So I’m trying to figure if One of my 71d half dollars is silver so I did the basic tissue test. I have about 10 71d coins and this one came the closet IMO to the 67 half dollar. Unfortunately I’m new to this and bought a scale that just does whole numbers. And all but this one the weights for the 71d were bouncing from 10g to 11g. On this one is never went down to 11g even by tapping at it to move the weight it went directly back to 11g. Pictures below. I understand the 71d has a copper band. But just want to inform myself.
I see no indication that it is silver, and if the copper core is visible then it can't be. Minor weight variations are perfectly normal.
Some 40% silver half's show more cladding than others. Still the 71 you have shows way too much. It is clad. You can check it for the DDO obv. the doubling is most evident on the I in IN. They are quite common but still neat to find.
The tissue test results are intriguing. (It looks though like the light may have been on the left side though and if so the left hand coin may have received more light which may affect its apparent whiteness under the tissue compared to the coin on the right that wasn't receiving as much light. Straight weights aren't going to tell you anything because the tolerance range for 40% and coppernickel overlap something awful. Two other tests would be specific gravity or an XRF test.. But you would need a much more precise scale for a SG test. XRF tests can be useful but can be fooled by a surface plating. (So can the tissue test.
