| Author |
 Replies: 11 / Views: 2,024 |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1227 Posts |
Okay, so. Today got handed a quarter at work. It's worn thin and the edges are milled down, like it might have been a Dryer Coin or something (much thinner than the middle). You can clearly see Washington and the eagle, but all you can see of the date is the top of the 19--no help there. If it's clad, it's worth 25 cents. Here's the question: I used to know how to do this and have forgotten. How can I find out if this is silver and worth keeping for its value? Will normal tests work on a coin this damaged? I guarantee checking the weight won't help, or I'd have used the food scale right at work--too much of the original metal is missing. |
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
604 Posts |
Have you tried dropping it?
Silver coins have a distinctive ring to them, different than clad coins.
Also, if it was clad, you would still be able to see some copper on the edge.
Edited by Nickel Guy
03/18/2015 02:54 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1078 Posts |
Look for a copper trace on the edge. If the sound it makes when dropped or tapped on is as a regular quarter then it isn't silver.
If there isn't a copper trace on the edge then it's probably silver.
|
|
Moderator
 Australia
16826 Posts |
A Dryer Coin has a thicker rim than normal, not thinner. Sounds like it might have been clipped or machined off. Unless, of course, it's a mint error struck on a 5 cent planchet. If the coin is now a different shape to a normal quarter (size, thickness etc) then the ring test isn't going to be of much help, either. There's always the tissue test, which should still work even if the coin has been worn or eaten by acid. Finally, if you've got a super-powerful neodymium magnet handy, try waving it back and forth over the surface of the coin. A piece of silver will show eddy current braking and "grab on" to the passing magnetic field, a clad or cupronickel coin will not. Quote:
...If it's clad, it's worth 25 cents. Not necessarily. Nobody, not even the banks, are obligated to accept a coin that has been mutilated. "Mutilated" is defined as "coins that are bent, broken, corroded, not whole, melted together and not machine countable". Mutilated coins can be redeemed by sending them back to the Mutilated Coin Redemption Section of the US Mint, but you need to acquire 1 pound bags of them to avail yourself of this service. 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
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1132 Posts |
I agree with dropping it. Drop a modern quarter & the quarter in question. There is a very distinctive difference in silver quarters, almost a "ting" sound (very high & resonate ring). The difference (if any) will be immediately noticeable.
If your not sure if there's a difference, there's not.
Edited by CopperCastle
03/18/2015 10:47 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
3049 Posts |
1)specific gravity test... doesn't matter how much of the coin is worn away.. you can usually do your calculations with pretty good precision..
2) Not exactly sure about the U.S. quarters but I'm sure the non silver ones are probaly magnetic... so test the coin against a magnet.. if it sticks it's not silver.
3) Acid test... use an acid silver test on the coin... (fine only if it's junk silver)
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1192 Posts |
Clad US coins are nonmagnetic so it's easily to sort out the evil canadian coins :). Try a ice cube and sound test. Mostly likely it's a clad but it doesn't hurt to see. Place a ice cube on it and see if it starts melting instantly. If so it's silver but it could be a wives tale. The design will help too on the obverse. If their are fine lines through Washington hair where it looks like spaghetti it's not silver and was recently made. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1358 Posts |
Copper along the edge and sound tests are best.
Pictures would also help. Later clad coins (post 1973 or so) simply *look* different in their design than the silver ones.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
1. Simply cut it in half. If a clad coin, you'll see that on the cut.
2. Use arc welder on it and if melts into a blob of Silver, they it WAS Silver.
3. Take it to a coin store and ask them.
4. Take it to a Jewlery Store and ask them
5. Oddly enough it is true that a dropped coin makes different sounds if Silver or non Silver.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
1227 Posts |
Okay, sound test it is, and the results are . . . clad.
I tried a little Verdi-Care on it, and voila, this coin is from either the 1990s or 1980s (too much of the bottom is worn away to be sure of that third digit, but it's clearly got some kind of closed top), Denver Mint, and based on the large amount of pitting I can see on Washington's bust post-Verdicare I'm going to hazard a guess that this coin has been acid-dipped.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
157 Posts |
It isn't odd that they make different sounds when knocked against a surface. I'm 33, and know that the old cash registers had a spot on them where they would tap the coins on that spot to see if they made the right sound. If they didn't they were counterfit... check out old registers, there should be a little spot for that on it.
|
|
Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
One possibility, if the edges are nice and smooth but worn, is that the coin spent time in casino slots. I lived near Atlantic City for years, and there were a ton of Quarters in circulation with perfectly smooth edges - slots wear reeding off very quickly.
|
| |
Replies: 11 / Views: 2,024 |
|
Posted 03/18/2015 02:23 am
