Ætheling

It won't be as 'aggressive' since the silver is in the way, but on a .500 silver piece half of it is copper, on a .900 silver piece 10% is copper. If the copper has migrated to the surface then the coin is in trouble.

Jersey; 1953-1967 coinage (although the dates are varied here and there because coins were only struck every now and again). I can't find who designed the obverse but it's different to the Gillick one. It's of the Queen crowned with wavy hair. Although it's Gillick like. 1968-1997 coinage is almost eclusively of the Machin obverse. 1998+ is Rank Broadley. (The Maklouf was not used for circulating coinage).

I meant no longer in use in the UK. (My post was UK only) I dare say some country somewhere will still use it. Jersey as far as i know (excepting a few commems) didn't bother with it. Although i'd have to check that. I'm hoping others can help us figure out this one. It'd be nice to know when everywhere changed and to what.

Come on you can't turn down an overweight coin can you?

Well yeah there's that too. I'd give anything to be 20 years older so i would have had the chance to find silver in circulation. I spent most of my earliest days in collecting (1990-1993) looking for silver in change, but unfortunately the early 1980s had seen most of it disappear when the bullion rates went up. Thus it was worse than searching for a needle in a haystack. I still look through change now hoping to find some foreign coins hoping they'll be silver. All i seem to get (and it rare these days) is Lincoln cents and the odd euro, which i either throw in a box somewhere and forget about or do my best to try and conceal them in a pile of pennies somewhere and get shut of. I think if i was in the US i would have been looking through Half dollar rolls every week scouring every one i could lay my hands on looking for the silver. Silver is the most wonderful thing. I usually have to buy junk quality US coins off of ebay for a premium. You know like double the silver price. £4/£5 a kennedy half. Mucho fun...

Well the oldest i ever came across was a 1930s George V .500 silver florin. I forget the exact date of the coin but from memory i was sent to the shop with it by my mother to buy a bottle of milk in about 1992. So bottle of milk she got. I didn't want to spend it but it wasn't mine and i didn't have another 10p piece anywhere on me to be able to save it. I managed to find one eventually about an hour later and i went back to the little Post Office at the end of the street for the coin but it had already gone by then. Thus bang went my only brush with a silver coin in circulation, and the only time i ever saw a George V coin. Other than that the oldest coins i found regularly were 1947 florins which were demonetised in 1993. Which means the oldest coins i get now are 1971 and since they were issued in the billions and you get half a dozen a day it's hardly worth the bother to check change anymore.

Okay the 1980s+ probably weren't needed but in the times of euro coinage i though it only fair to add them. Feel free to add a brief post (or not so brief post) on what you found/spent and where, and more importantly if you spent it, why!

If you want to take metal off of the coin then stick it on the anode (+).

Yeah i'd considered that one. Surely you'd need a silver containing solution to immerse the coin into though, otherwise where is the silver being plated onto the coin going to come from? (Unless it's coming off of the coin). And the coin should be popped on the cathode i believe (-). Na loses 1 electron to a non-metal meaning it becomes a + ion. Thus i would think most metals would follow that pattern of losing electrons and becoming + ions, thus the metal will go to the - rod so the coin wants to be on that one. If i've got that all wrong never mind it's a long time since i did any science.

Right say you had a pretty cheap silver coin with verdigris on it and you've got nothing much to lose by cleaning it. Afterall you have to clean it otherwise the verdigris will spread and destroy it. Lets say the silver purity is .900 or higher. Could you clean it via a displacement reaction? Silver coin, silver Nitate etc... or would it just make it worse? A totally off the wall idea... the more i think about it the more stupid it sounds.

Mind you having said that i've just remembered i once chucked a copper plate penny in some CuSO4 and it turned green quite quick, sticking that in water didn't get it off. So maybe it'd be so well bonded to the surface that it wouldn't shift?

If it's CuSO4 then wouldn't just washing it in water remove it? Afterall it's water soluble. Me thinks it must be chloride or carbonate, which i forget if they are soluble or not.

Okay anyone with existing knowledge or a Krause please help me figure this out because there's seems to be no logic to how these obverses are used. There's no standard set of dates for this lot. Here's the UK Version of it that i know from memory; (Pictures are from Tony Clayton's Website) The Gillick Obverse (1953-1967) (also including a proof only issued of predecimal coins issued in 1970 to be sold as 'the last predecimal' coin sets.) This obverse is still in use on the Maundy Money produced in the UK as handed out by the Queen. The Machin Obverse (1968-1984) Now only used on stamps. The Maklouf Obverse (1985-1997) No longer in use. The Rank Broadley Obverse (1998-present) Used on all new coins except the Maundy Money which retains the orginal 1953 design. Are there any countries still out there that still issue new coins bearing the Machin or Maklouf obverses? I believe some countries skipped the Maklouf altogether. Whilst others such as Canada came up with their own...

Now that is a hell of alot nicer than the monstrosity they released for the UK for that particular event. This does also demonstrate one other thing though, where is the logic behind the obverse portraits? 2002 and they are still using the Maklouf portrait, not that i should complain it could be worse it could be the Broadley 'old mugshot' obverse. Is Alderney still using this obverse?

That avatar of yours... I know Canada is a country that has French and British influence, but don't you think including the fleur de lis in the shield is a bit of an anomaly? The British monarchy relinquished all claims to any particular French territory in 1801 and that's the year the French Royal arms were dropped from the Royal Standard. Considering the last piece of mainland French soil we own was Calais and we lost that in 1558, it was probably about time they did something about the somewhat out of date Royal Arms. (Although we still rule Jersey and Guernsey so we haven't lost everything French). Whioch makes me wonder why they included them on the Canadian coinage. Now you might be inclined to argue it from the French side and say they merely represent the French heritage of Canada, but if so why did they pick the Fleur de Lis? Because in France they'd been replaced even earlier during the French Revolution when the tricolour was introduced. I hadn't noticed until now. Very odd. But intriguing.

1816-present = 22ct gold, rest is copper. So .917 Au. Except some 1859's which are 22ct Au, with the remainder comprising of Cu and As.

No offence on this one but doesn't he have a slight, erm resemblence to a Koala Bear? Hmm Odd... EDIT;- Now if i had bothered to let the first image load before i saw that one i would have got it! Never mind...

Well if it's anything with that in then there's your problem. Chlorine is very reactive and gets on with metals far, far too well. Also avoid Fluorine which is even worse. If you think about it there's not many silver compounds out there when compared to say iron or copper, but you'll note that chlorides go way down the reactivity lists. As do nitrates. Although i am somewhat puzzelled, did you say the coins were silver or copper? Silver and copper are less reactive than calcium and thus i would have though that the chlorine would have remained with the calcium. Unless it's done something more complicated and come up with a more complex compound involving the coins as well.

That's why i never used tissue. I think you'll find a cloth is better or a tea towel.

I'd rather have no change than too much. I don't like change very much, gradual i can cope with, too fast and i feel i can't keep up. Immobilised coinage is sometimes nice.

Yep forgot about that bit! Yeah i used to place it between two books, or under something heavy. Not just curling, you don't want it looking crinkle cut...

Add Lithium, Potassium and Cæsium to that list, plus a few others. I bet Francium is fun.

The other day i finally managed to get my first 2004 Trevithick £2 coin. Only took me how long to find one? It can now be spent again... Other than that, still nothing interesting and no 2005's either. Collecting from change really is dull round these parts.

Well generally you cut the envelope to get it down to a managable size around the stamp. Then submerge it in water for a minute or two. With a bit of care the stamp should come right off, then leave it on the side to dry.

A few Gothic florins might go down well for that.