is there silver in world coins that i might find in circ?

every so often I find a coin pre 65 and I wanted to know how to tell if it is silver? is there a site or book for coins say...1920-present?

 

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I use the NGC research area of their site. It has all the pertinent facts on world coins. The information is via Krause. You don't have to be a member to use it.

 

http://www.krausebooks.com/2014-sta...901-2000-41st-edition-group?source=igodigital

Your best chance of finding circulated foreign silver in the US would be pre '68 Canadian dimes and quarters.

 

ok cool. ty both. if I bought the 30th edition (2003) for a cheaper $18 on ebay is it safe to assume that it would still give me all the info I need? thanks

 

I thought I read somewhere that Canadian quarters went silver up 71. is that inaccurate?

 

No British coins dated 1947 or later had any silver, not circulating ones anyway.

You might find the odd pre 70s Swiss coin, but in general your task would be akin to catching moonbeams on a jar. You would be far more likely to find pre 64 US silver, and you may know how rare that is in circulation now.

 

buy a Krause world coin catalogs 1901-2000 it shows you metal content.

 

central and south america have alot of silver coins.

 

try to buy a used Krause catalog... used will be cheaper than new ones. new are usually $55-70

 

here's a Ebay link to Used ones. the lowest i saw was $9.95 + 5.00 shipping... can't beat that price. link: http://www.ebay.com/sch/Publications-/82190/i.html?LH_ItemCondition=3000&_from=R40&_nkw=Krause world coin catalog 1901-2000&_sop=15

 

Odd-issimo indeed. Switzerland did have silver circulation coins until about 50 years ago. But what some American collectors may not be aware of is that in most other countries "old" money is taken out of circulation, will at some point lose its legal tender status, and may (that varies from country to country) even have a limited redemption period.

Christian

 

.... lose its legal tender status, and may (that varies from country to country) even have a limited redemption period.

Christian[/QUOTE]

Most Americans are probably not interested in the coins monetary status, if it is demonitized makes little difference, except that perhaps the coins rarity may increase!

 

Most Americans are probably not interested in the coins monetary status, if it is demonitized makes little difference, except that perhaps the coins rarity may increase![/QUOTE]

Yeah, but the original question was about finding coins in circulation. If the coins don't circulate anymore then you won't find them.

I honestly think it's pretty easy to distinguish silver coins from others by looking at them. I think anyone who is familiar with money should be able to tell pretty quickly.

 

I have traveled to a good number of foreign countries and haven't found any silver in circulation. Other than perhaps Canada, Switzerland and the UK I can't think of any other countries with currencies that have survived intact as long as ours. Most currencies around the world have suffered from demonetization, hyperinflation or other events which render older coins and bills worthless from a monetary standpoint.

It's no wonder the US Dollar is considered the primary reserve currency, with Swiss francs and British pounds coming in a close second. If Greece reintroduces the drachma let's see how long the new coins and banknotes stay in circulation before more zeros are added...

 

You may to get your facts straight. But I suppose that, with your "drachma" context, leaving the second most common reserve currency out is a political statement.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_currency#Global_currency_reserves

Christian

 

Zackly that was my point. One time I took quite a few American coins with me on a trip to the US, basically doubles of pieces that I already had in my collection. Worn, worthless, you get it. Well, one of these coins was a silver dime, and I spent it at a post office. The clerk even noticed that; very nice of him to say "Sir, this is a silver coin." I just said that he could keep it if he wanted to.

And that is something that would be impossible around here: Silver coins do not simply become rare in circulation, they were actively taken out. So while it may make sense to check "bargain baskets" of US or other coin dealers for silver pieces, one should not really hope for the silver find in circulation.

Christian

 

OK, I agree that I overstated the importance of Swiss francs and British pounds. My post was not intended to be political but just a statement of the fact that most currencies do not have a very long history in their present form, thus a lack of silver in circulation or any older coins for that matter. The Euro is less than 20 years old and to my knowledge most of the currencies it was created from experienced high inflation or other modification during or immediately after WW2. We can only hope that this century will provide more monetary stability than the last.

 

Got it. And as for the initial question, usually it is possible to guess from the appearance of a coin whether it could be a silver piece. Once a "suspect" has been found, this site for example http://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/ provides more info about the composition ...

Christian

 

en.numista and ngccoin have a bunch of information on coins dating back to the 1700's at least, through current. 1920's to 1960's most countries around the world made silver coins and put them in circulation. I have some Netherlands 1 Gulden and 2 1/2 Gulden coins from the 60's which are 72% silver. I also have a France 10 Francs silver crown from 1965 made of 90% silver much like our Morgan Dollars. In the early 1900's most European coins were silver, and the average purity was 80% or 83.5% I believe. Occasionally you will come across a coin with only 50% or 60% purity, or less.

The sites I mentioned are free. Both of them provide lots of details too, such as mintage for each year, size/weight, and precise purity in silver. Numista is really easy to use. Just typing in the name of the country will bring up every denomination in circulation including every time period as well.

 

Yeah, but the original question was about finding coins in circulation. If the coins don't circulate anymore then you won't find them.

I honestly think it's pretty easy to distinguish silver coins from others by looking at them. I think anyone who is familiar with money should be able to tell pretty quickly.[/QUOTE]

ok. i will ask everyone i know to hold 2 circ coins in their hand. 2 68 Canadian quarters. 1 nickel, 1 silver. then ask them to tell them apart. a lot of bank tellers can't tell they have a silver quarter in their tray until i see it and ask them for that specific coin and explain it to them. i go to get a coffee and tip 50 cents with a kennedy and they ask what it is. i go to buy a coffee and pay with a $2 bill and they have to ask their manager if they can accept it. people in the U.S. have a hard time knowing their own currency and what they handle. they didn't grow up when silver was floating around and to them it's just a funny, shiny quarter. the original question was about WORLD coins in circ and they have that silvery look to them that some of them can make one wonder if their is ANY silver content in them. just because someone does or has handled a lot of money in their life does not mean they should be able to identify a silver world coin from that of a different composition IMO