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 Replies: 16 / Views: 2,858 |
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New Member
United States
8 Posts |
Hi! This is my first post here so be kind, as I am a real beginner. I have been buying 90% silver as survival money and as silver hedge. I just got a 1/4 bag of halfs and there were about 35 or so real shinny Kennedy half dollars dated 1966 and later. These coins show no signs of being clad coins on the edges and when I went back to the seller he told me that they were "circulated proof coins that were 90% silver". I got the sence that he was somewhat annoyed but I have spent over 10,00.00 with him in the last month or so and he knew I was just starting out. These coins weigh about 12.6 grams each, which is what my 63 Franklins weigh. Can anyone verify the existance of or contact with such coins? I got a bag of 90% quarters from the same guy with 2 Jamacian dimes (post 1990) in it and I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to the wrong shop to do business.  Thanks in advance for any help.  |
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Rest in Peace
United States
3039 Posts |
Kennedy halves dated 1965 - 1970 are 40% silver, not 90% as you were told. Still, worth having. If your dealer is annoyed with you tell him goodbye. There are too many other dealers out there that will be glad to have your business and/or answer any questions.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3294 Posts |
yeah, my main coin shop has a waiting list for any bulk silver.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2049 Posts |
Welcome to the board....there are no post 1964 90% silver halves that I am aware of. Let us know how this works out...
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New Member
 United States
8 Posts |
Dear Mr. Numismo,
So there is no way these "proof" coins are 90% and therefore I was, shall we politely say, I was mmmmmmmmm misinformed?
I don't mean to challenge you especially with with a name as Numismo, but if what you said is fact I'm going to raise hell with this guy especially since I paid 11.5 over face. I know 90% silver is hard to get and halves carry a premium, but I expect what I pay for, if that's not being out of line that is.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1682 Posts |
Hi...
As I put in my other reply to your post. Could you post a list of the dates and mint marks....that we could tell you exactly what you got.
Ken
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Rest in Peace
United States
3039 Posts |
SilverSal the proof coins from 1965 - 1970 are dated 1968 S, 1969 S and 1970 S. He's feeding you a line about the 1966s being proof. IMHO,but with a name like numismo, I've should know a little something. If he's unreasonable and/or hostile, the BBB might need to be informed.
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New Member
United States
8 Posts |
Dear Ken, Here's the date breakdown. all with "S" mint mark at the base of Jack's neck. 1970 1 looks clad! 1992 4 1993 5 1994 1 1995 1 1996 1 1997 2 1998 1 1999 2 2000 7 2001 7 2002 6 1 looks clad 2003 5 2004 2 2005 4 2007 2 51 Also there should be an image of a few of the coins if I did the upload right. Thanks again for the help. Oh and btw I got 51 these  |
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New Member
United States
8 Posts |
Oh,
I forgot my manners. Thank you guys for the info. I just donated to the forum. Best money I've spent this week. And it was over 10,000.00 I spent with this place inside of 6 weeks!
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Valued Member
United States
156 Posts |
There are indeed 90% silver post-64 Kennedy proofs. They all have the S mint mark and came from the mint with frosted devices and mirror-like fields. They are dated 1992-present.
These Kennedy proof coins also come in copper-nickel. The easiest way to tell if you have a silver proof and not a copper-nickel proof is to place a piece of tissue over the coin in question and look at the coin through the tissue. If the coin is silver, it will look white under the tissue. If the coin is copper-nickel, it will look dark gray. Use a couple of test coins that you know the composition of to compare with your mystery coin.
In my experience, this technique is foolproof unless the coin is really dirty, such as a metal-detector find. It should work just fine for your mystery coins.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2540 Posts |
Sal;
A few points:
1) If your dealer gets annoyed after you just spent $10,000 with him, find another dealer.
2) As stated above, from 1965 to 1970, all were 40% silver.
3) From the pictures that you showed, of the proofs, I'd check the rims, they all look like (have to look of) clad proofs to me.
4) Find another dealer.
5) Find another dealer.
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New Member
United States
8 Posts |
Dear Buzz,
They all check out, except the 1970 has a SLIGHT yellow tint while the others look frosty white. I'm not going to complain about 1 out of 500 coins but I am going to look for another source none the less. The only thing is shipping as this stuff its heavy. nwtmint.com includs shipping in their quotes, which reflect the charge. Thanks again guys! I would felt like an butt complaining to this man when I was wrong.
Sal
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2224 Posts |
There is an easier way to differentiate between the clad proofs and the 90% silver ones. The same way you would a business strike coin, look at the edge. The post-92 "S" mints that are silver will be pure white on the edge, whereas the clads will be the typical red with a sliver of white. About 6 months ago while searching local banks for silver halves I came across ten rolls of nothing but post 2001 coins (all of which were not intended to circulate, they were only sold by the Mint). The 200 coins I got were mostly business strikes, but there were a few dozen clad and 90% silver proofs in the rolls. I had a group of 10 2006S Silver Proofs that I sold on ebay. Here are a couple photos of the lot, including a side shot to show that they were silver proofs. http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/...04040048.jpghttp://i591.photobucket.com/albums/...04040047.jpg |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
62064 Posts |
Here is what you will see if the coin is silver or clad. Always place a silver coin on one side and compare the unknown coin to this to see if it is silver or not. Always use one layer of facial tissue. The second layer may make this harder, so if you have two ply, pull one of them off first.  Edited by coop
03/29/2009 7:25 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6381 Posts |
Hi SilverSal, and welcome!  All the 90% silver halves should weigh 12.5 grams, +/- 0.15 grams (or so). If your scale is accurate you should easily be able to distinguish the true 90% coins from the clads. The copper-nickel clads weigh 11.34 grams and the 40% silver clads weigh 11.5 grams, but there is enough variation so you can't really tell these apart just by weight. The tissue-paper test should help you there. If your dealer did include some silver-clad and/or copper-nickel clad halves in your silver bag I would take them back and insist he replace them with 90% silver coins. If he has any integrity at all he should politely apologize for the error and replace the coins immediately. If not, please let us know who he is so we'll know who to avoid. If he has an ebay seller name we should know that too. Thanks for sharing! |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:
They all check out, except the 1970 has a SLIGHT yellow tint while the others look frosty white. If they showed frosty white in the tissue test the other dates are 90% silver. The 1970 is only 40% silver. As Cop's image shows there is a BIG difference between a coppernickel clad and even a 40% silver coin. The difference betwen a 40% silver and a 90% silver will still be visible but probably not as dramatic, which your earlier comment would seem to confirm. |
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Replies: 16 / Views: 2,858 |
Posted 03/28/2009 12:48 pm
