Can a coin be considered a "silver coin" if it has a fineness of 0.100? Should it not be categorized according to the metal that has more of it?
For example https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces3550.html
Verweis : SmartOneKgIt has a dollar and a half worth of silver.
I wouldn't consider it not silver.
That's what I think, and I do not know why in several catalogs are classified as silver coins, even if it have neither a 50% silver. Another example: The half dollar of 1966. has an approximately 40% silver.
I would tend to agree with guanaco on this one; if the alloy has less than 50% Silver then another term should be used to describe the metal such as 'Billon', which is defined as "a metal alloy containing mostly copper or bronze with small quantity of silver" (from Wikipedia).
Just because you can't see it ... doesn't mean it isn't there - Anon.
Verweis : radrick007I would tend to agree with guanaco on this one; if the alloy has less than 50% Silver then another term should be used to describe the metal such as 'Billon', which is defined as "a metal alloy containing mostly copper or bronze with small quantity of silver" (from Wikipedia).
Do you know if there is in numismatic a "rule" for these designations? and another question: Is that definition of "billon" same as "clad silver" ?
Clad silver's like silver on top of a cheap inner metal. Billon's more like an alloy, where the two are mixed together. So in other words the pesos, for example, are a sort of billon, except they're mixed with nickel.
They look pretty silver. I've got many uncirculated ones and they look really nice and white, with the exception of the beautiful tarnishing.
Kenny
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Also the Bullion Value indicator on a silver coin page will not be indicated if less than 50%
And the percentage has to be shown on the page for the value to be indicated - so just reading 'Silver' will not work but 'Silver 0.900' will.
Also the Bullion Value indicator on a silver coin page will not be indicated if less than 50%
And the percentage has to be shown on the page for the value to be indicated - so just reading 'Silver' will not work but 'Silver 0.900' will.
For some reason, the Bullion Value Indicator doesn't work even on the 100 Mexican pesos, although their centers consists of 16.812 g sterling silver. Fineness is clearly stated in the description.
It's a very good question. A coin which merely has silver content ought not to be considered as "silver".
I am a keen hoarder of the Mexican Pesos produced in the 1950's and 1960's which have a silver content of only 10%. Despite being quite large coins their intrinsic value is only around $2 each. I've never scrapped a coin for it's melt value but I'm told that the cost of extracting the silver in a coin of less than .400 fineness makes it non viable until silver reaches $100 per ounce. That's a good thing. Apart from a few really nice UNC examples, these are the coins which I like to hold when I'm thinking. They look like silver, the have a nice reassuring "clink" when I let them trickle from one hand to the other. I have about 30 of them now in a red velvet pouch which sits under my monitor. It's very therapeutic!
Unfortunately these are being sold on eBay as "large Mexican silver dollar sized coins" for anything upwards of $10. There are going to be a lot of disappointed buyers I reckon.
I'm not sure about using the term billon though. Describing a Kennedy half dollar as a billon coin just seems anachronistic. Without searching, I own two coins from the Delhi Sultanate (c.a. 1500 / 1600) a couple of early Swiss coins and a very ugly Scottish Bawbee all made from billon. The Indian coins look like silver as do the Swiss ones yet the Bawbee looks like dirty copper. It seems to me that billon coins contain only traces of silver and that the actual amount is either unknown or varied according to supply even within the same series.
There are some issues which are actually better for having a low silver content. The British East Africa coins with .200 silver tend to acquire a unique dark tone which is very beautiful probably due to the composition. I have an almost complete set of these. Interestingly I'm told that these are the first coins to feature a lion, an actual depiction of a real lion that is not a stylised heraldic type. Anyone know if that's true?
Non illegitimis carborundum est. Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!
My opinion is that : every coin which has a percentage of a precious metal should be named by the name of the precious metal + percentage of it . I think that silver and gold will be much more important than copper or steel. That 1 peso is much more worthy of value (metal value) than the 2 euro made of al bronze or ni .
I agree with pnightingale, and it is disappointing to see how some people take advantage of the limited knowledge of others. I already mentioned in another post that some time ago I saw in a small antiques store one 150 colones coin (proof) at the price of $ 200.00 (american dollars) when you can buy the same proof set (BU of course) for $ 17.14 in the central bank of reserves, considering that this coin has a weight of 25.0 g (0.900 silver) you're just paying the silver that has in his composition! when you buy it in the bank, however there are coin dealers who want to sell the dimes (USA) from 1964 to six dollars each coin just because "they are of silver." This is absurd and I'm glad exist sites like Numista where you can clarify doubts and not to be cheating.
I wouldn't consider a silver coin, but I still get a little excited when I find one in a bulk lot.
I think, maybe, any coin with less than 40% shouldn't be listed as silver, but it should be noted in some way.
If I only collected "silver" coins, I believe I would still be willing to add a US "silver" war nickel to said collection.
Verweis : ctuckerI wouldn't consider a silver coin, but I still get a little excited when I find one in a bulk lot.
You're obviously right not to consider that a silver coin since it has no silver in it, only copper, nickel and zinc. See this link to Wikipedia which has an interesting comment about half-way down the page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_silver
Just because you can't see it ... doesn't mean it isn't there - Anon.
Can a coin be considered a "silver coin" if it has a fineness of 0.100?
No, under 0.500 it isn't silver, is billon.
Should it not be categorized according to the metal that has more of it?
No matter the criteria, while always be the same. Many billon coins in Numista have "Silver(billon)" in the metal field, but others have "Silver" + fineness.
Verweis : ctuckerI wouldn't consider a silver coin, but I still get a little excited when I find one in a bulk lot.
You're obviously right not to consider that a silver coin since it has no silver in it, only copper, nickel and zinc. See this link to Wikipedia which has an interesting comment about half-way down the page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_silver
That's interesting. I figured that it would be listed otherwise in Krause if it didn't contain any silver. However, the point I was making was that even coins with small amounts (10-40%) of silver, would be welcome finds in a bulk lot where you weren't expecting them.
Verweis : ctuckerThat's interesting. I figured that it would be listed otherwise in Krause if it didn't contain any silver. However, the point I was making was that even coins with small amounts (10-40%) of silver, would be welcome finds in a bulk lot where you weren't expecting them.
To be honest, nothing surprises me about Krause these days - I'm sure I've seen this metal referred to in other sections of the SCWC as Copper-Nickel-Zinc. You're absolutely right about surprise Silver finds though; I love the look and feel of Silver coins. I picked up one of these recently in the rummage trays at the London Coin Fair: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces4203.html
I know it's only small and light but it's Sterling Silver (92.5%) and when you consider I got it for either 25p or 50p (I can't remember which tray it came from) then it was also a bargain find.
Just because you can't see it ... doesn't mean it isn't there - Anon.
Thank you all for your answers, now I have clear concepts like "billon coin", "bullion coin", "clad silver", "alpaca" and so on. See you in another post.
