How to tell if a coin is silver
Five tests you can do at a kitchen table, from the one that takes a second to the one that settles an argument. None of them damage the coin.
In the Buck index
Morgan DollarUnited States · 1878–1921 · Silver (.900) (.100 copper)$69 to $101
Franklin Half DollarUnited States · 1948–1963 · Silver (.900)$26.67 to $32.46
Silver is not magnetic, it is dense, it rings, and it tarnishes to a particular black. Put those four properties together and you can identify it with things you already own.
Work through these in order. The first two answer most questions in under a minute.
1. Read the date
For US coins this is the whole test: dimes, quarters and halves from 1964 or earlier are 90% silver, and there is a full list by denomination. Most countries have a similar cutoff somewhere between 1919 and 1968, when silver left circulating coinage almost everywhere.
If the date settles it, stop here.
2. Look at the edge
A modern clad coin is a sandwich: copper core, copper-nickel faces. Look at the rim straight on and a clad US dime or quarter shows an unmistakable copper stripe. Silver is the same colour all the way through.
This is the fastest test there is for a worn coin whose date has gone.
3. Try a magnet
Silver is not magnetic. Neither is copper, so this test rules things out rather than in: a coin that sticks is definitely not silver, a coin that does not stick might be anything.
It is still worth doing, because it catches plated steel immediately, and plated steel is what most fakes are made of.
A stronger version uses a neodymium magnet on a slope: a genuine silver coin slides down slowly, braked by eddy currents, rather than dropping freely or sticking. It is a real effect and it is oddly satisfying, but it needs a strong magnet and a shallow angle.
4. Weigh it
The decisive test, and the one that catches good fakes. Silver is denser than almost everything used to fake it, so a counterfeit that gets the diameter right will miss the weight.
| Coin | Correct weight |
|---|---|
| US silver dime | 2.50 g |
| US silver quarter | 6.25 g |
| US silver half | 12.50 g |
| Morgan or Peace dollar | 26.73 g |
| UK pre-1920 silver shilling | 5.66 g |
A scale accurate to 0.01 g costs about the price of a takeaway and settles more arguments than any amount of squinting. Diameter matters too: a Morgan is 38.1 mm.
5. Listen to it
Balance the coin on a fingertip and tap it with another coin. Silver produces a clear, sustained ring, well over a second. Clad and base metal give a short dull note. Musicians and dealers can pick it instantly; everybody else needs to hear a known silver coin first to have something to compare against.
What not to do
No acid. Silver test acid works by dissolving a scratch in the coin, and a scratched collectible coin has lost more value than the test was worth. Acid is for scrap jewellery, not for coins.
No cleaning to "see it better". Silver tarnish is black to grey and forms a skin that collectors call toning. On a genuinely good coin, that toning is part of the value. Polish takes it off along with a layer of the coin, and the result is obvious and permanent.
If a coin passes the weight and diameter test and you still are not sure, that is the point at which a dealer or a grading service earns their fee.
