The US 2 Billion Ounce Junk Silver Reserve
During World War II the US created billions of extra silver coins, from 1941/1942 - 1945 the US produced 1.5 billion mercury dimes out of a total production run of 2.67 billion over 32 years. Between 1942 and 1945 the US also produced 600 million Washington quarters and 300 million Walking Liberty halves (out of a total production of 485 million Walking Liberties over 32 years). That is exactly 150 million face value 90% silver dimes, 150 million face value 90% silver quarters, and 150 million face value 90% silver half dollars produced in only 4 years. In addition, the US produced 870 million 35% silver nickels during the war that had 1.75 grams of silver in each nickel, making them exchangeable with 90% silver dimes at a rate of 9 nickels for every 7 dimes because 90% silver Barber, Mercury, and Roosevelt dimes produced between 1892 and 1964 weigh 2.5 grams and have 2.25 grams of silver in each coin.
In total the US sequestered over 357 million troy ounces or over 10,000 metric tons of silver into 90% silver US coins during the 4 years of World War 2. While the Germans and Japanese buried their gold in tunnels, the US kept its gold in Fort Knox, but did hide its silver with the American people in the form of 10,000 metric tons of silver coins.
Then in 1964 in a single year the US dumped over 550 million troy ounces or over 15,592 metric tons of silver into 2.46 billion dimes, 1.26 billion quarters, and 429 million of the new Kennedy 90% half dollars. That is almost as many half dollar coins as were produced over the entire 32 year run of the Walking Liberty halves from 1916 - 1947 (485 million), and the entire 16 year production run of the Ben Franklin halves from 1948 - 1963 (465 million), and about as much silver as was used to make all Barber dimes, quarters, and half dollars combined (245 million face). The Roosevelt 90% silver dimes were produced for 19 years from 1946 through 1964, with 2.3 billion dimes being produced in 1964 alone out of 6.44 billion total, and the Washington quarter was produced for 33 years in 90% silver from 1932 through 1964, with 1.26 billion 90% quarters being produced in 1964 alone out of 3.77 billion total.
The US also produced 300,000 90% silver Peace dollars in 1964, but they were all melted after May of 1965 because the US Coinage Act of 1965 eliminated silver from dimes and quarters, lowered the silver content of half dollars to 40%, banned the production of 90% silver dollars, and ended the guarantee that silver certificates could be traded for silver dollar coins, leaving only Federal Reserve fiat bills, fiat base-metal coins and 40% Kennedy half dollars from 1965 - 1970. A total of 850 million 40% Kennedys were produced, containing 123 million more troy ounces of silver, pushing the totals for constitutional "junk" silver to over 2 billion troy ounces from 1892 - 1970. Then in 1970 Congress authorized the sale of the remaining nearly 3 million older silver Morgan and Peace dollars that were originally held in the Treasury to pay off silver certificates. They were sold to collectors for a premium because they had high numismatic value, which got rid of the last of the remaining 90% silver coins that the US had in stock.
Both 90% Morgan and Peace dollars weigh 26.73 grams and contain 24.057 grams of silver. Because they were only produced around 100 to 150 years ago most are collectable, but there were 657 million Morgans made, and while 270 million were melted and sold to the British to save their banks from collapsing after 1918, over 190 million Peace dollars were made to replace them, totalling 577 million Morgan and Peace dollars, so they may show up in trade if they are heavily worn or culls. From 1892 through 1964 a "face" dollar of 90% silver dimes, quarters and half dollars weighed 25 grams, so each half weighed 12.5 grams, each quarter weighed 6.25 grams, and each dime weighed 2.5 grams. The 40% silver Kennedys produced from 1965 - 1970 were reduced to 11.5 grams, while the base metal quarters produced in 1965 and after weighed 5.67 grams, and the base metal dimes produced in 1965 and after weighed 2.27 grams.
Clearly the US had at least a few decades worth of silver stockpiled in 1963, so what was the real reason that we stopped making silver coins and started making fiat money instead of real, constitutionally defined money? If you look it up today they claim that there was a silver shortage and a coin shortage. Clearly there was no silver shortage, but there may have been an actual coin shortage.
The claim is that throughout the early 1960s after the Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping seasons the Federal Reserve didn't receive back almost any coins from the retailers or the banks. But the decision was clearly made in 1963 to dump all of the US silver reserves into silver coins and then get out of the silver business, long before the Coinage Act of 1965. They killed Kennedy, Johnson took over in November of 1963, and then over 15,000 metric tons of silver were dumped into constitutional 90% silver coins throughout 1964, and then only after that the Coinage Act of 1965 was passed. So what was the real reason that the United States stopped making 90% silver coins? At this point, Wikipedia says that there are no countries on the planet that still use real silver coins as money, so this didn't just happen in America, this appears to have been some sort of a coordinated international conspiracy.
In the meantime, the US is still sitting on billions of troy ounces of silver coins in the form of 90% "junk" silver, with almost a billion troy ounces of silver turned into US coins from 1942 through 1945 & 1964 in the form of 90% silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars, which is the generally agreed upon preferred form of silver for any post apocalyptic or, "shit hits the fan," scenario by most preppers in America, due to the fact that there are almost no fakes of junk silver. There are fakes produced in China for almost all silver rounds and all government silver 1 ounce coins, as well as all historic US Morgan and Peace dollars, but unless it is being sold for over junk prices because it is supposed to be a key date, junk silver generally has no fakes because it is worth only a little over the spot price of silver (though a few 1964 fake Kennedys have been found, making them the least desirable of the 90% junk silver coins, right after the 40% Kennedys that in general no one ever wants).
One ounce .999 silver coins and rounds are far less desirable in a post-apocalyptic scenario, because it is already very difficult to tell the difference between real and fake .999 silver coins and rounds now that we have access to all of the technologies that we currently have. Most pure silver coins and even bars have been faked, and it requires a scale, a strong magnet, a ping test, and sometimes even calculating the specific density with water displacement like Archimedes to tell a real from a fake silver coin or round, making almost all 1 ounce silver coins and privately minted rounds highly suspect for barter or trade.
But 90% junk silver coins are not just for preppers and silver stackers, starting with Utah in 2011 states started making constitutional silver and gold coins legal tender again. Throughout the mid-century the Walking Liberty and then Franklin half dollars were used by US banks as the main way to exchange money between different banks or branches (in armored cars), so it makes sense that they've come back into use as the preferred way to exchange money between individuals, stores, and banks in states that have bullion as legal tender, along with 90% quarters and dimes. As of 2023 five states have already made gold and silver legal tender and 23 other states are considering legislation to do the same, while 41 states have eliminated all sales tax for the purchase of gold and silver bullion and coins.
As BRICS moves to undermine the dollar from the outside, Americans are protecting themselves by also undermining the dollar from the inside by making old silver 90% coins legal tender again as silver bullion, along with common silver buffalo rounds, and gold coins and bullion for larger purchases, that way if the dollar collapses we still have some way to do business.
Between 1892 and 1964 the US minted a total of 2 billion troy ounces of silver as dimes, quarters, half dollars, and war nickels, with 1 billion troy ounces or half being made into coins just in the 5 years of 1942 - 1945 & 1964. I think this was to provide a backup currency in case the petrodollar and fiat currency failed for some reason. Two billion troy ounces of silver in the form of "junk" silver is currently worth 46 billion dollars at 23 dollars an ounce, and as a strategic national reserve totals 56,700 metric tons of silver already out of the ground, while the US is still estimated to have another 23,000 metric tons of silver in "reserve," which means still in the ground when it comes to silver.
With four large mines running full-time the US can only produce around 1,000 metric tons of silver a year, but we consume over 6,000 metric tons a year as a nation. Americans buy over 2,000 metric tons of silver every year just as investments (mostly in the form of silver bars), plus US industry uses over 1,500 metric tons of silver every year, mostly in disposable 1 time use applications. At this point silver is not recycled, in fact, in many cases silver is just the byproduct of some other mining operation for another more valuable mineral.
Thankfully Mexico produces 6,000 metric tons of silver a year all on its own, and the global production of silver totals around 25,000 metric tons a year. But Mexico's in-ground silver reserves are only estimated to be 37,000 metric tons, so doesn't that mean that Mexico will run out of silver within 6 years at their current pace of mining? The US has 23,000 metric tons of silver reserves (still in the ground), but by mining 1,000 metric tons a year doesn't that mean that the US will also run out of silver in 23 years? And even though 25,000 metric tons of silver are produced globally each year, the US geological survey says that there are around 530,000 metric tons of silver still left underground on earth, so doesn't that mean that the entire world will run out of silver within the next 20 years at the current pace of mining?
By contrast, the entire global production of gold is only a little over 3,000 metric tons a year, and people actively try to mine gold. In 2022, gold for jewelry making totalled 2,192 metric tons while gold for investments totalled 1,126.7 metric tons, and only 10% is ever used in industry. Unlike silver, gold is almost always recycled and reused, both from jewelry and from industry. The US consumes over 250 metric tons of gold per year, and the US strategic gold reserves total 8,100 metric tons of actual gold bullion. It is that gold that virtually props up the entire US monetary system, even though we officially went off the gold standard years ago.
After buying gold all throughout 2022 and 2023 and after adding some more countries to their group, by August of 2023 the 11 BRICS countries had 6,600 metric tons of gold between them, and it appears that when they get another 1,500 metric tons of gold they will feel equal to the US dollar and will launch the planned BRICS gold-backed currency. By the time BRICS becomes a reality over 60% of the world will begin using the new currency.
What will BRICS new gold standard do to the world? Will it force, encourage, or flat out establish a more traditional silver to gold ratio around 15:1 or 16:1, or establish it higher at 100:1? With the industrial costs of production for silver between $4 and $11 an ounce, the realistic price floor for silver is currently around $15, while the industrial cost of production for gold is around $800 to $1,100 an ounce, so a realistic price floor for gold is around 1,500 an ounce, indicating that an argument can be made that the silver to gold ratio should be established at 100:1 based purely on the current industrial costs of production including all variables like corporate overhead, research and exploration.
Will BRICS countries start producing silver coins again? But instead of their own currency, this time internationally fungible BRICS silver coins that represent the gold in reserves? Or will they ignore silver entirely and issue paper money, base metal coins, and credit cards backed only by gold?
The following are the 90% silver US coins minted between 1892 and 1964 that are commonly called, "junk," or more accurately, "constitutional" silver that were transformed back into legal currency because of their silver content: the Barber, Mercury and Roosevelt dimes, the Barber, Standing Liberty and Washington quarters, the Barber, Walking Liberty, Franklin and 1964 Kennedy half dollars, and heavily worn Morgan and Peace dollars. The US also made coins below 90%, like the 35% "war" nickels produced from 1942 - 1945, the 40% Kennedys produced from 1965 - 1970, the 40% Eisenhower dollars produced at the San Francisco mint from 1971 - 1974, and the bicentennial Eisenhower dollar, bicentennial Kennedy half dollar, and bicentennial Washington quarter dollars that were also produced in 40% silver at the San Francisco mint. These are all now legal currency again in some states, now based on their silver value, where a shop owner that participates will take all US minted silver coins as payment. All but the 35% nickels, the 40% coins made after 1964, and culled 90% Morgan and Peace dollars can be counted as 25 grams per face dollar, and can easily be converted by multiplying times .715 to determine the troy ounces at the current silver spot price.
10 different kinds of US silver coins reaffirmed as legal tender along with silver and gold bullion, modern US silver eagles, and privately minted rounds (including weight and silver content):
35% war nickels weigh 5 grams & contain 1.75 grams of silver
90% dimes weigh 2.5 grams & contain 2.25 grams of silver
40% San Francisco bicentennial Washington quarters weigh 5.75 grams & contain 2.3 grams of silver
40% Kennedys weigh 11.5 grams & contain 4.6 grams of silver
90% quarters weigh 6.25 grams & contain 5.625 grams of silver
40% San Francisco Eisenhower silver dollars weigh 24.59 grams & contain 9.83 grams of silver
90% halves weigh 12.5 grams & contain 11.25 grams of silver
90% dollars weigh 26.73 grams & contain 24 grams of silver
.999 & .9999 1 oz silver rounds and coins weigh 31.1 grams
24K Gold bullion, coins, and fractional gold, sometimes including Goldbacks.
The most desirable 90% silver coins for preppers can be determined at a glance, requiring no investigation to read the date or mintmark, so that eliminates the Roosevelt dimes, Washington quarters, 40% Kennedys and 40% Eisenhowers. Being over 100 years old, most Barber dimes, quarters, and halves are not in junk silver collections in the first place unless they are slicks, so they are not the ideal junk silver. And because there are nearly 12 times as many Mercury dimes as Standing Liberty quarters, Mercury dimes are much easier to come by and are fairly common for preppers. But silver stackers and most especially vendors in the states that now use constitutional silver as money will use all 90% silver US coins, all 40% US coins, and even the 35% war nickels. That totals over 2 billion troy ounces or 56,700 metric tons of constitutional silver coins for stacking, for prepping, and for spending as legal tender or bullion in some states in America.
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