Testing a coin for what metal it is..........

[Sky_Warrior]

I have a 1987 Isle of man Proof crown commemorating the American cup challenge.... its either nickel, silver, or palladium...

big value difference so i need help.........Its also for sale if anyones interested its BU...but actually AU very very small scratch hardly noticeable.................

Semper fi

 

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[cwdigger]

well you can rule out the nickel or silver by just turning the coin on its side and looking at its reeded edge. If it looks like its half copper colored and half silver then its not silver, most likely nickel. just my 2 cents

 

[AMorgan]

well you can rule out the nickel or silver by just turning the coin on its side and looking at its reeded edge. If it looks like its half copper colored and half silver then its not silver, most likely nickel. just my 2 cents

That wont work. According to your theory, a nickle is most likely silver. I understand your logic, as it works for dimes , quarters and halves in the US, but take a look at recent Canadian dimes.

There are many resources available on the web. First, I would do a google search on the country issuing the coin.

I saw a palladium coin from the same year, but it was clearly marked that it was palladium, and was a different design.

You could measure the specific gravity by testing how much water the coin displaces versus its weight.

Silver is 10.2 to 10.4 grams per cubic centimeter.
Palladium is 12.02 g/cc
Pure nickel is 8.9g/cc
Copper is 8.95 at max, so any alloy of copper and nickel will be 8.9ish

One ounce is 31.01 grams.
So if the item is silver, it will displace slightly less than 3 cc of water.
Palladium will displace about 2.55 cc of water.
Copper or Copper Nickel allow will displace 3.6 cc of water.

For most accuracy, use distilled water. If you don't have a graduated cylinder, fill a glass as full as it can get and use a syringe to see how much water spills out... be careful for evaporation.

Alan

 

[cwdigger]

well you can rule out the nickel or silver by just turning the coin on its side and looking at its reeded edge. If it looks like its half copper colored and half silver then its not silver, most likely nickel. just my 2 cents

That wont work. According to your theory, a nickle is most likely silver. I understand your logic, as it works for dimes , quarters and halves in the US, but take a look at recent Canadian dimes.

There are many resources available on the web. First, I would do a google search on the country issuing the coin.

I saw a palladium coin from the same year, but it was clearly marked that it was palladium, and was a different design.

You could measure the specific gravity by testing how much water the coin displaces versus its weight.

Silver is 10.2 to 10.4 grams per cubic centimeter.
Palladium is 12.02 g/cc
Pure nickel is 8.9g/cc
Copper is 8.95 at max, so any alloy of copper and nickel will be 8.9ish

One ounce is 31.01 grams.
So if the item is silver, it will displace slightly less than 3 cc of water.
Palladium will displace about 2.55 cc of water.
Copper or Copper Nickel allow will displace 3.6 cc of water.

For most accuracy, use distilled water. If you don't have a graduated cylinder, fill a glass as full as it can get and use a syringe to see how much water spills out... be careful for evaporation.

Alan

OK THANKS but we were not talking about a nickel now where we

 

[whitesid]

if its pure nickel and not clad with copper it should stick to a magnet.