rookie collector questions

Hi RCC,

I started collecting recently -- June 2004. Fell for US silver dollars.
When I got my first SAE, I must have stared at it for a half hour...just
admiring the design, the reflective surface, and the weight.

Couple of questions:

1) What kind of magnifiers do you use? I started with a 3x glass then
moved to a 12x lupee.

2) How can you tell a silver coin from a silver clad or 40% silver coin?

Finally, I just wanted to say thank you for all the useful info, tips, and
insight this group offers. Especially the Ebay auction reviews...

-r0ck

PS - To Neil, who recently bought $500 of halves...Thanks. You
inspired me to start hunting for halves. Yesterday, I found five rolls at
a local bank (4th bank visited). Now I have another addiction to feed.
Thanks alot.

"r0ck" introduces himself, thusly:

I started collecting recently -- June 2004.

Welcome to RCC and numismatics!

Fell for US silver dollars. When I got my first SAE, I must have stared at it

for a half hour...just admiring the design, the reflective surface, and the
weight.

Really something about that SAE, huh? :-) If you like SAEs, you'll really
like better grade Walking Liberty halves; same obverse design.

Couple of questions:

1) What kind of magnifiers do you use? I started with a 3x glass then
moved to a 12x lupee.

Most collectors use a 5x to 10x loupe. Personally, I use a 10x. Some prefer a
higher magnification and a few use a microscope. Professional grading
standards use a 7x (as I understand).

2) How can you tell a silver coin from a silver clad or 40% silver coin?

I would guess the easiest way to tell a silver clad coin from regular clad is
the date and series. Generally:

All dimes, quarters, halves and dollars struck from 1964 and prior are 90%
silver. There are others (e.g., 3-cent silver and half dimes).

There were a few special 40% silver clad coins struck. 1776-1976S special
Bicentennial mint set quarters, halves and Ikes, 1965-1970 Kennedys, and the
special blue envelope 1971-1974 Ikes.

This applies to circulating and mint state coins only. A number of proof coins
were/are struck in 40% and 90% silver (e.g., silver proof sets from 1999 onward
are 90%). There are others.

Trying to determine which is which from color can be done by a trained eye.
Compare a known 90% silver coin with a clad coin and the color is readily
apparent. A 40% can be a little more difficult. Also, if you look at the edge
of the coin, 90% silver coins have no copper core.

Finally, I just wanted to say thank you for all the useful info, tips, and
insight this group offers. Especially the Ebay auction reviews...

That's what we're here for, to discuss anything and everything related to coin
collecting.

PS - To Neil, who recently bought $500 of halves...Thanks. You
inspired me to start hunting for halves. Yesterday, I found five rolls at
a local bank (4th bank visited). Now I have another addiction to feed.
Thanks alot.

That almost sounds sarcastic. :-)

Jerry
Part of the RCC Welcoming Committee

On Sat, 02 Oct 2004 12:04:59 +0000, Jerry Dennis wrote:

"r0ck" introduces himself, thusly:

Couple of questions:

1) What kind of magnifiers do you use? I started with a 3x glass then
moved to a 12x lupee.

Most collectors use a 5x to 10x loupe. Personally, I use a 10x. Some
prefer a higher magnification and a few use a microscope. Professional
grading standards use a 7x (as I understand).

Good. I'm in the ballpark. Using the loupe was a learning experience for
me...but WOW, what a difference it makes.

2) How can you tell a silver coin from a silver clad or 40% silver
coin?

[snip]

This applies to circulating and mint state coins only. A number of
proof coins were/are struck in 40% and 90% silver (e.g., silver proof
sets from 1999 onward are 90%). There are others.

Trying to determine which is which from color can be done by a trained
eye. Compare a known 90% silver coin with a clad coin and the color is
readily apparent. A 40% can be a little more difficult. Also, if you
look at the edge of the coin, 90% silver coins have no copper core.

That's what I was looking for. Thanks.

[snip]

PS - To Neil, who recently bought $500 of halves...Thanks. You inspired
me to start hunting for halves. Yesterday, I found five rolls at a
local bank (4th bank visited). Now I have another addiction to feed.
Thanks alot.

That almost sounds sarcastic. :-)

It was...but said in fun. His $500 in halves inspired me to hunt down
halves in the Washington DC area(home sweet home). I've got a list of
banks to visit today. Woohoo.

wdc r0ck wrote:
1) What kind of magnifiers do you use? I started with a 3x glass then
moved to a 12x lupee.

The Advanced Search features of Groups.Google will let you look in
rec.collecting.coins for keywords "lens" "magnify" "magnifier" etc.
You will find a lot of discussion. A few years back, I worked for
Carl Zeiss, the German optics firm, and I am wildly enthusiastic about
their products. Nothing is better. That said, I do not own any Zeiss
lenses. The Anco pocket lenses or the similar product from Bausch &
Lomb, at 3x or 5x, cost less than $10 and are appropriate for most of
us.

For admiring Silver American Eagles, your naked eye (perhaps corrected
with your reading glasses, if you need them), is sufficient. That is
true of most items for most collectors. We all carry lenses and we
all use them. It is true that collectors of varieties and errors make
good use of their lenses, loupes, and microscopes. (Radio Shack's $10
100x pocket microscope has gotten good reviews here.) The rest of us
tend to rely too much on magnification.

The best purpose of a lens is to help you focus your attention.

Michael
ANA R-162953

wdc r0ck wrote:

2) How can you tell a silver coin from a silver clad or 40% silver coin?

The easiest way to tell a clad coin from a 90% alloy coin is by the
year of issue, and the Mint. Silver coins are dated 1964 and earlier.
The clad half dollars run from the years 1965-1970. Silver clad
proofs were issued for the Bicentennial. Similarly, the Eisenhower
dollars were issued in silver-clad Proofs from 1971-1977. Proof coins
are visibly different from circulating coins (called "business
strikes"), and modern Proof coins have an S Mint mark for San
Francisco.

You will want to buy yourself a copy of "The Red Book." The Red Book
is the common name for _A Guide Book of United States Coins_ by R. S.
Yeoman and Kenneth Bressett. It usually costs less than $10. The
book is often seen as a "price guide." However, being issued
annually, many prices are already old when the book comes out. Even
so, The Red Book provides a GUIDE to pricing (this one sells for more
than that). It also provides a GUIDE to grading. Each section
includes a Bibliography of important references that support the
collecting of various series of coins. The Red Book also delivers a
historical overview of American coinage from colonial times to the
present, including important issues of private tokens, pioneer gold
coins, etc. It is the one book we all buy repeatedly, even if we do
not always buy a new one every year.

Michael
ANA R-162953

On Sat, 02 Oct 2004 06:39:29 -0700, Michael E. Marotta wrote:

wdc r0ck wrote:
1) What kind of magnifiers do you use? I started with a 3x glass then
moved to a 12x lupee.

The Advanced Search features of Groups.Google will let you look in
rec.collecting.coins for keywords "lens" "magnify" "magnifier" etc.
You will find a lot of discussion.

I've been through some of the archives as well as the FAQ. That's how I
ended up with a loupe.

For admiring Silver American Eagles, your naked eye (perhaps corrected
with your reading glasses, if you need them), is sufficient.

I swear I could gaze upon an SAE for hours. Such a beautiful
coin...

That is
true of most items for most collectors. We all carry lenses and we all
use them. It is true that collectors of varieties and errors make good
use of their lenses, loupes, and microscopes. (Radio Shack's $10 100x
pocket microscope has gotten good reviews here.) The rest of us tend to
rely too much on magnification.

Thanks for the info.

I am also amazed by the Silver Eagle. But did you get a proof of UNC?
When I first got my SE I was retarded for a week. What a wonderful proof
coin. Or is it a coin? It's not listed in the red book and I wonder if
it is legal tender at all......?

Never the less, who cares. As far as design, nothing can beat it. The
proof comes in a capsule in a velvet case.

Speaking of stunning pieces, we all know about the 1933 DE duplicate.
Now there is a $10 indianhead Eagle of the proof variety for $19.95 or
so. Are these duplicates just worthless, or does anyone like them as a
nice collector piece?

Jim

(Jim Wild) wrote:
... Or is it a coin? It's not listed in the red book and I wonder if
it is legal tender at all......?

The Silver American Eagle is listed in the Red Book. Look way in the
back.

The SAE is a "coin" by the common authorative definitions long
accepted and recently hammered out anew by the ANA. They are issued
by a government. They carry a mark of value.

Silver American Eagles are legal tender for one dollar. It says so
right on the coin, and all American government coins (1793-forward)
are legal tender.

Now there is a $10 indianhead Eagle of the proof variety for $19.95 or
so. Are these duplicates just worthless, or does anyone like them ...

That is a whole other topic. Find a suitable thread and join the
fracas.

Michael
ANA R-162953