I know NOTHING about world coins. How do I tell if they are silver or not ? Is it like US coins where before 1964 they are silver or is there a differnt date or way to tell ??? Thanks !
It kinda depends really. Some countries used silver and some didn't depending on the coin and year. Nobody uses silver anymore in circulation coinage. But the best way to get a pretty good idea is first get the Krause catalog and look up the specs for the given coin. Then weigh and measure the coin you have. If they match then the odds are good the coin is silver like it's supposed to be. But every coin in existence has been counterfeited at one time or another - and I mean every coin. So sometimes there is a little more to it to determine if the coin is genuine or not. But often counterfeits are made with genuine silver or gold. There are even examples of counterfeits that have a better quality silver (higher fineness) than the genuine coins had. So sometimes it requires an expert to make a determination. But if you get yourself some books, a micrometer and a good scale - you're well on your way
There is also one more thing to mention. If you are new, never use color as an indictor of silver, as there is a large variation of silver alloys used. Like what GDJMSP, you should get a scale and a second hand Krause, since it deals with world coins, and that should deal with MOST of the situation. But of course, highly counterfeit coins exist, but I guess that will not come to you yet unless you are interested in some world coins that are pricy, which I recommand you to ask help in here
Libraries sometimes keep old copies of Krause "World Coins" books for checkout and newer ones in reference sections. The Krause books look like telephone books and they ususally have the ASW (actual silver weight) and fineness of silver coins.
