copper-nickel clad, whether from Philadelphia, Denver or the San Francisco proof set, so none of them are silver. The edge confirms it. Look for the copper-colored band between the outer layers. A genuine 1971 half should also weigh about 11.34 grams.