Are These Commemorative Coins Silver?

Pics are too small to see what they are, but my guess is they are privately minted medals. Unless marked, most likely just made from clad with little/no value.

Clad, unless marked otherwise. There are millions of privately made medals out there.

Companies such as the Franklin Mint often produced silver commemorative medals in the past, so they are not uncommon.



to the CCF!

The medals shown appear to part of a series of medals offered back in 1971 and 1972 by the Historic Mint of Long Island. On the medal with the edge markings, you can see "HM" in a diamond; the "HM" is for Historic Mint.

Folks could subscribe to a complete set of "The Age of American Revolution" series which consisted of 102 sterling silver medals, or the abbreviated "Highlights of the Age of the American Revolution" which included 56 sterling silver medals. The complete set was issued at a rate of two per month and cost $24.50 for both; the "Highlights" set subscription delivered one medal per month at a cost of $12.50.

As noted, the medals in the sets I've listed are sterling silver (0.925 fine) and were double-struck as proofs and are 39mm in diameter. The silver pieces had the edge hallmarks show in the images. A total of 3,400 of the 102-piece sets were available; 7,000 of the "Highlights" set were to be struck. I haven't seen actual final mintage/sales figures, however - final figures are likely to be lower than the maximum figures I've listed. The Historic Mint stated that medals were not to be struck in base metals in future editions, but I can't confirm that they stuck to such a promise.

The Historic Mint also did a mini series of American Revolution medals - just 12 to the set. These were struck in sterling silver (800 sets available), sterling silver with 24K gold plating (200 sets) and in sterling silver with platinum plating (20 sets). I don't have pricing on the medals.

All of the information I have is for precious metal versions of the medals; all of them are supposed to have the hallmarks on the edge along with a serial number. The fact that yours do not have the edge marking leads me to believe they are medals struck later than the above and are base metal versions of the series. Copper-nickel (solid, not clad) and brass would be likely metallic compositions. Are your medals 39mm in diameter? Do they appear to be proof strikes?

Great information, commems!