Clad or bullion?? Can anyone help me out?

Hi - just won this on Ebay last night and am concerned if this coin is truly bullion or clad with plating, did some google searches and didnt find much but did find a listing for a clad version (dont know if there were two versions), seller listed it as 1/4 pound silver so trying to find out asap so I can get refunded, thanks for any help!

 

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I have seen these before. It is 3 ounces of Silver commemorating the state quarter program. It does say in the center of the reverse, 1/4 pound .999 fine silver.

 

Thanks, I did just find the other version and looked closer, it states clad proof where this states .999 fine silver, any idea where I could find the mintage numbers for this coin?

 

Just to clarify, it is not a coin per se, it is an art "commemorative" bullion piece. I'm not sure if mintages are very well documented for such pieces. Was this minted by the U.S. Mint? Or a 3rd party?

 

My advice would be -- never bid on something and then ask other folks what it is. If you do this a number of times, it is highly probable that you will eventually get burned. It's a good idea to never bid on something unless you know for certain what it is.

 

Agree. We are not trying to pick on you, but there is a world of difference between the options you ask about. I would be very nervous buying something as pure silver to find out later its not.

 

Definitely understand, it was a quick decision last night as I realized I could grab it for well under spot so just went for it before doing my research, when I did look into it only the clad version came up in searches which is what freaked me out, after I posted this I did find the two different versions so really happy with the purchase in the end, thanks for your help though!

 

as a general rule, it's dangerous to buy a a "silver bullion coin" of this sort if it isn't marked with weight and purity. And even then, it's still possible it may be a fake.

 

Generally if it's coated silver it will say either clad or plated. The sneaky ones will say 100 mills, which you should avoid as well. Some folks say it should read "troy oz" instead of just "oz" but I have a few obscure coins that don't say "troy" and they still weigh out. I would worry more about bars since they're a lot easier to duplicate than coins with well known and intricate designs. I have encountered fake Morgan dollars before, but it's pretty obvious by weight that it's not legit. The nice thing about eBay is that the buyer always has the power to get a refund so if you were to get a fake that was advertised as a real coin you wouldn't be up a creek. Not such a great thing for sellers though.

 

Bullion like this is usually produced by a private mint like Franklin, and most often they state that it will be limited to "45 striking days" or some such vague mintage estimate. They don't want you to know that they produced 500,000 or so because that would make their claims of "scarce" or "rare" sound ridiculous.

Chris

 

there are some fakes out there from china that don't say 100 mils or whatnot. An easy example is the fake engelhard prospectors floating around.

 

That's a really awesome looking comem. Congrats on the win and I'm glad it turned out to be legit!

 

As said by InfleXion, I would weigh it as soon as it is recieved. The diference between troy oz and a regular oz may be why the biding seemed low, just to make sure.

 

The auction did list it as 3.65 troy oz's so no deception there, came out to $119 w/ shipping so about $32.60 per troy oz which I was really happy with

 

I just bought one also. It weighs 113.8g of .999 silver = 3.6588 Oz. Tonight it is worth about $70.94. I got it for $62 so I am happy. Plus it is neat to look at.

 

A 1/4 pound is 93 grams....or three troy ounces....I wouldn't touch that thing.

 

Yeah mine weighs 113.8 grams. 3.6 oz but not troy. That is not a 1/4 pound.

I will have to look into this more.

I think it is fine as AMPEX has them (or had them) and mine matches exactly.

http://www.apmex.com/product/33287/3-66-oz-statehood-quarter-commemorative-silver-round-999-fine

 

That's four avoirdupois ounces, it's very rare for silver to not be weighed in troy ounces.

 

I have made the dreaded "late night eBay purchase" and have given my wife instructions to hide my iPad when I'm on the couch. It's too easy to hit the button!

 

I just bought one from a local coin dealer who charged me spot X 3.66 oz. So I'm okay with that but, I am concerned however about a little copper tint around Reeded edge, it passes the slide test though.