Letter Re: Advice on Buying Silver Dollars for Barter

Jim,
In a recent SurvivalBlog post, you mentioned buying pre-1965 silver coins of the dime, quarter and half dollar type. What about silver dollars? My family and I are buying junk silver and including the silver Peace and Morgan dollars in our purchases. Should we concentrate on the smaller denominations? – Bill in KS

JWR Replies: Unfortunately, the premium on silver dollars is considerably higher than on the smaller denomination coins. When four quarters ($1) would cost you $11 (11 times face value) a 1921 Morgan (the most common date) silver dollar in well-worn condition will cost you at least $13. This is because even rough silver dollars are used for some jewelry. So if your goal is accumulating silver for bartering, then I recommend that you concentrate on buying the smaller denominations.