Junk silver or not.

[Z00]

A question has been nagging me regarding some of the pricing done on the BIN threads on this forum.

"JUNK" silver is supposed to be coins that are of such a poor quality that they have no numismatic value. Yet mercury dimes are fairly consistently priced higher than roosies. They are more worn, so the silver content is on average less. If they have no collectible value, what justifies their being priced with a higher premium? At that point, with an average lower silver melt value, shouldn't they be priced lower?

[beauanderos]

A question has been nagging me regarding some of the pricing done on the BIN threads on this forum.

"JUNK" silver is supposed to be coins that are of such a poor quality that they have no numismatic value.

Junk is a misnomer if you are using it strictly in this sense. If that were the case, you could only refer to slicks as junk silver, whereas ALL 90% silver coins are widely referred to as junk silver. Not sure how the name got started, but we're stuck with it. All older coins, regardless of weight, are numies to someone, everyone starts with an album that they fill with "junk" and then, budget affording, upgrade from there. Most rolls of Walkers or Mercs sold by long-standing members have had the culls (bad thins) weeded out. Bullion wise? You're slightly better off buying a roll of rosies at avg wt 123.6 grams (.715) than an avg wt roll of mercs (121.8), but the difference you spend... or "overspend" depending upon your point of view, is worth it to some who view these earlier denominations as unsurpassed in design beauty, compared to newer drab types. One final point... when the day arrives that counterfeits inundate the markets, it might prove more likely that the Chinese would focus on full wt modern coins rather than going to all the effort to reproduce worn versions of older types (although that remains to be seen )

[Z00]

Since I only buy for silver content, I will stick with the less worn roosies. Every once in a while I buy a roll and sometimes "someone" (hint, hint ) has a smaller lot available with a low shipping.

[beauanderos]

Since alot of the mercs and Walkers have been forever lost to smelters there is also a premium attached to them regarding scarcity.

[Engineer]

Since I only buy for silver content, I will stick with the less worn roosies.

Roosies sound great for your goal, but semi-numismatic coins like mercs serve a purpose too. The recent story of $3 mercs at a flea market is an excellent example. People will happily pay that much for a merc, but very few would be interested in roosies at the same price point.

Since alot of the mercs and Walkers have been forever lost to smelters there is also a premium attached to them regarding scarcity.

Agreed. In circulation I find at least 50 roosies for every merc, and nice condition pre-depression mercs are rare as hen's teeth.