Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| 1968 Canadian Quarter Metal Detector Find. |
Detectorists generally like to find coins made before 1965 because dimes, quarters and some other US coins before that date had more content. Even in poor condition those older silver coins have some value.
As you probably know, after 1965, US dimes and quarters no longer contained silver.The 1965 Coin Act (History & Impact of the Coinage Act of 1965 | U.S. Money Reserve (usmoneyreserve.com) led to a change.
I always checked the dates for found US coins looking for those older cons containing silver, but I wasn't as knowledgeable about world coins. I found a lot of Canadian coins in South Florida, but never knew a lot about them and never paid a lot of attention to them. I just put them away.
It turns out that the situation is a just little more complex for Canadian coins. The 1968 quarter shown above could be 50% silver. Canada changed the composition of their dimes and quarter a little later than the US. They changed from 80% silver to 50% silver mid 1967.
Mid 1968 they then discontinued silver in those denominations. So Canada was later to discontinue silver in dimes and quarters than the US and had two years of decreased silver content.
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| 80% Silver Canadian Dime. Metal Detector Find. |
It is difficult to identify the 50% silver coins since the change came mid year. Other features, including the weight, are the same. Junk silver dealers generally won't take the 1967 and 1968 coins because it is so difficult to tell the difference.
It was a good while before I learned that I had silver Canadian coins that dated later 1965, but one thing I still have not done is check my Canadian coins for different errors and varieties.
I checked many of my older US coin finds for errors or rare varieties to some extent because I have a nice book that tells me what to look for, but I have not done the same for my Canadian coins even though I have quite a few. Unless I can find a cheap book on modern Canadian coin errors and varieties, I'll try to find some other easy method. I'll check out some of the online resources to see how that goes. If it is not to cumbersome, I'll go through some of my Canadian coins that way.
I'm also plan some other tests on the 1967 and 1968 Canadian dimes and quarters.
Looking up the world coins individually seems very slow, but it can be worthwhile. Hopefully I'll find more like 1942 0.64 silver coin shown below.
To sum it up today, you might have more silver coins than you think. Take time to examine your foreign coins. See if they might be silver or display other features that could make them valuable. That includes both possible errors or rare varieties.
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| Source: nhc.noaa.gov |
Francine is expected to hit Louisiana as a hurricane.
I'll be watching those other two areas.
Good hunting,
Treasuregujide@comcast.net
Coins and Canada - Silver and gold melt values calculator of Canadian coins
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The quarter shown above is 50% silver and has some silver melt value, which, at the this time, would be about $2.63 Canadian. At this time a Canadian dollar is worth about 74 US cents.
Canada stopped .800 silver coins in 1967 and reduced the fineness to .500 fine in 1967-68. All silver business strike silver coin production ceased after 1968.
checking dates, even if they don't go so far as to check for errors and varieties, they might not pay so much attention to their foreign coin finds. Since Florida is a tourist state and gets a lot of visitors from other countries, you can find a good number or world coins, especially in some areas.
A 1964 quarter, as of this date, is worth around $5.13 for its silver content. Of course you won't get quite that much if you try to sell it to a a reseller who will expect to make a profit. Nonetheless, most detectorists are happy to find a few dollars worth of silver even if they are not coin collectors. It adds up and help pay for expenses even if the detectorist isn't much of a collector.
Hollywood Florida in years past attracted a lot of canadian visitors. As a result, I found a good number of Canadian coins. I showed in one old post, how to use a magnet to quickly pick out the silver Canadian coins.
If you are like me you could have overlooked something.