Silver Coin Buying

Collecting coins is a great hobby and many people are engaged in it.  A few people are very interested in collecting rare coins.  Many people are engaged in collecting gold and silver coins.  They tend to resell it when the market rises or after a few years go by.  Silver coins are often found mixed with copper and nickel.  So those who are often engaged in silver coin collection need to look into the purity of the coin first before buying or resale.  The common question is how to tell if the coin is of pure silver?  There is also a question as how to find out the coin is silver?  The best thing to do is to make sure the coin has a certification.

There are a few test people like to do “ring test”, “Tissue paper test” and “specific gravity test” to find out whether its a silver coin or not. Many use the date and denomination mentioned in the coin to determine if its silver.  The coins like dimes, quarters, halves and dollars minted before 1965 are found to contain 90% silver.  Half dollars have found to contain 40% silver.   The coins dimes, quarters and dollars minted after 1965 have no silver in them.  They have only copper and nickel in them.  Cents have never been made in silver.  All cents are made using copper and steel.  Foreign coins are very difficult to deal with.  We can use the date and denomination as a clue in the deal.  

One Test Method:  Carefully balance the coin flat on the tip of one finger, then use something like a pen to gently strike the edge of the coin. We will hear a melodious ringing sound which should gradually fade away. If the material is copper etc we will get a higher pitched ‘tinny’ sound which doesn’t last as long. Obviously it helps to have something to compare the sounds with. I tried this method with two coins. One was a 1964 with 90% silver content, and the other was a 1980 with 0% silver content. Both coins looks the same (except for the metal color) but there was a very noticeable difference in the ringing sound produced. The method isn’t foolproof, but it doesn’t cost anything and is easy to do. 

Tweet This Post Buzz This Post Facebook Reddit This Post Stumble This Post