Hey everyone! What I'd like to know is if there's some kind of formula to use to asses the silver (or gold) content of foreign coins. Raider gave me a wonderful site to go to for U.S. and Canadian coins, but I was wondering if there is an all encompassing formula like (fineness) X (bullion weight) X (bullion price) or something like that. Thanks for your input in advance! :hammer:
If there is I don't know of it. The only way I know of to find the fineness of any given world coin is to look it up in a book. Krause has most of them back to 1600. For the rest you need a specialized book on those specific coins. So just ask about any given coin and somebody will give you the answer.
If you are working with a source, such as Krause, that gives the Actual Gold or Silver Weight (AGW or ASW), then it is just the ASW X Spot to give the silver content value. I doubt there would be much call for knowing the content of a coin minted before 1600. If you just know the fineness and weight (mass) in grams, it would be: Fineness X (Grams ÷ 31.1) X Spot
There was a site I used to use all the time called "Gold Content and Value Calculator". Unfortunately, the site seems to be having some problems att. Some much more abbreviated sites can be found here or here.
