How can you determine if bicentennial halves are silver or not?

I separated about 200 and before sending them back want to be sure they don't contain silver.

Any tips?

Cheers,

Scott

 

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May have answered my own question here - just the 1976-S's are 40% silver?

 

Correct, but there are also S's that aren't silver.

 

check the edge, the 40% halves won't show a copper clad layer (though it may be toned a little)

 

Any US clad coin, including the 40% ones, will show the clad layer. The color of the clad layer is different than on the coins with no silver, because the clad layer on the 40% silver coins is .791 copper/.209 silver, but it's there and very definitely visible.

I think the key is to know the difference between what silver coins and copper-nickel coins look like. There's a subtle but real difference in color.

 

Sound is also different. Very different.

 

Silver for 50c is 11.5 g. and clad is 11.34 g. the look and sound will be more then enough

 

That is well within the normal variance. Try this;

 

Put a 1 ply tissue paper over a bunch of the halves...any silver ones under there will pop out from the rest of the cupro-nickel ones.

Try it, you'll be amazed.

 

I'd agree on the visual differences as well as the difference in sound if you drop one, or flick one. It's pretty easy to just check the edges.