US Coin Composition Timeline
When each coin's metal content changed, and why — the dates that decide whether a handful of change is worth sorting.
Drag to any year to see what each denomination was made of, and which ones were worth keeping.
The whole timeline
1964 is the date to remember
Dimes and quarters lost their silver after 1964. The exception that catches people out is the half dollar, which kept 40% silver until 1970 — so a Kennedy half dated 1965 through 1970 looks entirely modern and is not. Nothing circulating after 1970 contains any silver at all.
The other silver most people walk past is the war nickel. From late 1942 to 1945, nickels were 35% silver, and they are identified by a large mint mark sitting above Monticello — the only US nickels marked that way, and the first US coin ever to carry a P mint mark.
Every composition
| Denomination | Years | Composition | Mass | How to tell |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cent | 1864–1942 | 95% copper bronze | 3.11 g | Heavier and redder than a modern cent. Reads differently on a detector from the zinc ones. |
| Cent | 1943–1943 | Zinc-coated steel | 2.7 g | The only magnetic US cent. If it sticks to a magnet it is a 1943 — and a 1943 that does NOT stick is worth having examined properly. |
| Cent | 1944–1982 | 95% copper | 3.11 g | Still 3.11 g. A cent that weighs 3.1 rather than 2.5 is pre-1983, whatever the date says. |
| Cent | 1983–now | 97.5% zinc, copper plated | 2.5 g | Lighter, and it corrodes badly in the ground — a zinc cent that has been buried a while is often unrecognisable. |
| Nickel | 1866–1942 | 75% copper, 25% nickel | 5 g | Nothing above Monticello. Any mint mark sits to the right of the building, small, and it is not always there at all. |
| Nickel | 1942–1945 | 56% copper, 35% silver, 9% manganese | 5 g | Large mint mark ABOVE Monticello, including a P — the first US coin ever to carry a P mint mark. That mark is the whole identification. |
| Nickel | 1946–now | 75% copper, 25% nickel | 5 g | Back to the standard alloy. Mint mark moved and shrank. |
| Dime | 1892–1964 | 90% silver | 2.5 g | Solid silver edge. A clad dime shows a copper stripe on the rim and a silver one does not. |
| Dime | 1965–now | Copper-nickel clad | 2.27 g | Copper stripe visible on the edge, and slightly lighter. |
| Quarter | 1892–1964 | 90% silver | 6.25 g | Same edge test. Also noticeably heavier than a clad quarter. |
| Quarter | 1965–now | Copper-nickel clad | 5.67 g | Copper stripe on the edge, and about half a gram lighter than a silver one — enough to feel in a handful. |
| Half dollar | 1892–1964 | 90% silver | 12.5 g | The 1964 Kennedy is the last of them, and it was hoarded immediately. |
| Half dollar | 1965–1970 | 40% silver clad | 11.5 g | Looks like a modern half and is not. Any Kennedy dated 1965 to 1970 is worth checking. |
| Half dollar | 1971–now | Copper-nickel clad | 11.34 g | No silver at all from 1971 onward in circulating strikes. |
Things worth knowing
- Melt value is what the metal is worth, not what anyone will pay you. A refiner takes a cut, a pawn shop takes a larger one, and a collectable coin is frequently worth several times its metal.
- US circulating silver ends in 1964 for dimes and quarters. Half dollars kept 40% silver until 1970, which is the exception that catches people out.
- War nickels — late 1942 through 1945 — are 35% silver and are identified by a large mint mark ABOVE Monticello. It was the first US coin to carry a P mint mark, and that mark is the entire identification.
- A cent weighing 3.1 g is copper and one weighing 2.5 g is zinc, whatever the date says. The changeover happened mid-1982, so 1982 cents exist in both compositions.
- The 1943 steel cent is the only magnetic US cent. A 1943 that does not stick to a magnet is worth having looked at by somebody who knows what they are doing.
- Junk silver is quoted per dollar of face value: 0.715 troy ounces per dollar for circulated 90% coin. Struck weight is 0.7234, and the difference is the wear from actually being spent.
- Troy ounces are not ordinary ounces. A troy ounce is 31.10 grams against 28.35 for an avoirdupois one, and mixing them up overstates a holding by about ten per cent.
How to use
- Find the denomination you are checking.
- Read the composition by date range.
- Check the coins you have against the cutoff years.
- Weigh a doubtful coin — composition changes weight.
Frequently asked questions
Why did coins stop containing silver?
Because the metal became worth more than the coin's face value, which makes hoarding and melting rational and drives coins out of circulation. The United States removed silver from dimes and quarters after 1964 for exactly this reason, and other countries made the same change at their own thresholds.
Which US coins contain silver?
Dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 and earlier are 90 per cent silver. Half dollars from 1965 to 1970 are 40 per cent. Wartime nickels from 1942 to 1945 contain 35 per cent silver, which surprises people who assume nickels never did.
What happened to the cent?
Its composition changed in 1982 from 95 per cent copper to copper-plated zinc, and both were struck that year — so 1982 cents come in both. They can be told apart by weight, since the copper version is measurably heavier.
Is it worth sorting change for these?
Silver coins genuinely are, where they still turn up, though they have largely been removed from circulation by decades of searching. Copper cents are worth more than face value as metal and cannot legally be melted in the US, which limits what that is worth in practice.
Why is Gresham's law relevant here?
Because it describes exactly what happened: when two coins of the same face value differ in metal content, the more valuable one is hoarded and the less valuable one circulates. Bad money drives out good, which is why silver coins vanished from tills within a few years.
Does a coin's condition matter more than its metal?
Often, and it is worth checking before treating anything as bullion. A common coin in exceptional condition, or one with a rare date or mint mark, can be worth far more to a collector than its metal — and that value does not survive being melted.
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