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How to Make Money With Silver Half Dollars

If you own silver half-dollars, consider yourself fortunate. Silver halves such as the Seated Liberty, Barber, Walking Liberty, Franklin or the 1964 Kennedy are highly collectible. None are in active circulation, and many were melted in 1980, when the price of silver spiked to an all-time high. If the coins you own have been graded and encapsulated by either the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation or Professional Coin Grading Service, depending on their Sheldon Scale grade, mint mark and rarity, their "Red Book" catalog value may be in the four-figure price range. Of course, the only way to make money with your coins is to sell them.

Things You'll Need

Access to coin dealers actively purchasing silver half-dollars
Quantity of U.S. minted, 90 percent silver content, half-dollar coins
Current copy of "The Official Red Book: A Guidebook to United States Coins"
Knowledge of the Sheldon coin grading scale

Instructions

- 1
  Using your coin catalog, determine the potential value of your silver halves. This task will be much easier if your coins have been professionally graded. If your coins are "raw," meaning never graded and loose, hold them by the reeded edge. The oil from your hands can damage or tarnish the silver.
- 2
  Visit any auction websites selling silver half-dollars. The prices may provide you with valuable data to help determine which, if not all, of the coins you decide to sell.
- 3
  Contact several silver coin buyers. Explain that you wish to sell a quantity of 90 percent silver half-dollar coins. If your coins have been graded and encapsulated, convey this information to the dealer.
- 4
  Request a buy price quote from the dealer(s). If they ask, send, email or fax images of the coins to them.
- 5
  Wait for a response and buy price bid from all of the dealers you contact.
- 6
  Compare the price quotations from each of the dealers and select the highest.
- 7
  Ship, mail or deliver your coins and receive your money. If you reside in a large metropolitan area with numerous local coin dealers, you may be able to dispose of your coins in a single day.

Coin Collecting