Posted 03/27/2014 10:02 am
Hello and welcome. 
A coin that is normally bronze that appears to be "silver" is not necessarily a mint error. It may have been plated, perhaps in an attempt to make the 2p coin look like a 10p coin - even though doing so would be tantamount to forgery and therefore illegal. Or it may have been plated for other reasons.
I own an Australian "silver 2 cent piece". I know it is a plate job rather than a mint error, because my Dad made it, as an electrochemistry demonstration back in his university tutoring days. The "silver" in my case is actually zinc.
An excellent way to test whether it might be a genuine mint error or not is to weigh it, preferably to two decimal places. If it weighs the same as a normal 2p coin, then it is fair to conclude that it is just a plate job (since the plating would not noticeably add to the weight). If it weighs considerably more or considerably less than a regular 2p coin, then you might indeed have something.
A coin that is normally bronze that appears to be "silver" is not necessarily a mint error. It may have been plated, perhaps in an attempt to make the 2p coin look like a 10p coin - even though doing so would be tantamount to forgery and therefore illegal. Or it may have been plated for other reasons.
I own an Australian "silver 2 cent piece". I know it is a plate job rather than a mint error, because my Dad made it, as an electrochemistry demonstration back in his university tutoring days. The "silver" in my case is actually zinc.
An excellent way to test whether it might be a genuine mint error or not is to weigh it, preferably to two decimal places. If it weighs the same as a normal 2p coin, then it is fair to conclude that it is just a plate job (since the plating would not noticeably add to the weight). If it weighs considerably more or considerably less than a regular 2p coin, then you might indeed have something.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
