Silver Tissue Test

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by bkozak33, Apr 2, 2014.

  1. bkozak33

    bkozak33 Collector

    I heard this works and by golly it does.

    P1010439_1.JPG P1010440_1.JPG
     
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  3. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

  4. green18

    green18 Unknown member Sweet on Commemorative Coins Supporter

    Yup, the 'blue collar' way of doing things. And indeed it does work......:)
     
  5. Phil Ham

    Phil Ham Hamster

    And it even works through the plastic of proof sets.
     
  6. Briguy

    Briguy Collector 4 Life

    That's neat... I've never seen this before. Thanks for sharing.
     
  7. I use that one a number of times especially with proof sets. Nice display. TC
     
  8. C-B-D

    C-B-D Well-Known Member

    It doesn't work well for circulated, gray color coins, but it does for BU material. It's all about how silver captures light better than the clad coins. My LCS showed me that a couple years ago. Very cool.
     
  9. longnine009

    longnine009 Darwin has to eat too. Supporter

    How long does takes?
     
  10. C-B-D

    C-B-D Well-Known Member

    The speed of light.
     
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  11. wcoins

    wcoins GEM-ber

    Have you tried this method with a silver plated coin or bar?
     
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  12. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    One of the oldest test there is for telling silver from non silver. Been a long time since I've even seen it mentioned here.
     
  13. Collect89

    Collect89 Coin Collector


    It hasn't been that long:

    http://www.cointalk.com/threads/1976-kennedy-half-dollar-is-it-silver.238970/#post-1819241

    http://www.cointalk.com/threads/ike-dollar-dansco-complete-with-all-proof-issues.223412/#post-1650228

    I think you are the one that originally brought the tissue paper test to everyone's attention. Perhaps you invented the test?
     
  14. green18

    green18 Unknown member Sweet on Commemorative Coins Supporter

    He did. In ancient times........ devil.gif
     
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  15. Collect89

    Collect89 Coin Collector

    This is an example of one of the earliest silver coin tests. This may have been one of GMJMSP's earliest attempts (before the invention of tissue paper).
    IMG_6287.jpg IMG_6288.jpg IMG_6291.jpg
     
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  16. Conder101

    Conder101 Numismatist

    Other way around. Silver is the most reflective of metal, something like 95% of all the light that hits silver is reflected. The copper nickel clad reflects much less so the silver coins show white through the tissue and the coppernickel are much darker.
     
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  17. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    Maybe here on this forum, but I first heard of the idea from Conder many years ago on the old Coin World forum.

    And green - gonna getcha for that ;)
     
  18. PittsburghMom

    PittsburghMom Active Member

    Thanks for the photo! I'm curious about what someone else mentioned. Have you done the test with silver plated coins or tried it with genuine gold coins vs 24 K gold plated?

    I'm guessing if a coin is plated, it's going to appear just as bright, but it would be nice if that wasn't the case.
     
  19. desertgem

    desertgem Senior Errer Collecktor

    Although this simple trick may work well with certain light and tissue, one should consider the above mentioned coin surface problem. Toning ( interference layers ) and random roughing of surface from wear or corrosion can cause bad results. Below is graph showing 'perfect' reflectivity of some metals in reference to the light spectrum. I doubt the human eye has the ability to detect new tin from new silver. Luckily, pure tin corrodes relative rapidly and isn't commonly used for coins. The tissue test measures reflectivity and is not accurate below the surface of the coin , so coins plated with pure silver will pass the test. It can not detect counterfeits from the correct metal mixture.

    [​IMG]
     
  20. 19Lyds

    19Lyds Member of the United States of Confusion

    Does it work for "Dirty Silver"??
     
  21. desertgem

    desertgem Senior Errer Collecktor

    Eventually there would be a level (%) of 'dirtiness' which would reduce the reflectivity of silver to close to a new Cu-Ni surface, and then the test would be inconclusive. But how much would be an interesting experiment if done with some accuracy, although it wouldn't help separating metals.
     
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