sgard Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 In 1920 Great Britain chenged finesness of silver coins from 925 to 500. What is possible to identificate - is coin from old or new type? For the 1920 3 pence weight and design the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoRnholio Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 I know for the 1967 Canadian 10c and 25c coins where the fineness can be either 0.800 or 0.500, there isn't really an economical way to tell the difference. But with the fineness being either .925 sterling or .500, you may be able to get some kind of jeweler's test kit which would detect if the coin is sterling or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ætheling Posted March 28, 2009 Report Share Posted March 28, 2009 One way of telling, and this isn't very useful to be honest with UNC coins, but the .500 silver from 1920-1922 often tarnishes a rather unpleasant yellow (like a nicotine stain). Apparently this is due to the composition of 50% silver, 40% copper and 10% nickel. From 1922 it was altered to 50/50 copper/silver until 1926, when it alter to it's final form of silver 50%, copper 40%, nickel 5% and zinc 5%. Apparently this was noticed as early as 1922 and thus they altered the alloy, so presumably coins with only limited circulation soon turned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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