First off I'd like to point out that I'm a world coin collector. I collect to touch the world, not to invest for value. I recently recieved a lot of coins from various African nations, all in those little cardboard flips. Written on the flip is the date, country, and denomination (but not the grade, oddly) Some also have a set of letters on them: SS. CP BR/STL BR AL I'm guessing these are meant to indicate the metal to coin was minted from, but I'm not sure. Can anyone clarify?
I think you may be correct. I'm not sure about the "SS", but I would think that: CP-Copper BR/STL-Bronze-Steel (is this coin bi-metallic with an outer ring of a different material than the core?) BR-Bronze AL-Aluminum Maybe someone else will have an idea of the "SS".
Oh come on Doug, you know better than that. The Great Britain pages of the 19th Century Krause are loaded with .925 silver pennies, 1-1/2, 2, and 3 pence, groats, shillings, florins, 1/2 crowns, double florins, and crowns; and the last time I checked, that was sterling silver. There are even a few in the early 20th Century.
You're probably right Roy - what you say makes sense. But I've always thought sterling silver was .999.
Interesting about the Sterling silver. I knew it was .925, but I did not know it was “at least” .925. I guess someone would be stupid, though to make something of pure silver and mark it “sterling”, since they could alloy it down to .925 and still be able to mark it sterling.
Ah, thanks. Yeah, I was trying to make SS Sterling Silver too, but that didn't seem right. The coin is in incredibly good condition for that. Which... is why I decided to ask the experts. "BR/STL-Bronze-Steel (is this coin bi-metallic with an outer ring of a different material than the core?)" No, it is all a coppery color.
The word "Sterling" is the best known and most respected marking in use today. Pure silver alone is too soft for everyday use. Copper is the metal commonly used to give "Sterling" its added stiffness and wearing qualities. Sterling is often referred to as solid silver. It is composed of 925 parts pure silver in every 1000 -- this proportion never varies -- it is fixed by law. Gee I thought everybody learned this at finishing school.
§ 23.6 Misrepresentation as to silver content. (a) It is unfair or deceptive to misrepresent that an industry product contains silver, or to misrepresent an industry product as having a silver content, plating, electroplating, or coating. (b) It is unfair or deceptive to mark, describe, or otherwise represent all or part of an industry product as "silver," "solid silver," "sterling silver," "sterling," or the abbreviation "ster." unless it is at least 925/1,000ths pure silver.
Right Doug, the UK has used Sterling silver for all its silver coins from the 1660s to 1920 when it was downgraded to half silver. Sterling silver is always .925 silver, with the remained being usually copper. The silver Britannias are to my knowledge .958 silver and this is 'Britannia Silver', other bullion 'coins' tend to use .999 silver. So you're getting less pure silver in the UK bullion 'coins'. Sterling is ALWAYS .925 Ag.
I am quite sure it is the law in the UK at least, and I would not be surprised if it were law in the US. Or, to put it another way, it would be against the law to mark lesser silver "sterling" and pass it off as sterling (wouldn't it?!?!?!).
