Canadian Silver Coin Melt Value: Purity, Formula, and Table (2026)

Identify Canadian silver coin purities, including the 1967–1968 transition, then calculate melt value with verified weight and a manually supplied price.

Canadian silver coins do not all share one purity. Older issues include sterling and 80% silver; dimes and quarters changed composition during 1967 and 1968. A Silver Maple Leaf is a separate bullion product. Identify the denomination and exact issue before calculating a mixed lot.

The Silver Calculator uses a price you enter manually in USD per troy ounce. Its starting price is a labeled example, not a live quote. All $30 prices and the exchange rate in this guide are hypothetical.

Sort Canadian Coins by Date and Denomination#

This table does not cover every collector or commemorative issue. Later coins bearing a familiar denomination may have separate silver specifications.

The Royal Canadian Mint documents the dime's transition, the quarter's compositions, and 80% half dollars through 1967. NGC's 1967–1968 silver dime specification identifies the 50% issue.

1967 half dollars are not part of the 80%-versus-50% ambiguity for dimes and quarters. Likewise, a 1968 date does not automatically mean a dime or quarter contains no silver.

Handle the 1967–1968 Transition Carefully#

Separate dimes and quarters from halves and dollars. For a 1967 dime or quarter whose composition is unverified, calculate 50% and 80% scenarios and label both as possibilities. Treating every coin as 80% could overstate a 50% coin's silver content by 60%.

For 1968 dimes and quarters, identify whether the coin is the silver or nickel issue before applying a silver purity. Weight and magnetic response can help distinguish the issues, but neither appearance nor a single informal test authenticates a coin.

Use the actual measured weight for a worn coin and a confirmed composition. Do not resolve uncertain transition coins by assigning an average purity or copying a different issue's weight.

Calculate Melt Value From Verified Alloy Weight#

Fine silver troy ounces = Coin alloy grams × Silver purity ÷ 31.1034768
Melt estimate = Fine silver troy ounces × Entered price per troy ounce

The NIST mass conversion table provides the troy-ounce conversion. Ordinary ounces use a different conversion factor.

For a verified 80% quarter weighing 5.83 grams at the example $30 price:

5.83 × 0.80 = 4.664 grams of fine silver
4.664 ÷ 31.1034768 = approximately 0.149951 fine troy ounces
Melt estimate = $4.50, rounded

For 50 such quarters, calculate before rounding the per-coin result: $224.93. Multiplying a rounded $4.50 by 50 gives a slightly different total.

Reference Values for Verified 80% Coins#

These reference weights come from the Royal Canadian Mint's denomination specifications for dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars. Dates indicate the silver issue range, not uninterrupted annual production.

Do not apply these weights to every earlier sterling issue. For example, the Mint lists 2.32 grams for 1908–1910 dimes and 2.33 grams for 1910–1919 issues; its early half-dollar specification is 11.62 grams. Identify the exact issue when dates overlap in a general reference.

The US coin guide covers a different set of weights and purities. The US worn-coin 0.715 fine-ounce-per-face-dollar convention does not apply to Canadian coins.

Silver Maple Leaf: Use the Stated Fine Silver Weight#

The Royal Canadian Mint identifies the one-ounce Silver Maple Leaf as 99.99% silver with one troy ounce of silver.

For that product, use 1 fine troy ounce × entered price. At the hypothetical $30 price, the metal estimate is $30 per coin, or $300 for ten. Do not multiply the stated fine silver ounce by 0.9999 again.

If you instead start from a measured gross alloy weight, the general weight-times-purity formula applies. Keep those two input methods distinct.

Convert Currency and Compare Actual Offers#

You may use a silver price already expressed in CAD per fine troy ounce in the formula by hand. The linked calculator displays USD; it does not perform live currency conversion.

For a USD result:

CAD melt estimate = USD melt estimate × CAD per USD exchange rate

For illustration only, $100 USD at 1.35 CAD per USD becomes $135 CAD. Record both price and exchange-rate timestamps, then compare offers in the same currency.

A buyer may quote above or below a metal estimate depending on the issue, condition, demand, and fees. No fixed 85%–95% dealer payout or guaranteed Maple Leaf premium applies to every sale. Compare net written offers, and check collectible value before selling an old coin solely for metal.