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is there a website I can go to find out which countries had 90% silver in their coins

jessewvujessewvu Posts: 5,065 ✭✭✭✭✭
in World & Ancient Coins Forum
I have a bunch of old foreign coins from say 1920 to 1970 and was trying to figure out if any of them are 90% silver. Any help would be appreciated.

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  • jessewvujessewvu Posts: 5,065 ✭✭✭✭✭
    image

    Here are just a few. The one with the holes in it says 1891
  • PreussenPreussen Posts: 2,307 ✭✭✭
    Standard Catalog of World Coins for sale...a must for every collector of world coins -Preussen
    "Illegitimis non carborundum" -General Joseph Stilwell. See my auctions
  • jessewvujessewvu Posts: 5,065 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I don't want to buy a book, i just want to know which countries used 90% silver in their coins. Someone has to have a free website...
  • ajaanajaan Posts: 17,603 ✭✭✭✭✭
    There aren't any websites that I know of. It would involve listing a lot of coins from a lot of different countries and time periods. I don't think many countries used .900 silver. British coins were sterling, .925, as were the earlier Canadian coins.

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  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,875 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The only one in that picture with any silver content in it was the British shilling, and that particular one was only .500 silver (50% silver content).

    (Whoops- I stand corrected, by Sapyx. I just looked at the design and thought that was an early-1940s shilling- didn't note the date. No silver in that one, either.)

    The list of varying silver standards for each country over time is far too long for any single website, to the best of my knowledge.




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  • SapyxSapyx Posts: 2,360 ✭✭✭✭✭
    None of the coins in your second post contain any silver.

    I do have some general guidelines for you.

    - Great Britain: all "silver-looking" coins prior to 1920 are all sterling silver (.925 fine), then prior to 1946 they're all .500 fine.

    - Canada: all "equivalent to US silver coins" prior to 1920 were sterling silver, then prior to 1968 .800 fine, then some 1968 were .500 fine.

    - Australia: all "silver looking" coins prior to 1946 are sterling silver, then prior to 1965 they're all .500 fine, then the 1966 50¢ is .800 fine.

    - South Africa: all "silver looking" coins prior to 1951 are .800 fine, then prior to 1961 they're .500 fine.

    - Everywhere except New Guinea: if it's silver-looking but got a hole in the centre of it, it's not silver.

    - Latin Monetary Union (most of Europe from the period 1860 to 1914): silver coins are .835 fine, except for the large "5 unit" coins, which were .900 fine. Not all "silver-looking" coins will be silver.
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  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,875 ✭✭✭✭✭
    PS- you really should pick up a copy of the Krause catalog, even if it is an older, used one. That will give you the info you want and much, much more.

    worldcoingallery.com is a good site for general info but it is not going to help you with silver bullion statistics, unfortunately.

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  • PreussenPreussen Posts: 2,307 ✭✭✭


    << <i>I don't want to buy a book, i just want to know which countries used 90% silver in their coins. Someone has to have a free website... >>

    If you bought the book, you'd have all the info you'd need to build a free website for others to use image. -Preussen
    "Illegitimis non carborundum" -General Joseph Stilwell. See my auctions
  • newbiecollectornewbiecollector Posts: 2,992


    << <i>

    << <i>I don't want to buy a book, i just want to know which countries used 90% silver in their coins. Someone has to have a free website... >>

    If you bought the book, you'd have all the info you'd need to build a free website for others to use image. -Preussen >>

    image
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  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,731 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Careful.

    This is how I started.

    I memorized all the silver coins so I could pick them up in junk
    boxes and started noticing that some of the base metal coins
    just never appeared or never appeared in nice condition.

    Just be careful what you know in this hobby. image
    tempus fugit extra philosophiam.
  • BCNumismaticsBCNumismatics Posts: 454


    << <i>None of the coins in your second post contain any silver.

    I do have some general guidelines for you.

    - Great Britain: all "silver-looking" coins prior to 1920 are all sterling silver (.925 fine), then prior to 1946 they're all .500 fine.

    - Canada: all "equivalent to US silver coins" prior to 1920 were sterling silver, then prior to 1968 .800 fine, then some 1968 were .500 fine.

    - Australia: all "silver looking" coins prior to 1946 are sterling silver, then prior to 1965 they're all .500 fine, then the 1966 50¢ is .800 fine.

    - South Africa: all "silver looking" coins prior to 1951 are .800 fine, then prior to 1961 they're .500 fine.

    - Everywhere except New Guinea: if it's silver-looking but got a hole in the centre of it, it's not silver.

    - Latin Monetary Union (most of Europe from the period 1860 to 1914): silver coins are .835 fine, except for the large "5 unit" coins, which were .900 fine. Not all "silver-looking" coins will be silver. >>



    Sapyx,
    South Africa issued the following coins in .500 fine silver between 1961 & 1964 - 2-1/2c.,5c.,10c.,20c.,& 50c.

    South Africa also issued silver 1 Rand in .800 fine silver from 1965.

    Aidan.
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