Is it silver?
Four checks, in the order a dealer would do them. The first takes a second and settles most coins. The last three exist for coins whose date has worn away, and for anyone who wants to be certain.
1. Read the date
This settles almost every coin, because the composition was set nationally by date and there are only three answers.
| Date on the coin | Silver | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 and earlier | 90% silver | 12.50 g |
| 1965 to 1970 | 40% silver | 11.50 g |
| 1971 onward | None | 11.34 g |
The exception is the silver proof struck at San Francisco each year since 1992, which carries an S mint mark and was sold in a set. If your coin came from a bank roll, a coin jar or a drawer, it is not one of those.
2. Look at the edge
This is the check to learn, because it works when the date is unreadable and it is impossible to fake by accident. Hold the coin side on, under decent light, and look at the rim.
- An unbroken silver-grey band means a solid silver alloy. There is no layering to see because the coin is the same metal all the way through.
- An orange-brown stripe running around the middle of the edge is the copper core of a clad coin showing between its two outer layers. Copper in the edge means no silver.
- A faint, thin line can appear on 1965 to 1970 coins, which are silver-clad rather than solid. They are still 40% silver. If the edge is ambiguous, weigh it.
3. Weigh it
A kitchen or jeweller's scale that reads to a tenth of a gram costs very little and removes all doubt. The three weights are far enough apart that even a worn coin lands clearly in one band.
- Around 12.5 g: a 90% silver half, 90% silver, 10% copper.
- Around 11.5 g: a 40% silver half from 1965 to 1970.
- Around 11.34 g: copper-nickel clad, no silver.
- Well under 11 g, or over 13 g: you may not have a US half dollar at all. Check the diameter, which should be 30.6mm on anything from 1892 onward.
A circulated coin can sit a few tenths of a gram under its mint weight, which is normal wear and does not change what it is made of.
4. Listen to it
Balance the coin on a fingertip and tap it with another coin. A 90% silver half rings with a long, high, clear note that carries for a second or more. A clad half gives a shorter, duller clunk. It is a genuine test that dealers still use, but it is a confirmation rather than a proof, and it is the least reliable of the four.
The traps
- 01A Bicentennial half is not silver. The dual date 1776-1976 looks special and the coins turn up constantly in collections, but the circulating version is ordinary clad. Only the S-marked coins sold in three-piece collector sets contain 40% silver.
- 02Toning is not evidence. Silver tones to grey, gold, blue or near-black with age, but a clad coin can also darken. Colour tells you a coin is old, not what it is made of.
- 03A magnet proves nothing useful. Neither silver nor copper-nickel is magnetic, so a US half dollar of any date fails to stick. The test only catches outright counterfeits made of steel.
- 04Do not clean it. If the coin turns out to be a good date, cleaning can remove most of what a collector would have paid for it. Silver value is unaffected by dirt.