“Junk silver” is the American name for old circulating coins bought for their metal, not their rarity. Europe has its own: German marks, Dutch guilders, French francs and Swiss francs struck in silver until the 1960s and 1970s. They are the cheapest way to hold silver at home, because old coins escape the full VAT that new bars carry. But the price you pay is only half the trade. What you get back, and where, decides whether it was a good buy.
This study looks at it from the point of view of a buyer living in Belgium, with dealers in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Switzerland. Tax on selling depends on where you live, so readers elsewhere should check their own rules. Purchase prices were taken on 3 and 4 October 2026, when silver stood at €53.66 per ounce (€1.725 per gram). By 18 October it had fallen to about €1.63 per gram, so €1,000 buys roughly 5% more today; the premiums over spot below are what matter.
The top three for €1,000
German 5 DM or 10 DM coins, from Feingoldhandel or Münzen Engel. At spot price, under the margin scheme: about 580 g of fine silver for €1,000. Feingoldhandel sold 100 × 5 DM (700 g fine) for €1,208 and showed its own buyback price, €845. The lowest price per gram of any dealer we checked. The catch: German buyers pay back 70 to 78% of the silver value.
Dutch guilders and rijksdaalders, from Holland Gold. €1,341 for a kilo of coins (720 g fine), +8% over spot. They cost more to buy, but Dutch buyers pay about 90% of the silver value back, so the round trip loses roughly 17%, against 22 to 30% for German coins sold to a German buyer.
French 50 francs Hercule, from Godot & Fils. +13% to buy, 27 g of fine silver per coin. The Hercule has its own daily market quote in France, about 11% above its silver value, so it can be sold with a premium instead of at melt value. And a seller who is not resident in France is exempt from the French tax on precious-metal sales (details below).
Why not Switzerland: the coins are good, but importing them into Belgium costs 6 or 21% import VAT plus clearance, together about +12 to +27% on €1,000. The same Swiss coins are sold by German dealers, already inside the EU.
Country by country
| Country | Buying | Selling |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | Cheapest, at spot, margin scheme | Buyers pay 70–78% of the silver value: a price issue, not a tax |
| Netherlands | +8%, trusted dealers | Buyers pay about 90% of the silver value; no sales tax |
| France | Fine, inside the EU, margin scheme to confirm with the dealer | Hercule trades at its own quote; non-residents exempt from the 11.5% TFMP |
| Belgium | Old coins under the margin scheme, but the dearest dealer here (+18%) | No tax on gains from normal management of private wealth; buyback prices not published |
| Switzerland | Good coins | 6 or 21% import VAT plus clearance: not worth it for €1,000 |
What €1,000 buys
The price per gram of fine silver is the only fair comparison: coins differ in weight and fineness. Grams per €1,000 exclude shipping. Prices of 3–4 October 2026.
| Country | Dealer | Coin | Per g fine | Over spot | Fine silver per €1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | Münzen Engel | 10 DM commemoratives (1972–97, 625‰) | €1.724 | 0% | 580 g |
| Germany | Feingoldhandel | 100 × 5 DM (625‰), €1,208 for 700 g | €1.726 | 0% | 579 g |
| Netherlands | Holland Gold | 1 kg guilders and rijksdaalders to 1967 (720‰), €1,341 | €1.863 | +8% | 537 g |
| Switzerland (via German dealer) | MP Edelmetalle | 5 francs 1931–67 (835‰), sold out at the time | €1.885 | +9% | 531 g |
| France | Godot & Fils | 50 francs Hercule (900‰, 27 g fine) | €1.952 | +13% | 512 g |
| Belgium | Goudwisselkantoor | 1 kg net Dutch coins, €2,038 | €2.038 | +18% | 491 g |
| Switzerland (via German dealer) | Münzen Engel | 10 × ½ franc (835‰), €73.69 | €3.53 | +105% | 283 g |
For comparison: a new silver bar in Belgium costs spot plus premium plus 21% VAT, easily +25%. On the comparison site gold.de, 10 DM coins ranged from spot to +48% depending on the dealer, so comparing pays.
Selling back: where the real cost sits
Old silver coins are cheap to buy, but most dealers buy them back at melt value: what the silver is worth, minus the cost of melting and refining it. How much of that you lose depends on where you sell.
| Buyer | Coin | Buyback | Per g fine | % of spot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESG Scheideanstalt, Germany (4 Oct) | 5 DM (7 g fine) | €9.41 | €1.344 | 78% |
| ESG Scheideanstalt, Germany (4 Oct) | 10 DM 1998–2001 (14.34 g fine) | €19.29 | €1.345 | 78% |
| MP Edelmetalle, Germany (4 Oct) | Swiss 5 francs (12.5 g fine) | €16.06 | €1.285 | 74% |
| Feingoldhandel, Germany (4 Oct) | 100 × 5 DM (700 g fine) | €844.90 | €1.207 | 70% |
| Dawson Gold, Netherlands (18 Oct) | 1 kg fine in Dutch guilder coins (1,389 g gross) | €1,467 | €1.467 | ~90% |
| Dawson Gold, Netherlands (18 Oct) | Juliana guilder (4.68 g fine) | €6.87 | €1.468 | ~90% |
Buy 5 DM coins at spot today and sell them straight back, and you lose 22 to 30%. That is more than the roughly 8% spread on a kilo silver bar held in a vault in Singapore. Dutch coins bought at +8% and sold to a Dutch buyer at about 90% lose roughly 17%. Junk silver is cheap to get into and expensive to get out of; it pays for those who hold for years, or who later sell to a private buyer rather than a dealer. Belgian buyers we checked do not publish their prices for old coins; ask before you sell.
France: dearer to buy, better to sell
France works differently from Germany. The 50 francs Hercule has its own daily quote, like the gold Napoléon. On 18 October gold.fr quoted it at €48.89 against a silver value of €44.05: about +11%, the same premium as on 4 October. That premium is in the market itself, so it applies when selling, not only when buying.
| Coin | Years | Weight | Fineness | Fine silver |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 francs Hercule | 1974–80 | 30 g | 900‰ | 27 g |
| 10 francs Hercule | 1964–73 | 25 g | 900‰ | 22.5 g |
| 5 francs Semeuse | 1960–69 | 12 g | 835‰ | 10.02 g |
Thirty-seven 50-franc coins already make a kilo of fine silver; with 5 DM coins it takes 143.
The French tax on selling does not apply to non-residents. A French resident selling precious metals to a professional pays the taxe forfaitaire sur les métaux précieux (TFMP): 11.5% of the sale price, withheld by the dealer, or 37.6% on the gain with a purchase invoice (5% less per year from the third year of holding). The French tax administration’s own guidance exempts sales made in France by people whose tax home is abroad; the seller signs a statement of foreign tax residence and shows identification. For a buyer living in Belgium, that makes France the place to sell a Hercule: at the market quote, without the tax. Keep your purchase invoice anyway.
Still worth asking the dealer before you buy: whether the coin is sold under the margin scheme (Godot & Fils showed €52.70 “TTC”, another dealer appeared to charge 20% VAT), and what it pays back against the day’s quote.
Quality: which coins
With junk silver you pay for the silver, not the coin. Fineness and weight decide everything; condition almost nothing.
| Coin | Weight | Fineness | Fine silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany 5 DM (1951–79) | 11.2 g | 625‰ | 7.0 g |
| Germany 10 DM (1972–97) | 15.5 g | 625‰ | 9.69 g |
| Germany 10 DM (1998–2001) | 15.5 g | 925‰ | 14.34 g |
| Switzerland ½ / 1 / 2 francs (to 1967) | 2.5 / 5 / 10 g | 835‰ | 2.08 / 4.17 / 8.35 g |
| Switzerland 5 francs (1931–67) | 15 g | 835‰ | 12.5 g |
| France 50 francs Hercule (1974–80) | 30 g | 900‰ | 27 g |
| Netherlands guilder and rijksdaalder (to 1967) | various | 720‰ | 720 g per kg |
Big coins are cheaper per gram. Ten Swiss half-francs cost twice their silver value; a Swiss 5 francs about 9% above it. The smaller the coin, the more you pay for handling.
Choose circulated or mixed years, not proof. “Stempelglanz” or “Polierte Platte” cost more but are bought back at melt value.
Higher fineness is handier, not better. A 50 francs Hercule holds almost four times the silver of a 5 DM: fewer coins to count and store, same price per gram.
Austrian schillings (25, 50 and 100 schilling) are also sold by German and Austrian dealers. Fineness differs by year; check each coin.
VAT, transport and customs
VAT. Old coins are second-hand goods under the margin scheme: the dealer pays VAT only on its own margin, not on the silver. In Belgium this applies to coins struck before 2025; new coins and all silver bars carry 21% VAT on the full amount. German dealers sell coins bought from private sellers “differenzbesteuert” (§ 25a UStG); since 2025 newly imported investment silver from outside the EU does carry 19%, but old German coins come from domestic buyback and stay favourable. Buy from a German or Dutch dealer under the margin scheme and you pay no further VAT in Belgium.
Transport inside the EU. No customs. Insured shipping within Germany cost €9.95 for €150 to €3,000 at MP Edelmetalle; to Belgium it is usually a little more, so ask each dealer. Collecting by car is allowed: silver does not fall under the EU cash-declaration rules, which cover only gold coins of at least 90% gold and gold bars.
From Switzerland. Customs apply, but no duty: old coins (tariff heading 7118) carry 0% EU duty. What you do pay is import VAT on the value plus shipping, and the courier’s clearance fee. Swiss VAT of 8.1% is not charged when the dealer ships to Belgium.
| €1,000 of Swiss coins into Belgium | As ordinary coins (21%) | As collector items (6%) |
|---|---|---|
| Coins | €1,000 | €1,000 |
| Insured shipping from Switzerland (estimate) | ~€30 | ~€30 |
| Customs duty | €0 | €0 |
| Import VAT on €1,030 | €216 | €62 |
| Courier clearance (estimate) | ~€25 | ~€25 |
| Total | ~€1,271 (+27%) | ~€1,117 (+12%) |
Customs decide which rate applies. Since 31 December 2025 Belgium applies 6% to imports of works of art, collectors’ items and antiques, and under circular 2022/C/30 precious-metal coins that are no longer legal tender count as collectors’ items, so old Swiss silver coins could fall under 6%. Have it confirmed before you order. Even in the best case you lose about 12%, against 0 to 2% shipping from a German dealer selling the same coins. Collecting in Switzerland without an export certificate means paying VAT twice: 8.1% Swiss plus 6 or 21% Belgian. Not every Swiss dealer ships to the EU; ask first.
Five rules
Count in grams of fine silver. Price divided by weight times fineness, compared with the spot price. Everything above it is premium.
Buy big and ordinary. Swiss 5 francs, 10 DM, 50 francs Hercule, Dutch rijksdaalders: no small coins, no proof.
Stay inside the EU. German and Dutch dealers under the margin scheme, insured shipping or collection. Switzerland only if you also store there, and then bars rather than coins.
Know where you will sell. German buyers pay 70 to 78% of spot, Dutch buyers about 90% for Dutch coins, French dealers trade Hercules at their own quote. Anyone who may sell within a few years is better off with a bar in a vault.
Treat it as a home reserve. Junk silver is the cheapest way to keep silver at home, in small pieces everyone recognises. It is not a trade.
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Open the desk →Sources
- gold.de, “DM Gedenkmünzen: Preisvergleich”, silver price 3 October 2026, 20:44; “Silber: Comeback der Differenzbesteuerung”.
- Münzen Engel, “Silberanlage differenzbesteuert” and “Schweiz ½ Franken, 10 Stück”, 4 October 2026.
- Feingoldhandel, “100 × 5 DM differenzbesteuert”, 4 October 2026.
- MP Edelmetalle, “5 Franken (diff.-best.)” and “Versand”.
- ESG Edelmetall-Service, “Ankaufpreise BRD DM”, 4 October 2026, 16:19, and “Schweizer Silbermünzen”.
- Holland Gold, “Zilveren munten kopen”, 4 October 2026.
- Dawson Gold, “Inkoopprijzen”, 18 October 2026, 11:15.
- Goudwisselkantoor, “Zilver kopen”.
- Godot & Fils, “50 Francs Hercule”; gold.fr, “50 Francs Hercule Argent”, 4 and 18 October 2026; BDOR, “10 francs Hercule”; gold.fr, “5 Francs Argent”.
- BOFiP (French tax administration), “Taxe forfaitaire sur les objets précieux, application de plein droit”, §§ 110, 370, 380; Veracash, “Qu’est-ce que la TFMP ?”.
- Test-Aankoop, “Moet je btw betalen op fysiek zilver?”, December 2025.
- Circular 2022/C/30 on coins as collectors’ items, via Forum for the Future.
- European Commission, “EU cash controls”.
- RSM Belgium, reduced 6% VAT rate on imports of works of art, collectors’ items and antiques, from 31 December 2025.
- EU customs tariff, heading 7118 coins: 0% duty.
Prices, VAT rules and tax rules change. Check them with the dealer and, for tax, with an adviser in your country before you buy or sell. Educational content to support your own research and decisions. Not financial or tax advice.