| Author |
 Replies: 9 / Views: 2,501 |
|
|
Valued Member
United States
97 Posts |
I searched this website and I searched google for a chart showing the weights for all US coins but couldn't find anything. The US mint has a chart for current coin weights but I'm looking for something broken down farther. Such as wheat, steel, pre 1982, and current pennies. Is there anything out there like this? -Allen |
|
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Edited by biokemist6
01/06/2012 3:29 pm
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
 You may want to look into purchasing a copy of the Red Book by Whitman Publishing. Not only the weights of coins but the quantity minted and some historical facts of all US coins. Prices too but usually way over. |
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Or a copy of the Coin World Almanac that has a complete chart with all the weights in grains and grams with tolerances plus diameters, composition, and specific gravity |
|
Valued Member
 United States
97 Posts |
Thanks everyone. I have the Red Book but I was looking for one chart that had all the weights of modern coins as a quick reference. I will probably just make one myself. Thanks again for your help! |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1027 Posts |
Of course, you have to look out for errors wherever you go, the http://www.coincommunity.com/us_coin_facts/ page incorrectly lists the composition of modern silver halves as being 40% silver clad when in fact they are all 90% coin silver and 12.5 grams just like coins minted before 1965. It has the dimes and quarters right but messes up on the halves. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
860 Posts |
Quote:Or a copy of the Coin World Almanac that has a complete chart with all the weights in grains and grams with tolerances plus diameters, composition, and specific gravity The "tolerance" part that is often missing in other references is more important since inexpensive digital scales have come about. Often a collector expects a 1909-SVDB to weigh exactly 3.11 grams, when its tolerance is +/- 0.13 grams so the weight could theoretically be from 3.24 - 2.98 grams. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1027 Posts |
It is also important to understand that being out of tolerance does not automatically mean that something is wrong with the coin, only that there is one reason to suspect an issue. Tolerances are used to accept or reject batches (typically of blanks or planchets) based on samples, not something that each coin is held to at the mint. If the only issue with a given coin is that the weight is out of tolerance then there is probably nothing really wrong. Tolerances pretty much go out the window on FR02 dollars as well, but that is really a different issue.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:
Tolerances are used to accept or reject batches (typically of blanks or planchets) based on samples, not something that each coin is held to at the mint. That is true for the base metal coins but for the silver and gold coins through at least the early 20th century they were held to the tolerances individually. In the early mint each piece was weighed by hand both before and after striking. later automatic weighing machines were developed that could rapidly weigh and sort the pieces as to whether they were over under or within tolerance. They probably also sorted them within the tolerance range because when they made up the bags, at least of the gold coins, they had a bag tolerance weight as well which was even stricter than the individual coin tolerances and they would have to carefully combine the lighter and heavier coins to achieve the bag tolerance. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1027 Posts |
You are absolutely right about early practices. It was at least in part that attention to detail that laid the foundation for the trust in U.S. money that still exists today.
|
| |
Replies: 9 / Views: 2,501 |
|
Posted 01/06/2012 5:08 pm
