Posted 02/18/2016 04:53 am
As a long time CRH & collector, Kennedy halves, (both clad and silver), are all over the place when in comes to weight.
They best way to tell if it is silver is by examination.
40% halves will have a much whiter appearance than clad.
Their edge and reeding will be similar but the clad half will display an undeniable copper ring the makes up one half the edge.
The 40% will look similar but the copper ring will be more dull and somewhat darker.
An easy trick I learned is to grab a 2 ply Kleenex and pull it apart and place one of the thinner ply pieces over the halves.
The tissue will be somewhat transparent and silver coins will appear much "whiter" than their clad counter parts. It's easiest to practice with known silver coins first, to see how white they look through tissue.
Then there's always the "ring test".
If you have ever dropped a silver coin on the floor you know that it has a ring all of its own. Most experienced collectors can tell you when a coin hits the floor whether it's silver or not, with their eyes closed.
It's been my observation that upon hearing that unmistakable "ring" for the first time it will either resonate in such a way that it instantly "catches" your ear or it won't. There's alot of people that just don't appear to have the ability to hear it.
As with anything, the more familiar you get with certain types of coins, mainly by looking at thousands upon thousands of them over the course of your lifetime, you will eventually gain the insight needed to be able to spot a silver coin when you see one 99.9% of the time.
And in the future, please post full, clear pictures of both sides of the coin(s) in question as they are necessary for us fellow members to give you more informed answers to your questions.
But most importantly...have fun!
And please try to make it fun for your two boys, so that they can begin collecting coins at a young age.
That's one of the only regrets I have! (Not starting my collection sooner in life!)
