90% Junk Silver

90 Junk Silver is a cheap way to invest in silver bullion. Also known as Constitutional Silver, the products on this page offer some of the cheapest silver on the market. Shop 90 Junk Silver with Hero Bullion, and scroll down for even more information about this product category. 

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90% Junk Silver Coins | $1 Face Value

Our $1 face value bags of 90% Junk Silver Coins is a good way to invest in silver. If you’re investing on a budget, these coins are a fantastic way to start. Each coin in the package is composed of .90 fine silver bullion and can come in a variety of different conditions. When you order this package, you’ll receive a random combination of coins with a total face value of $1. 

Junk 90% Silver Dimes | $1 Face Value

Unlike the product above, our $1 face value package of 90% silver dimes is composed entirely of a single type of coin. When you order this package, you’ll receive ten dimes composed of .90 fine silver bullion each. Together, they make up a face value of one dollar. The silver content these coins contain, however, is worth quite a bit more. For silver stackers, this might be an effective way to collect silver on a budget.

Shop 90% Junk Silver | Hero Bullion!

When we silver bullion, most people tend to think of the expensive, beautiful bullion coins from companies like the United States Mint or the British Royal Mint. We love these products, too. The beautiful intricacy of an American Silver Eagle, for instance, is hard to compete with.

But one of the little-known secrets of the bullion industry is the incredible popularity of 90% junk silver. For decades, collectors have been stocking up on 90% pure silver coins. Why are these coins so valuable to investors, and why haven’t many new collectors heard about 90% junk silver? 

Hero Bullion offers a wide variety of options for collectors looking to boost their collection with 90% junk silver. This form of silver is also called Constitutional silver, 90 junk silver, or just junk silver.

Constitutional silver is a great way to access more silver without breaking the bank by paying the expensive premiums often tacked onto the cost of popular silver bullion products. 

On this page, we’re briefing readers on everything they need to know about 90% Constitutional and Junk Silver. The history, benefits, and downsides of using 90% junk silver for bullion investment are some of our main focal points. Read on to learn some of the most important facts about one of the bullion industry’s best-kept secrets, 90% junk silver. 

What is 90% Junk Silver? 

You’ll often hear people refer to junk silver as Constitutional Silver. There’s a reason for this, and we’ll talk more about it when we discuss the history of junk silver as a bullion product. For now, you need to know that junk silver is any silver not valued for its collectability or extremely high purity.

Junk silver can come in a number of different purity levels: 35%, 40%, and 90% silver are the most popular variations you’ll see advertised. Like with many of the products we review, junk silver of all purity levels can offer unique benefits to your portfolio. 

This page is concerned with 90% junk silver, which is generally considered the highest purity available for junk silver products. Junk silver with 90% purity often comes in the form of old United States silver coins.

For a period of time, the United States minted all of its half-dollars, dimes, and quarter-dollars using 90% pure silver. We aren’t quite so lucky now; quarter-dollars circulated in 2022 are minted using a mixture of copper and nickel.

By buying older U.S. coins, consumers can gain access to high-purity silver without paying the premiums required for bullion (.999) silver pieces. In addition to the high silver content and the low premium cost, consumers often note that older U.S. coins are designed with an exceptional level of detail.

For some collectors, junk silver carries its own kind of intangible collectable value, making a large variety of 90% junk silver even more important to their portfolios! 

History of Junk Silver

Believe it or not, U.S. coins, including the dime, the half-dollar, and the quarter-dollar, were minted using real silver. While the coins circulated by the U.S. Mint today might look silver in color, they’re actually struck using a mixture of copper and nickel.

The big change took place in 1965, when Congress signed the Coinage Act of 1965 into law. The law was enacted to respond to coin shortages; the release of the Kennedy Half Dollar and demand for various 90% silver coins had led to a massive problem for the United States Mint. 

To alleviate these shortages, the 1965 law eliminated all silver from U.S. coins. The only exception for this silver ban was the half dollar, which remained 90% silver until the subsequent 1970 Coinage Act removed silver from this coin as well. 

While fans of silver coins might have been sad to see their favorite constitutional pieces become less valuable, the good news is that 90% junk silver coins had been in circulation for many years before the Coinage Act of 1965 fundamentally altered their composition and value.

This means that today’s consumers can purchase large quantities of circulated (or uncirculated!) silver junk coins featuring the original 90% silver purity. 

Demand for these coins has increased over the years, and some bullion collectors insist that constitutional junk silver remains one of the most cost effective ways to invest directly into the value of silver. 

What would the bullion industry look like if Congress had never eliminated 90% silver coins from the U.S. Mint’s offerings? We may never know the answer to this question.

One thing we do know, however, is that the vast number of 90% Junk Silver coins from the early 20th century offer contemporary investors the opportunity to put their money directly into silver without handing over hundreds of dollars for bullion silver pieces.

Types of 90% Junk Silver

90 percent junk silver coins are relatively easy to find and purchase, thanks to the great quantity of these coins that were minted in the early days of the U.S. Mint. Almost all of the junk silver coins we offer at 90% purity are legacy U.S. coins minted with the original purity stipulated by the United States Mint.

Consumers who are interested in junk coins with a lower silver purity should consider taking a look at some of the less pure legacy coins from around the world. 

In this section, we’ll cover some of the main characteristics of 90 junk silver for sale online. Constitutional silver coins, variety bags, and junk silver of various conditions are all available on the Hero Bullion site and can be shipped anywhere in the world. 

Constitutional Silver Coins 

The bad news for fans of global coinage is that 90 junk coins are almost exclusively relegated to the constitutional silver coin category. 90 silver coins for sale on the Hero Bullion website are all from the early period of coinage in the United States.

During the years prior to 1965, the U.S. Mint distributed a number of coins featuring 90% pure silver bullion. Designs vary greatly from coin to coin, but they were all produced to be distributed as currency for a growing United States economy. 

If you choose to buy junk silver at 90% purity, you should note that most of these coins will feature imagery related to the United States on both the obverse and the reverse. The Kennedy half dollar, early versions of the quarter dollar, and a number of additional coins produced before 1965 are considered 90 constitutional junk silver. 

The first step for consumers who want to buy junk silver online is to decide which types of coins you’re interested in. Some collectors prefer specific coins – such as the classic 90% silver Kennedy half dollar. But other investors may be looking for a larger variety and a higher quantity in their silver junk coinage. 

Variety Bags

If you either don’t care about the design of your junk silver coins or want the highest degree of variety possible, you might consider investing in a variety bag of 90% junk silver coins.

Hero Bullion offers a $100 face value bag of junk 90% silver coins. Investors who are interested in maximizing the amount of pure silver they get for their money tend to love deals like this one. 

Some mints also sell different versions of the variety bag. Occasionally, collectors who love to sort through historical coins may order these bags to see what types of coins they get.

Outside of the 90% silver category, consumers enamored with the thrill of sorting coins might consider buying ‘unchecked’ bags of historical coins, although we often have a few gripes with the legitimacy of the unchecked coin category. 

Generally, variety bags are sold with a high quantity of coins. In our case, Hero Bullion sells a face value total of $100, meaning that there might be up to four-hundred coins in every order.

This can get expensive, but the high quantity of coins can also cut down on premium costs considerably and is worth looking into for any investor who wants to maximize the silver they get for their money. 

Junk Silver Conditions 

The condition of your 90 junk silver coins is another major consideration. While most silver coins have been circulated considerably by now, it’s still possible to purchase 90 constitutional silver coins online in BU (Brilliant Uncirculated) condition. Hero Bullion offers a solid variety of BU condition 90 junk silver coins for purchase. 

We highly recommend that consumers verify the condition of their 90 junk coins before making a purchase. After all, there’s nothing worse than expecting a beautiful, unscuffed coin and then realizing that you purchased a circulated variety bag of junk silver.

While constitutional junk silver coins of all conditions are valuable due to their 90% silver content, collectors who anticipate a future value appreciation or collectable value hike should carefully inspect their coins to verify that they are delivered in the correct condition. 

Pros and Cons of Buying 90 Junk Silver

If it isn’t already clear, we’re a pretty big fan of 90 junk silver. In addition to providing quite a bit of pure silver for a low premium cost, junk silver tends to maintain its value shockingly well over time. As BU constitutional 90 junk silver coins become harder and harder to find, their value might increase considerably. 

However, there are pros and cons to everything within the silver investment industry. In the following subsections, we’ll discuss the reasons why so many investors love 90 junk silver, as well as a couple reasons why some collectors stay away from this product type. 

Advantages of 90 Junk Silver

The advantages of buying 90 junk silver online have quite a bit to do with the low premium cost associated with this commodity. Here are some of the reasons why 90 junk silver coins remain a popular investment item for bullion collectors: 

Low Premiums

This is the big one. Because circulated 90 junk silver offers little collectable value, buying junk silver coins in bulk can help consumers invest in as much physical silver as possible. While the coin itself may not appreciate in value, its silver content means that an increase in the price of silver will also help the value of each coin rise.

The only caveat to this advantage comes from the fact that some 90 junk silver coins are sold in BU condition. These coins may have a slightly higher premium over spot, but they still won’t cost quite as much as a collectible bullion coin. 

Legal Tender

Even though the U.S. Mint hasn’t produced 90% pure silver coins in over sixty years, these coins remain legal tender and can be exchanged for goods and services.

While we don’t anticipate that you’ll ever want to spend your expensive 90 silver Kennedy half dollar on a soda, some consumers like that these coins remain a usable legal tender and provide an alternative to relying on the value of the U.S. Dollar. 

Disadvantages of 90% Junk Silver

We tend to think that there is one big disadvantage of buying 90% junk silver. While constitutional junk silver coins are a good way to invest in silver without spending too much money, the coins are unlikely to carry very much collectable value.

Additionally, calculating the precise silver content of 90% junk silver can be difficult, especially when compared to the simplicity of tracking silver purity in a bullion piece like a coin or bar. 

Here are two main downsides to using 90% junk silver to invest in the precious metal: 

Little or No Collectable Value

Some consumers purchase bullion silver coins with the hope that the coin itself will become rarer and more valuable over time. While this can be the case with certain 90 silver junk coins, most of these circulated coins will only ever be worth their value in silver. 

Storage / Tracking Difficulties

It can be tough to track the amount of physical silver you own if most of your stockpile is in junk silver coins. While circulated 90% silver coins’ silver content is generally standardized at .715 ounces per $1 unit, calculating the precise amount of silver in a large collection might be a taxing process. It’s certainly much simpler to count the number of .999 pure silver bullion coins you own!

Final Thoughts: Investing in 90% Junk Silver

For people who want to invest in pure silver without spending thousands of dollars on expensive collectible coins, 90% junk silver is one of bullion’s best-kept secrets. Since the U.S. Mint only banned silver in its coins in 1965, there are millions of junk silver coins circulating all over the country. Whether you choose to buy a small batch of a specific junk silver coin or a large variety of different coins, Hero Bullion has you covered. 

As always, we ship our coins with great care to prevent any kind of damage. We’re always working to protect your investments.