:goofer: I hope this is not a dumb question. How do you find out for sure if your 1999 Silver Proof set you purchased is really a Silver set and not a clad set in the silver case and box? Ebay is selling alot of empty boxes and COA's. I haven't purchased this set yet so I wanted to ask. Thanks for all responses, Sgklee.
I would say that the most efficent way to do this would be based upon the mass of the coin set. The different metal combinations used in clad should have a different mass than silver. Simply determine the mass of each set, confirm it's mass in a coin classification as in the mint's printed card that comes with each set. Having done this it should go something like this; 1. Mass of Clad set = xxxx 2. Mass of silver set = xxxx 3. Total Mass of Clad set - mass of the coins inside the holder = mass of the coins (try for grams) 4. " " " Silver set- " " " " = mass of the coins 5. Difference in the coin mass of silver should be noticeable! Good luck! (You can always attempt to get a visual on the reeded edge of the coins..if a partial coloring of copper is present, then it's clad. RickieB
the cases are easily opened without damage, so just open a case (while holding your breath) and check the edge of one of the coins. If it is white, it's a silver set and if it is golden it's not. The other option is to hold a silver set and a clad set up and then place your mystery set next to it. the reflectivity of silver is obvious, when held nect to a nickel/clad coin, you won't be fooled.
If you have a silver proof the edge of the coin will show "NO" copper clading. I have manufactured a display that features all mint and proof sets for each year of the statehood quarters. One thing I like about this type of display is that right away you can really see the difference in tone contrast of the proofs and silver proofs. I had to "break out" my proof sets in order to assemble my display and I am sincere when I say it was quit easy and the mint holder was not damaged in any way. So someone really could swap out a proof set for a silver proof set and unless your knowledgeable you could be had.
Furthermore,side by side,the silver and clad coins are easy to tell apart.The silver ones are bright white while the clad ones look like nickel or steel. On a similar note,do you guys remember the mixup in 2003 concerning the certificate of authenticity cards? The original mistakenly said the dimes and halves in the silver sets were clad.Later,the mint sent out new COA's with a letter of explanation.There was speculation that this might raise the value a bit.Anyone know if it did or was it all hype? ('cause I got one)
There is an easy way to tell....I thought ya'll would have posted this by now... Take a set you know is clad and set it beside the one that you hope is Silver.....place a piece of white tissuepaper...then shine a light on it....if they are silver they will shine right through and be WHITE.....NOTE--I've never done this but hear this is what the big collectors do! Speedy
Probably works better with a flashlight but you can still tell the difference.I'm a big collector now..hehe OK...I tried it again taking the photo in the dark with a flash.I think you may have something there Speedy!
It absolutely works. It works even better with individual coins laid side by side that are not in cases
By the way,has anyone seen the prices that dealers are charging for 2001 proof sets? Holy guacamole! They're around $170 for silver,$130 for clad and the quarter sets alone are over $65-95 each.I missed out on buying a 1999 silver set but I'm sure glad I got these.That's about a $350 increase over original sale price! What was so special about this year??
Nothing really....just think about it.....1999 went up and everybody that missed out bought 2000....that went no where and no one wanted the next one....it went up.....and so it goes on Speedy
Clad Proof set in Am Legacy sets?? Speedy, I just tried the tissure paper trick on my 2005 Am. Legacy set and it came up clad on the proof set and Silver on the two commems!! I really didn't know wether the sets contained the clad or silver proofs!!! (I'm disappointed now, for $135. you thought they could put in real silver!!)
