how much is the silver in a dime worth

[EllaDella]

Ah, a fantastic question that separates the couch-cushion change from a tiny silver treasure! Before you get too excited about that dime burning a hole in your pocket, you need to play detective and check its date.

You see, there was a great schism in the world of dimes. Any dime minted in 1964 or earlier is the real deal, a little celebrity made of 90% silver. Dimes minted from 1965 to the present day are mostly copper and nickel, essentially clad imposters with no precious metal to their name. They're worth exactly ten cents, and not a penny more.

For those special, silver-haired dimes from the good old days (pre-1965), each one contains precisely 0.0723 troy ounces of actual silver. So, how much is that worth? Its value is a fickle friend, changing daily with the whims of the commodities market. To find its "melt value," you simply multiply that 0.0723 troy ounces by the current spot price of silver.

In short, if your dime is a modern one, it’s worth ten cents. But if it’s a vintage model from 1964 or earlier, you're holding a piece of silver that's worth whatever the market says it is that day, which is almost certainly more than ten cents. Go on, check your change jar. You might just have a tiny silver fortune rattling around in there.