We help Chicago-area residents sell silver coins, inherited coin collections, old U.S. silver, foreign silver coins, silver dollars, bullion, and related estate items. Many silver coin collections were saved for decades, passed down through families, or discovered during moves, estates, and downsizing.

If you have old silver coins and are not sure what they are worth, we can help you separate common silver value from possible collector value. Most silver coin collections are valued mainly by silver content, but certain dates, mintmarks, conditions, and types can make individual coins worth more than melt value.

 

U.S. Silver Coins and 90% Silver

The United States used silver in many regular circulating coins until 1964. Dimes, quarters, half dollars, and silver dollars from that era are commonly found in old collections, jars, albums, envelopes, and estate boxes. Most U.S. dimes, quarters, and half dollars dated 1964 and earlier contain 90% silver.

The main exception after 1964 is the Kennedy half dollar. From 1965 through 1970, Kennedy half dollars contained 40% silver. These coins are also commonly saved and are often found mixed in with older silver coins.

Many people who were paying attention in the 1960s saved silver coins from circulation. What may have seemed like a simple habit at the time turned into a strong, low-risk store of value for that generation. Decades later, those rolls, bags, and albums are often handed down to children or grandchildren.

Silver coin collections like this are often called 90% silver, constitutional silver, or sometimes junk silver. The word “junk” does not mean worthless — it usually means the coins are common enough that their value is primarily based on silver content rather than rare collector premiums. We buy this type of silver coin material all the time.

---

Common Silver Coins We Buy

We regularly buy many types of silver coins and silver coin collections, including:

• Pre-1965 U.S. silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars
• 40% silver Kennedy half dollars
• Morgan silver dollars and Peace silver dollars
• American Silver Eagles
• Silver proof sets and mint sets
• Silver bullion rounds, bars, and privately minted silver pieces
• Old coin albums, rolls, bags, tubes, and inherited silver coin accumulations

---

Foreign Silver Coins

Chicago is a city with deep immigrant roots, and many families have foreign coins that came here with parents, grandparents, or earlier generations. We also see foreign silver coins that were brought back from travel, military service, business trips, or vacations decades ago.

Most foreign silver coins are not especially rare, but many still have real silver value. Some are also collectible depending on the country, date, denomination, condition, and demand. We are happy to look through foreign silver coins and explain what is common, what is silver, and what may deserve closer attention.

---

Silver Coins From Estates and Inherited Collections

Many silver coin collections come to the surface during estates, moves, downsizing, or family cleanouts. Sometimes the collection is organized in albums. Other times it is simply a box of loose coins, old envelopes, bank rolls, silver dollars, proof sets, and foreign coins mixed together.

You do not need to sort everything perfectly before bringing it in. In fact, it is often better not to clean, polish, or reorganize old coins before having them reviewed. Cleaning coins can permanently destroy collector value. Bring the collection as it is, and we can help identify what is silver, what is common, and what may have collector value beyond the metal content.

Other Types of Silver

Although this page is mainly about silver coins, many customers also have other silver items mixed in with an estate or collection. We can also look at sterling silver jewelry, sterling flatware, silver bars, silver rounds, scrap silver, and certain household silver items.

Sterling silver is usually marked “sterling” or “.925” and contains 92.5% silver. Silver plate is different and usually has very little precious-metal value. If you are not sure what you have, bring it in and we can help separate sterling silver from plated items.

---

Avoid Running All Over Chicago

Many families try to sell estate items one category at a time — jewelry to a jeweler, antiques to an antique shop, coins to a coin dealer, and silver somewhere else. That can turn into a lot of unnecessary driving and confusion.

We regularly help people with mixed collections that include silver coins, gold coins, bullion, old currency, jewelry, sterling silver, and other estate items. Even when something is outside our main focus, we can usually help point you in the right direction and explain what is worth spending time on.

---

Chicago Neighborhoods Served

Customers visit from neighborhoods throughout Chicago, including Albany Park, Andersonville, Avondale, Edgewater, Jefferson Park, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, Logan Square, North Center, Norwood Park, Portage Park, Rogers Park, Sauganash, Uptown, West Ridge, Wicker Park, River North, Streeterville, South Loop, West Loop, and nearby communities.

Whether you have a small group of silver coins or a larger inherited collection, we can help you understand what you have and how it is valued.