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Going through a pile of none US coins.. All countries

Coin FinderCoin Finder Posts: 6,953 ✭✭✭✭✭
in World & Ancient Coins Forum

Is there a good rule of thumb to differentiate silver from copper-nickel?

THanks!

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    Insider2Insider2 Posts: 14,452 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 31, 2018 10:17AM

    Double post. Color is the only way I know as the two metals look nothing alike. Over time, you'll develop your "eye" for silver

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    ShadyDaveShadyDave Posts: 2,188 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Color, weight and sound. Dropping silver will "ring" or "ping" and non-silver has a dull sound.

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    BjornBjorn Posts: 529 ✭✭✭

    Not much to add - silver coins tend to have a certain look. To be honest, I usually can tell by the coin type, but perhaps a good rule is that before about 1860 nearly any coin that looks silver is silver, while after WWI most smaller denomination coins tend to be nickel or copper-nickel, and after 1965 or so very few circulating coins are silver. This leaves about 1860 to 1920 as the real tough area...

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    lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,212 ✭✭✭✭✭

    What @Insider2 said.


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