Bought this coin last week from a local shop, and paid £7.00 for it.
Trying to find, without success so far, as to exactly what it is made of. I suppose there are two options, but before I add it to the Numista website, I want to be sure I get that bit correct. Is it silver or silver plated?
Other known dimensions
Diameter 38.6mm
Weight 26grms
Thickness 2.8mm
I have seen this coin on ebay advertised as silver, but due to the low purchase price, wondering if it might be just plated.
Anyone got any ideas how I can resolve this mystery please
Is there anything on the edge indicating fineness? If there's nothing there, I'd be almost certain that it's silver plated. The whole point of a bullion round is it's melt value; you don't leave out the fineness if you're selling rounds.
But Tristan da Cunha like to release the same £5 coin in both Silver, and Silver-plated Copper.
The coins are otherwise identical. Sadly, they do not write silver (or fineness) on their silver coins.
If I ping the coin with another silver coin and it does not ring, like on a video I have watched, then its not silver.
Does the coin I tap my coin with, have to be silver?
Verweis : "COINMAN1"Does the coin I tap my coin with, have to be silver?
Nope, I usually use a plastic pen or pencil, you don't want to damage anything.
Assuming you have a smartphone, download the Precious Coin Tester app.
Sadly, few children have been interested in collecting coins for a while now, it's an aging hobby.
So, you will have to do it old school, it should have the same note as any other English £5 silver coin (or even a Victorian crown).
Tap them both gently and see if you can replicate the sound of a known silver coin, just be careful.
I eventually got the nerve to actually carry out the test.
I 'pinged' a known 0.925 coin and got a real clear bell sound
The coin in question 'pinged' well, but nowhere near as good as the known silver coin. This coin also had a higher sounding note.
I pinged a copper nickel coin for comparison, but it was not the same as the coin in question.
What does it mean?
That's an unusual combination. Not sure if I have a coin like that.
Still think I got it for a sensible price. Do you agree?
Thanks for all of your help
Geoff (coinman1)
This is a link to one of the coins I mentioned above. I have 13 so far, although 3 are in the post to me. 8 are on the Numista website, and 2 are waiting validation. Will add the new coins when received.
The Commonwealth Mint is based in Portishead, near Bristol, which is 20 miles from where I live, but I had never heard of them until a couple of days ago.
