Thread: How to tell if a coin is silver?

When a commemorative coin is issued in both silver and another metal, Krause often lists a weight for the silver coin but not the other.

Can one assume that the non-silver coin will be lighter? (So if the coin is the weight that is designated, it is silver?)

Or is a specific gravity test required?

To me color is the best indicator. Look at your original post. The coin in your avatar (picture under your name) is definitely a silver coin and the color I would expect to see in a silver coin. The piece you have posted appears to be copper nickel to me. In my case I just use the color of the metal.

Originally Posted by LostDutchman

To me color is the best indicator. Look at your original post. The coin in your avatar (picture under your name) is definitely a silver coin and the color I would expect to see in a silver coin. The piece you have posted appears to be copper nickel to me. In my case I just use the color of the metal.

And I thought maybe the posted piece was silver developing a golden toning.

Originally Posted by charlienorth

And I thought maybe the posted piece was silver developing a golden toning.

That white color will usually make itself known through just about any toning. Maybe barring the wild dark stuff.

If the "non-silver" type is a copper-nickel piece with the same dimensions (diameter and thickness), then yes, the silver coin will be a little heavier.

Christian

This is a good question. I wanted to pose the same question when searching through a pile of foreigns from the dealer's junkbox or at a garage sale, how can you tell if the coin is silver? I figure if its silvery but very light then its aluminum, but other than that how would you distinguish silver from a non-silver alloy? Also some foreign coins are so small.

Originally Posted by deadmunny

when searching through a pile of foreigns from the dealer's junkbox or at a garage sale, how can you tell if the coin is silver?

Silver coins usually have a different appearance or color, see the second post here. They often look a little "softer"; if you compare the silver and the clad versions of a Kennedy half dollar (or an Eisenhower dollar), you will probably see the difference right away.

Unfortunately our eyes are not 100% reliable when it comes to detecting silver. Also, "silver" coins may have 50 percent silver, or 80 or 95 ... while other silverish-looking pieces are silver-plated copper.

It helps to keep in mind that copper-nickel coins are something relatively recent. While the alloy itself is not new, Cu-Ni was not really used in coins until -- uh, I don't know, 1850-1900 maybe? And even then, it was used for lower or mid-range denominations first, while higher denominations continued to be silver coins until (again very roughly) 40 or 50 years ago.

Of course a coin catalog such as Krause's SCWC would help, but you may not have that with you when you go to a garage sale. With a smartphone you could use their database at www.numismaster.com instead.

By the way, seems that the modern British crown-sized pieces (first 25p, now £5) have precisely the same diameter (38.61 mm) and the same weight (28.28 g) in both Cu-Ni and silver. So much for my theory in the previous post ...

Christian

Originally Posted by chrisild

By the way, seems that the modern British crown-sized pieces (first 25p, now £5) have precisely the same diameter (38.61 mm) and the same weight (28.28 g) in both Cu-Ni and silver. So much for my theory in the previous post ...

Christian

lol

That's what prompted my question. I've several such pieces that came in a lot that I purchased. I'd assumed they where the clad versions but they are the correct dimensions, including weight, for silver.

Color, And overall weight, Good indicators

The only way to absolutely tell if a coin is silver is to damage it.

The process involves inflicting the coin in question with a deep scratch, pouring some nitric acid into that scratch and then matching the resulting color with the color chart that came with the silver testing kit.

From Google...

"Another approach is to use a silver acid test kit. These kits are readily available (do a search on the phrase "silver acid test" and you will find a number of sources). Silver acid tests make use of nitric acid. The problem with testing, however, is that you have to damage an item to test it.
The procedure is simple. You make a nick in a hidden spot on the piece of jewelry you wish to test with a file or needle (also available for purchase). Next, place a drop of the acid on the scratch. The color that results will give you an indication of the silver content of the item. Most kits come with a color chart to aid in interpretation. (Different testing solutions yield different color results.)
The "reading" of the scratch results is a bit subjective. You will learn if the jewelry piece has silver in it, or not. You will also get a general sense of how pure the silver is. However, you don't get a number from these tests; they won't tell you "925/1000 -- it's sterling!"
One piece if information you can glean from the test, even without the drop of acid, is whether the piece you are testing is plated or not. A slight nick is enough to cut through plating and reveal if that solid sterling jewelry you bought is really sterling through and through.
Another approach is to take your jewelry to a lab, have it melted down, and then assayed. That, of course, has an obvious drawback! Again, train your eye and then trust your own judgment."

I suppose you could merely scrape some silver from the edge of the coin onto a test stone, as one does testing gold, and check the color that way. This is why gold and silver coins sometimes come back from NGC as "Edge Filed". They were tested.

As silver requires nitric acid to test this is not for children!

I usually employ LostDutchmans eye test after weighing a coin. Solid silver does have a certain look and feel. But if you are serious about testing your silver or gold this company seems to have pretty much everything you could possibly need.

http://www.nationaljewelerssupplies....d-testers.html


Be careful now!

Here's another opinion and one worth reading...

http://newandnotso.com/index.php?main_page=page_2

Originally Posted by charlienorth

lol

That's what prompted my question.

Right; in my first reply I said that a silver coin is usually a little heavier than its Cu-Ni "equivalent" because that is what I am used to from around here: It's true for the German, Portuguese or Swiss coins that I'm familiar with.

Because of the coin you depict in your initial post, I then checked whether that also applies to British coins. Well, apparently not, so I added that bit in my second post. And as others have suggested - the "eye test" is far from perfect but quite helpful ...

Christian

Originally Posted by hiho

The only way to absolutely tell if a coin is silver is to damage it.

Well, not exactly. There is another way, but it requires that you have a known example of a Cu-Ni coin to compare it to.

Take the two coins,the known Cu-Ni coin and the suspect coin and place them side by side on a table. Cover them with an ordinary tissue.

If the two coins are identical in color then they are both Cu-Ni. But if one is silver, the silver one will look whiter as seen through the tissue.

Doesn't sound very scientific but it absolutely works every single time.

Originally Posted by chrisild

Right; in my first reply I said that a silver coin is usually a little heavier than its Cu-Ni "equivalent" because that is what I am used to from around here: It's true for the German, Portuguese or Swiss coins that I'm familiar with.

Because of the coin you depict in your initial post, I then checked whether that also applies to British coins. Well, apparently not, so I added that bit in my second post. And as others have suggested - the "eye test" is far from perfect but quite helpful ...

Christian

I am that sorry my response was rude.

Thanks for the confirmation that likely I haven't become suddenly richer from new found silver!

Originally Posted by charlienorth

I am that sorry my response was rude.

Thanks for the confirmation that likely I haven't become suddenly richer from new found silver!

Did not see anything rude in your posts here. Oh, and when it comes to coins that were issued in both Cu-Ni and silver in the very same year, as the one in your initial post, my tip about using Numismaster on a smartphone (when you are at a swap meet or so) will unfortunately not be helpful either.

That would make sense only with circulation coins which until the year X were silver, and copper-nickel as from X+1. (You could then look a piece up and see that, in the year you are interested in, it was not silver any more.) In your particular case, well, trust your eyes - or maybe Doug's tissue. Have not tried that myself, but it sounds interesting ...

Christian

Originally Posted by GDJMSP

Well, not exactly. There is another way, but it requires that you have a known example of a Cu-Ni coin to compare it to.

Take the two coins,the known Cu-Ni coin and the suspect coin and place them side by side on a table. Cover them with an ordinary tissue.

If the two coins are identical in color then they are both Cu-Ni. But if one is silver, the silver one will look whiter as seen through the tissue.

Doesn't sound very scientific but it absolutely works every single time.

You need to write a book Doug!

Amazing