Always be collecting and buying pre 64 US and any silver coins. Pay junk value not numismatic. For pre 64 dimes quarters and halve dollars that factor is about 11.5 x face value, ie one silver dime is worth $1.15. For silver dollars the ratio is 12.3 X, it contains a little higher percent silver. Figure the % out for the foreign silver coins. No coins in circulation around the world contain any silver now.

Go to this site for a calculator:

http://www.coinflation.com/silver_coin_values.html

For currently circulated coins the best value is the US nickel. It is worth $.05 US. However it does contain $.034 melt value of copper and nickel. A few years ago it was worth well over .05 melt value and will again if hyperinflation hits. It hyperinflation does not come it is still worth a nickel, really safe investment. Buy a few $1000 worth.

Using the latest metal prices and the specifications above, these are the numbers required to calculate melt value:

$2.6699

copper price / pound on Jul 14, 2017.
.75
=
copper %
$4.3133
=
nickel price / pound on Jul 14, 2017.
.25
=
nickel %
5.00
=
total weight in grams
.00220462262
=
pound/gram conversion factor (see note directly below)

The CME uses pounds to price these metals, that means we need to multiply the metal price by .00220462262 to make the conversion to grams.

1. Calculate 75% copper value :

   (2.6699 × .00220462262 × 5.00 × .75) = $0.0220726

1. Calculate 25% nickel value :

   (4.3133 × .00220462262 × 5.00 × .25) = $0.0118863

1. Add the two together :

   $0.0220726 + $0.0118863 = $0.0339589

$0.0339589 is the melt value for the 1946-2014 nickel on July 14, 2017.

The pre 1982 penny also has higher value than $.01. Over 2 cents to be exact! However you will manually have the sort through to find the more valuable pennies.

$2.6699 =copper price / pound on Jul 14, 2017.
.95 =copper %

$1.2629 =zinc price / pound on Jul 14, 2017.
.05 =zinc %
3.11 =total weight in grams

.00220462262 =pound/gram conversion factor (see note directly below)

The CME uses pounds to price these metals, that means we need to multiply the metal price by .00220462262 to make the conversion to grams.

1. Calculate 95% copper value :

   (2.6699 × .00220462262 × 3.11 × .95) = $0.0173903

1. Calculate 5% zinc value :

   (1.2629 × .00220462262 × 3.11 × .05) = $0.0004327

1. Add the two together :

   $0.0173903 + $0.0004327 = $0.0178230

$0.0178230 is the melt value for the 1909-1982 copper cent on July 14, 2017.