Clad vs Silver Proofs

coinrookie

I have been told by dealers that I cannot expect the same quality in a Clad pr69dc compared to a Silver. The reason being the clad is an inferior compound(durability,luster wise) compared to silver. What I want to know is this. I understand that the Silver may have a more white and black contrast and thicker frosting. But is a Clad more likely to have spots and scratches,accepting the fact that it may have less black and white contrast.

goodolbigun

Don't think the clad has more spots er scratches than the silver coins,but in the looooong run ya can't beat silver fer value'n just be'n pertier.....lol

IndianHeadMan

Silver is more malleable thus flows into the dies better.

nwcs

I've found silver to have a better "look" to it in proof than clad. I think the metal has a different quality of reflection than nickel and it is more appealing to me. Like the difference in reflectivity of a diamond and zircon. Diamond is adamantine and zircon is vitreous. Very similar, but not quite the same.

Neil

CarlWohlforth

I've got a nice '72 at auction (sorry about the SSP [SSP = shameless self promotion]). It is of the quality I expect for a 69 DCAM. No spots or scratches. If it had scratches it would be a 67 or less. Pretty frosty clads can be found from the late 70s.

I would agree it is easier to find DCAM silver coins. Silver does look whiter than clad. I would skip on any PR 69 DCAM clads that might have developed spots.

cladking

IndianHeadMan said it best. Silver has always been considered a more valuable
metal because of it's scarcity and physical attributes. For coins it has to be alloyed
with copper to be sufficienty durable- - pure silver coins would wear out too fast.
Copper nickel is one of the best coinage media, this is why almost every country in
the world uses it for their circulating coinage! It's biggest problem is that it is very
hard, and hence it is more difficult to coin fully. If the dies are set to bring the de-
sign all the way up then the dies wear out much faster. The frosting on the dies is
quickly worn off by Cu/Ni planchets. It is certainly possible to get just as high quality
in a clad as a silver, and if you keep looking i'm sure you'll find it.

presleyh

Well if you do ikes or kennedys you gotta do both clads and silvers.

nwcs

While clads are certainly in use world-wide, there is still a lot of aluminum coinage out there. And alloys of aluminum/copper and zinc. I found this great quote from one source:

"The next important examples of new copper currency will appear in Europe in 2002 when the euro family of coins is issued. Like the current English 2-pound piece, the 1- and 2-euro coins will be bimetallic, that is, they will have a bullseye-like appearance with an outer ring of one alloy (and color) surrounding a central region of another composition. The 1-euro coin will have an outer ring of 75% copper, 20% zinc and 5% nickel (a golden color); the center will be 75% copper/25% nickel (silvery) clad over nickel. The 2-euro coin will have the opposite color scheme with an outer ring of 75% copper/25% nickel surrounding a center having the 2-euro's golden alloy clad over nickel. Dollars of all nationalities, pounds, francs, marks, pesos, pesetas, rials, lira, zlote, lita, yen, yuan and soon, euros benefit from the unique properties offered by copper alloys. Who says copper is a nonprecious metal?"

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