I have two coins in a nice blue velvet lined case. Both are US Navy. Both say Chief's Mess. Both are beautiful prooflike coins in capsules.They are the size of silver dollars. I have not seen any challenge coins that look this nice. One of the coins has some almost black toning on the reeded edge. They are heavy like silver dollars. How can I tell if these are silver or not? If not silver what could they be made of if they have a prooflike silver finish, and are not able to hold a magnet? Thanks for all help.
They could be very shiny copper clad. Most silver coins will have some inscription either on the coin or rim .999 fine or .925 sterling. If you have a coin scale compare the weight to a silver round or ASE.
The easiest way I found to test if the coin is silver is with a Kleenex tissue. Unfold he tissue and place it ontop of the coin if the tissue tuns white the coin is silver. Try it with both a clad and silver coin and you will see the difference. Once you get used to it you will be able to tell clad, 40% silver and 90 to 100% silver coins. Hope this helps,
But unfortunately, you won't always be able to spot a plated coin, and there is a distinct possibility that your Navy challenge coins are plated.. If they are silver dollar size, their weight should approximate 27g if they are high grade silver, and could be as low as 22g or as high as 30g if they are plated base metal.
Never heard this one but would love to test it. Assuming 'white' = silver...what color tissue do you start with?
Just use any Klenex tissue. Unfold it and place it over the coin you want to test. If the outline of the coin shows up white it is silver. Try it with a known silver coin and a clad one and you will see what I mean. If you want I will try to take a picture of how the coins turn out. But I am sure once you try it with 2 different coins you will see what I mean.
Do you have pics of the coins in question? You can be easily fooled by plated challenge coins. Believe me the minting in the recent years will give you an impression of high quality striking. I have many coins that are plated but you can swear they are not. Anyways, if I can help just shoot me an email or post the pics here. Adam
coins2006, your method does not tell if a coin is plated silver or not. The thing is nickel can look surprisingly similar to silver.
Sorry but I do not have any silver plated coins to test. I know that there is a difference in the white image that shows up between 40% & 90% silver. I will try to take some photos today and post them. I dont know if you had ever tried this but if have not give it a try and you will see what I mean.
Took some photos of the tissue method. Sorry not the greatest but you can see what I mean. The coin on the left proof,on the right 40% silver. Also do not have any plated coins to see how they would show up. If you happen to try this and you have some time if you can use a silver plated coin and tell me how it showed up to a real silver coin. Thanks.
This is not a fair comparison - the one on the left is a proof coin which means the surfaces are highly reflective and to be honest, if you did take a proof and a unc silver coin with the same metal composition and depending on quality of polishing, they DO look different.
You can do it with any 2 coins one silver and if you want 1 MS or even 1 from your pocket. The silver coin will always show up whiter under the tissue. The thing that now concerns me is what was brought up about a silver plated coin. Like I posted before I do not have any silver plated coins to test to see if there is any difference. Also the coin on the left is the proof coin that is highly reflective and the 40% Silver MS coin is on the right and that's the one showing the white outline of a silver coin.
Here are the coins in question. These scans don't really do them justice. They are beautiful Proof-like in appearance. Thanks for your input all.
I always took a handful, if you have of course, and dropped them. Silver makes a high clanking noise, while others dont.
