Silver Content in Silver Coins

In older coins this might require researching the archives of a mint, or it might be done by obtaining a book that gives this information.  Often coin books give the known information about a coin, including the dimensions, weight, and metal content. 

One might be interested in the purity of a coin, or the weight of the silver content.  If the purity is 0.900 and the coin weighs one ounce, there is nine-tenths of an ounce of silver in that coin.   This is easier to determine if your source gives the ASW of the coin.  ASW stands for actual silver weight.  In such cases it is not necessary to multiply, just read the silver content of the coin.

In very pure coins, such as 0.999 or 0.9999 pure, the purity is shown on the coin.  A typical 0.9999 one-ounce silver coin would show 1 ounce 0.9999 Ag, where Ag is the chemical symbol for silver.  The word ounce may be abbreviated oz. 

The Canadian silver dollar once was minted with eighty percent silver content.  Others had a purity of just fifty percent.  Briefly the United States, in the years 1965 through 1970, produced forty percent silver half dollars.  These are representative of coins a mint wished to claim to be silver, but the coins had a rather low silver content.

The ninety percent purity was coin silver.  This is the percentage the United states used for most, although not all, silver coins minted before 1965.  Very old coins had a different content of silver, as did the five cent pieces minted during World war II, but often for older coins the purity was close to ninety percent.

The notable exception was the five cent pieces minted using silver during World War II.  They had a lower silver content.

Canada has used Sterling silver in some coins, including some silver dollars and even in some commemorative coins.  Sterling silver has a purity of 0.925.  Also, many European countries mint using Sterling silver for some of their silver coins.  A quick check of the Eurostar silver coins will show a significant number minted in Sterling silver.

This is not to say all European silver coins are Sterling silver.  The Royal Mint uses fine silver, and some larger French coins are also in fine silver.  Bullion coins like the silver Austrian philharmonic and the Armenian Noah’s Ark are minted in fine silver, along with the large range of British silver bullion coins.

I once had a discussion with a jewelry dealer at a show, and he said the Sterling silver coins were preferred for jewelry.  If a fine silver coin is melted to be reused in jewelry, the silver is too soft. So, an impurity has to be added.  Sterling silver is just right for mixture of silver and other metals silver jewelry.

Silver is a soft metal.  Use of 0.900 and 0.925 coins were due to making hard enough coins to wear well in circulation.  It is unlikely any coin of greater purity would be minted, even today, for circulation use.  However, neither commemorative coins, not bullion coins, are expected to be handled much, so fine silver can be used for them.

Many major mints now have gone to fine silver.  Certainly, the bullion coins are often minted in fine silver.  Silver with a purity of 0.999 was introduced some time back.  Now, some mints use 0.9999 fine silver.

Is the fourth nine really important?  It does cost more to achieve the higher purity.  Of a practical nature it should not be significant.  However, the psychology of the public is to perceive the slightly purer silver as more desirable, and competition in producing desirable bullion coins is fierce.  The number of silver bullion coins seems to increase annually, along with the increasing number of bars and rounds.  Now, having an interesting subject, and claiming a high purity seem to have appeal.

For fine silver coins the purity and weight are often specified right on the coin. 

Yes, there is no international standard regarding the purity of a precious metal coin.  The French did a twenty-coin set featuring Mickey Mouse, and the purity of the silver was only 0.333.

The United States has been minting silver coins using the 0.900 coin standard, with the two exceptions being the five-ounce quarters and the silver American Eagle.  Commemorative coins, and small quarters have been issued in the lower purity.  However, the Apollo Moon Landing silver commemorative coin, and the 2019 silver quarters being released, have been changed to the 0.999 standard.  Minting future silver coins with the purity used by other countries should help with the desirability of the United States coinage. 

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