Too bad your only options are "very nice" and "Looks nice". I want an option for "common 1977 quarter that ISN'T silver".
Well, what you have is a 41 year old, well circulated, quarter. BUT we can turn this into a learning opportunity.... A 40% silver quarter weighs 5.75gr whereas a normal CuNi clad quarter weights 5.67gr. Another indicator would be checking the edge of the coin. What does it look like? I'm sure there are others who will chime in but these are the 2 I can think of off the top of my head.
Thanx for your onsite and knowledge. I've been collecting for years and just here recently started learning and going through colection. Here's the edge. Far left.
Ok. Thank you. But can you tell me why it sounds different and won't come clean? I have no way of weighing it today.
Stains on metals are very hard to clean except in ways no coin collector would ever recommend. Sound is pretty subjective. Looks like a clad quarter that has had an interesting life (abusing chemicals ) BTW, welcome
It's more worn than the others. Will have a different sound that them. FYI, the "ring" test is not a good indicator of whether or not a coin is silver.
Never clean your coins unless absolutely necessary or you are planning on spending it. It is definitely a copper nickel quarter, not silver. The ping test is inaccurate and can even damage coins. Weight is a better indicator.
This is the kind of staining you get when a coin has been in touch with soil. Was it found while metal detecting?