Do ether of these have silver in them? If so how can you tell? The 1970s weighed 11.7 grams The 2008s weighed 12.7 grams Thanks Andy
The 1970 is 40% silver. 2008 is 0% silver. One way is to look at the edge. The clad coin will show a copper edge. The 1970 will only show one color.
The 2008 s is a 90% silver proof, based on its weight. The inner core of the 1970 d is 79% copper & 21% silver - the outer layer is 80% silver & 20% copper for an overall silver content of 40%.
I think the confusion is based on the fact that Kennedy halves were made of 40% silver from 1965-1970 and were made of clad past then with the exception of collector's version of the coin where some are made of silver but not all. The side of the coin gives it away. It will have a obvious copper looking strip through a clad coin where a silver coin will only be one color.
The 1970 is definitely 40% silver because thats all they were made of that year. If the 08 has white sides then it too is silver.
The weight is the best way to tell between the 90% silver proof and the clad. the reason that you cannot always go by the color is that some coins can be plated. I thought I had got a silver state quarter in a roll search, it did not have any copper edge, but the weight was wrong for silver but right for clad. I found out that some of those teevee coin shows will actually silver plate the clad coins and then tout them using the word silver (and platinum and gold) in their spiels. A fairly good scale is one of the first things I purchased when I became interested in the hobby.
