Coin & Bullion Guides
Short, practical explainers on what your coins and scrap metal are actually made of, what they are worth at today’s spot price, and how to sell without leaving money on the table. Every guide links to the matching live calculator.
Silver Coins
What Is Junk Silver?
Which everyday US coins are 90% silver, why stackers love them, and how to value a bag by face value.
Which Quarters Are Silver?
The 1964 rule, three quick tests to spot a silver quarter, and the proof-set exceptions that trip people up.
Which Dimes Are Silver?
Every dime from 1964 back is 90% silver. Here is how to spot them and what each one is worth.
90% vs 40% Silver
The Kennedy half dollar straddles both eras. Silver content, how to tell them apart, and which to stack.
Silver War Nickels
The only silver five-cent piece — 35% silver, easy to find in the wild, and identified by one big clue.
Canadian Silver Coins
Sterling before 1920, 80% until the late sixties, and a messy 1967–68 transition. The full date map.
Gold & Scrap
Calculate Scrap Gold Value
Four steps from a drawer of old jewelry to a dollar figure — before any buyer makes you an offer.
Gold Karat Chart
Every karat mark decoded — 417 means 10K, 750 means 18K — plus the plated-and-filled stamps to avoid.
Pre-1933 US Gold Coins
From the $1 gold piece to the Saint-Gaudens double eagle — exact gold content and what melt misses.
Gold Bullion Coins Compared
22K or .9999? One troy ounce either way. How the big bullion coins differ and which to buy.
How to Test Gold
Seven tests ordered by effort, from a fridge magnet to an XRF gun — and the fakes each catches.
Sterling Hallmarks
925, lion passant, EPNS — what the stamps on flatware and jewelry actually mean for melt value.
Copper Penny Value
The humble cent worth more than face — how to sort copper from zinc and what the law allows.
Basics
Calculate Silver Melt Value
One formula values any silver coin. A worked example, an ASW cheat sheet, and the $1-face-value shortcut.
Troy Ounce vs Ounce
Precious metals use a heavier ounce. Mixing up the two units is the most expensive beginner mistake.
What Is Spot Price?
Where the number everyone quotes actually comes from — and why you buy above it and sell below it.