Fine silver, American Silver Eagles, and sleeplessness.
botanist
Posts: 524 ✭✭✭
Many thanks to forum member 'Roadrunner' for pointing out (in another thread) that the "fine silver" in American Silver Eagles is 0.9993 fine, and not the 0.9999 fine I had guessed it was, partly based on seeing the .9999 figure imprinted on other coins, notably Canadian Silver Maple Leaves.
Therefore, in order for an ASE to contain one troy ounce of Ag, (one troy ounce being 31.1034768 grams) it should weigh a tiny fraction more than a Maple Leaf. However, it actually weighs slightly less, a Maple Leaf being 31.104 g and an ASE 31.101 g, those figures according to the printed specifications, without me attempting to verify them independently.
From those figures, the silver content of an ASE is 31.079 g which is 0.99922 troy ounces of Ag. In a monster box of ASEs containing 500 coins, you will only be holding 499.61 t.o Ag, thus being short about 0.39 ounces or about 12 grams from the expected 500 ounces.
Should you lose any sleep over this? If you only have relatively few eagles, the amounts involved are too small to disturb your slumber. However, if you own one ASE monster box, and if you sleep 8 hours per night, by pro rata, you would be justified in losing 22.5 seconds of sleep. In order to have a valid excuse for one completely sleepless night, you would need to possess 1280 monster boxes.
Therefore, in order for an ASE to contain one troy ounce of Ag, (one troy ounce being 31.1034768 grams) it should weigh a tiny fraction more than a Maple Leaf. However, it actually weighs slightly less, a Maple Leaf being 31.104 g and an ASE 31.101 g, those figures according to the printed specifications, without me attempting to verify them independently.
From those figures, the silver content of an ASE is 31.079 g which is 0.99922 troy ounces of Ag. In a monster box of ASEs containing 500 coins, you will only be holding 499.61 t.o Ag, thus being short about 0.39 ounces or about 12 grams from the expected 500 ounces.
Should you lose any sleep over this? If you only have relatively few eagles, the amounts involved are too small to disturb your slumber. However, if you own one ASE monster box, and if you sleep 8 hours per night, by pro rata, you would be justified in losing 22.5 seconds of sleep. In order to have a valid excuse for one completely sleepless night, you would need to possess 1280 monster boxes.
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No, I wouldnt lose any sleep over it even owning a monster box. I like the 22 second theory. May I borrow that line when someone who questions me on the total oz.'s when doing volume?
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