Identifying silver non-US coins?
How do I tell if a foreign coin has silver in it? A local antique store has some foreign coins and I was wondering if they had any silver coins in there and didn’t know. I noticed some Pesos for example, what year was the last for a silver peso? Is there a site to help with this? The only site I am aware of is coinflation.com, but they only talk about US & Canadian whereas I need help with rest of the world stuff.
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To tell if a foreign coin has silver in it you have to identify the country it is from and the date it was minted. Once you know the name of the coin, i.e. peso, ore, yen, then you can learn the history of the coin. Your best bet to determine actual value is by using a book guide like the U.S. Blue Book of Coins which is published annually.
Many factors make a coin worth collecting other than the metal it is comprised of, although a high gold or silver content will definitely make it more valuable. Coins with striking errors - small and limited flaws during the minting process - are also highly sought. If you are looking to start a collection its a good idea to join a numismatic society which will provide additional resources and information.
In 1957, new 1-peso coins were issued in .100 silver. This series contained 1.6 g of silver per peso. A special 1 peso was minted in 1957 to commemorate Benito Juárez and the constitution of 1857. These were the last silver pesos. The 5-peso coin now weighed 18 grams and was still 0.720 silver; the 10-peso coin weighed 28 grams and was in 0.900 silver.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_peso