3 Useful Tips to Sell Scrap Silver Near Me for Top Dollar

Selling scrap bullion is a great way to make some extra cash. People all over the United States pose the common question: “how do I sell scrap silver near me?” This question has multiple facets, and we’ll address all of them in today’s guide. To start with, it’s important to understand why people are looking for places to sell scrap silver near me. The interesting truth is that most people have some kind of junk silver in their homes. Scrap silver comes in many different forms. Sterling silver jewelry and silverware, silver coins, and even silver flatware are just a few common examples of items with pure silver in the average person’s home. Identifying the items with silver value can help you to make some extra cash. But even when you’ve found a solid stash of junk silver around the house, the matter of finding a reputable place to sell scrap silver near me is no simple matter. Some dealers make an exceptional living by ripping off newbies in the bullion industry. It can be hard to find accurate values for your precious metals, and the average pawn shop surely isn’t likely to give you any pointers! The best way to avoid being manipulated by silver buyers is to arm yourself with as much knowledge about the value of silver scrap as you can. Figuring out the value of silver scrap requires people to apply the most current silver spot price to their silver scrap. The silver content of scrap silver can vary from item to item, so it is important to accurately identify the amount of silver in an item before searching for a silver buyer. This guide will walk readers through all of the steps in the scrap silver selling process. We’ll teach you how to find the value of your junk silver or scrap items, how to find the right silver buyers near you, and more.

What is Scrap Silver?

Simply put, scrap silver is just any silver item that’s only worth the value of the silver it contains. People traditionally associate scrap silver with old jewelry. Jewelry that’s clearly seen better days and doesn’t have any kind of silvery shine anymore often counts as scrap silver. Old jewelry pieces become scrap when the jewelry itself adds no value to the item’s worth. In this case, the jewelry is only worth its value as scrap. But silver jewelry isn’t the only kind of item that can end up as scrap. Other household silver items, including silver flatware, are frequently sold for their silver value. Sterling silverware sets that have become too tarnished for daily use are great examples of scrap silver found in the average home. Various kinds of coins also hold value as scrap silver. Collectible coins are easy to identify, as they are often purchased by the collector with their silver content in mind. But it can be easy to forget how many non-collectible silver coins are in circulation in the United States. As a general rule of thumb, any U.S. quarter, nickel, or dime minted by the U.S. mint before 1965 will contain about 90% silver. However, be careful when selling old silver coins for under melt or scrap price. Some coins, especially rare editions or special mints, can be worth far more than simple scrap value. We recommend that you become acquainted with key date lists for the main types of pre-1965 circulated American coins. While many coins from this era are only worth their weight in scrap silver value, some coins may be worth quite a bit of money. Some early American coins can even fetch thousands of dollars or more!

How Much is My Scrap Silver Worth?

Determining an approximate value for a lot of scrap silver is actually quite a bit easier than some collectors initially assume. The first step in this process is to figure out how much actual silver you have. This is easiest with silver coins, so we’ll explain this process first. A silver coin minted in the U.S. before 1965 will generally contain 90% silver. This means that multiplying the weight of your pre-1965 silver coins by .9 will yield the approximate quantity of silver within them. Once you have the amount of silver determined, finding the value of your junk silver just involves multiplying this number by the current spot price for silver. Silver’s spot price changes nearly every day, so it’s important to have a good grip on the current value of silver before heading off to a seasoned buyer to sell your silver scrap. Other types of silver, such as jewelry or flatware, is just a bit more tricky. The trouble with selling non-coin bullion is that it can be difficult to figure out exactly how much silver is contained in a given item. Some silver will be marked with a number (such as 925) to represent the percentage of pure silver it contains. However, these stamps can sometimes be inaccurate, and some manufacturers might not include them on their silver pieces at all. It might be helpful to test to see whether or not your items are really made of silver before trying to sell scrap silver near me. You can do this either by approaching a local silver distributor and requesting an appraisal or by using your own silver detector. These devices are fantastic investments, especially if you plan to frequently sell silver or silver scrap.

Valuable Silver American Coins

Like we explained above, it’s important to look through your coins to make sure they’re not extremely valuable before selling them for scrap. Certain coins minted before 1965 might be worth much more than the price they’d fetch for their scrap silver. Selling these coins for mere silver bullion price would be a huge mistake. To start, you can quickly tell if a silver coin is 90% silver by looking at its edges. Coins minted after 1965 will have a bronzish coloration on their edges, while 90% silver strikes will look completely silver all around. You can generally just toss out all coins that don’t have this silver composition. Coins minted more recently use basically no actual silver and are worth little more than their face value. As for identifying expensive silver coins that you shouldn’t sell as scrap silver near me, the best method is to closely watch the dates as you sift through your collection. Coins made before 1935 are the most likely to carry significant value. However, the most valuable coins from this era will be at least somewhat well maintained. Coins with excessive damage or blemishes, also known as cull coins, significantly drop in value over time. Silver dollars are especially valuable to collectors, but most types of pre-1935 silver coins have expensive key dates. We usually recommend looking into key dates lists. Many silver bullion communities include infographics or pages that list the most expensive or valuable dates in a given series. Becoming familiar with the ‘key dates’ for your silver nickels, silver dollars, silver dimes. or silver nickels is a good way to ensure you don’t end up selling a $1,000 silver dollar for its weight in scrap silver!

Finding Places to Sell Scrap Silver Near Me

There are many different places where we can sell scrap silver near me. Local coin dealers, coin shows, and pawn shops are three very common options. The advantage to selling silver at these local places is that it comes with an extremely human touch. Looking your buyer in the eyes and negotiating directly with them is a wise way to do business. The added advantage to working with someone local is that you might be able to “lock in” a value for your coins or other forms of scrap silver. Because the spot price of silver is constantly changing, it is possible for the value of silver to go down right before you make a large sale of scrap. Some dealers who you build a relationship with might let you “lock in” a price per troy ounce for your scrap silver, so that you make the same profit– even if the spot price per ounce changes. Online bullion dealers are another popular modern way for people to sell scrap silver near me. This is a great option for silver collectors who live relatively far away from local silver scrap buyers. Some small mints and collectible coin/bar distributors will often offer to purchase gold and silver scrap from people. Because these online dealers are negotiating with a larger audience than your local pawn shop, they will sometimes take a larger cut off the top of the price they pay you for your silver. This won’t always be the case, so shopping around for the best deal is always a smart move. Typically, your goal should be to find a company that offers as close to spot price as possible. “Cash for Gold” companies are popular in 2020 as places to sell scrap silver near me. These companies prioritize convenience, advertising that people can ship a secured bag of gold or silver to the company and receive cold, hard cash in return. But sellers be warned: these companies are generally not good options for selling scrap silver near me. Companies with this business model make their profit from offering consumers far less than spot price for their gold or silver. Whenever possible, we’d advise you to stay away from these major “Cash for Gold” companies. Either do business with major online bullion retailers, or deal directly with local pawn, coin, or bullion shops.

Frequently Asked Questions About How to Sell Scrap Silver Near Me

We’ve got you covered in this section with some answers to the top questions consumers have about how to sell scrap silver near them.

Q: How much is scrap silver worth?

A: The best hope for someone selling junk silver is to get an offer relatively close to the spot price for silver. Silver’s spot price is constantly changing. If you’re able to “lock in” a price for your lot of scrap silver, this can potentially hedge against a decrease in silver value. Silver buyers will generally offer a bit less than spot price for your junk silver in order to secure some profit for themselves.

Q: Where is the best place to sell scrap silver near me?

A: We recommend starting out with your LCS (local coin store), coin forums like Silverbugs and other local coin or jewelry distributors. Dealing directly with these kinds of companies might allow you to work out a better deal than larger silver buyers might be capable of offering. Online retailers are also popular ways to sell scrap silver.

Q: What types of junk silver are valuable?

A: All junk 90% silver as well as other items with any amount of silver in it will have decent value. Even war nickels have 35% silver and are worth more than it’s counterparts minted from Nickel. The value for a given piece will depend on its silver content. Silver coins, flatware, and even sterling silver jewelry can be sold for their value in scrap silver.

Q: Are U.S. quarters made of pure silver?

A: Yes and no. Modern U.S. coins contain almost no silver content at all. But older coins minted prior to the year 1965 are always minted with 90% pure silver, making them valuable examples of junk silver. Always check your coins to make sure they don’t have additional value before selling them.

Q: Are Cash for Silver companies a scam?

A: We advise against working with most “Cash for Gold” and “Cash for Silver” companies. These major corporations profit by offering people far less than spot price for their gold or silver bullion.

The Bottom Line: How to Sell Scrap Silver Near Me

Our biggest piece of advice is for people to know the worth of their junk silver before looking to sell it for scrap. Weighing the pieces out and multiplying this weight by the percentage of silver will yield the approximate silver content of a piece, and multiplying this number by the spot price of silver results in an estimation of its value. There are numerous places to sell scrap silver. Local pawn brokers, coin collectors, and bullion companies are popular options that allow you to closely work with your buyer to negotiate the best possible price for your stock. Another option is to sell silver to online companies specializing in precious metals. Online dealers can also often work directly with you to determine a fair price. Be sure to check all of your silver coins for valuables before selling them for their scrap price. All coins minted prior to 1965 by the United States Mint contain 90% silver content. But some coins, especially pristine editions minted before 1935, can be worth far more than their price in silver. Following these tips will help you to sell scrap silver near me like a pro!