What Year Did U.S. Coins Stop Being Silver?

For much of U.S. history, the coinage in circulation contained precious metals, with dimes, quarters, and half dollars primarily composed of silver. This made silver a common feature of American commerce for generations. Understanding when and why this changed is important for historical and financial knowledge.

The Coinage Act of 1965

By the early 1960s, rising silver prices caused the market value of silver to exceed the face value of coins. This led to widespread hoarding of dimes, quarters, and half dollars, creating a significant shortage of circulating coins. To address this crisis, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Coinage Act of 1965 into law on July 23, 1965.

The Act was designed to stabilize the nation’s coinage system by authorizing a change in coin composition for most denominations. Its intent was to reduce dependence on silver, which was becoming scarce and expensive for coin production. This legislative action moved the U.S. away from silver in its general circulation coinage.

Transition of Dimes and Quarters

The Coinage Act of 1965 eliminated silver from dimes and quarters. Starting in 1965, these coins transitioned from 90% silver and 10% copper to a new “clad” composition. Clad coins are made of multiple layers of metal, similar to a sandwich. For dimes and quarters, this meant a core of pure copper bonded between outer layers of a copper-nickel alloy.

This new composition resulted in a coin that was 75% copper and 25% nickel for the outer layers, with a pure copper core. Any U.S. dime or quarter dated 1965 or later would not contain silver, marking a clear break from nearly two centuries of silver coinage. Visually, this clad composition often reveals a distinct copper stripe along the coin’s edge, a feature absent in their solid silver predecessors.

Evolution of Half Dollars

The half dollar experienced a distinct and phased transition regarding its silver content. While dimes and quarters became silver-free in 1965, the Kennedy half dollar maintained some silver until 1970. From 1965 through 1970, half dollars were minted with a reduced silver content of 40%. This was a clad coin, resulting in an overall 40% silver composition.

This intermediate stage reflected a compromise, acknowledging rising silver costs and public sentiment for the Kennedy half dollar. As silver prices continued to climb, silver was entirely eliminated from the half dollar by 1971. From 1971 onward, half dollars became copper-nickel clad, aligning their composition with dimes and quarters.

Other Denominations

Beyond dimes, quarters, and half dollars, other U.S. coin denominations had different histories concerning silver. Pennies, or one-cent pieces, have not contained silver in their standard circulating issues. Their composition has varied, primarily consisting of copper and later copper-plated zinc.

Nickels, or five-cent pieces, were primarily composed of copper and nickel long before the 1965 Coinage Act. An exception occurred during World War II (1942-1945), when nickels contained 35% silver due to wartime strategic metal needs. Circulating dollar coins issued after 1965, such as the Eisenhower, Susan B. Anthony, and Sacagawea dollars, were produced without silver content, though some Eisenhower dollars contained 40% silver in special collector’s editions.