a1nipper said:
Pre 1965 U.S. coins are 90% silver. .715 ounce per $1 face value
With exceptions - which if you don't know anything about you may find yourself making poor financial investment decisions EG: War Nickels.
http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1942-1945-Silver-War-Nickel-Value.html
I say stick with Bullion 999 from trusted sources to protect yourself.. if you want to buy old coins.. make sure you do your due dilligence.. even stackers with years of experience get burned buying old world coins.. eg: thinking ROUND NZ 50c coins are silver or post 46 NZ coins being 50% silver etc assuming the same purity as Australian coinage of the period erroneously.
US coins are often faked also so be very weary if you haven't studied and you want to buy without doing the research you really should be doing.
1for1