This week’s tip of the week addresses three ways in which you can verify the authenticity of your silver dollars. It was inspired by an individual that lives outside of the United States who has some old silver dollars that he’s interested in selling.
Considering that there are a number of known replicas that exist, we provided him with some helpful hints to determine whether or not his silver dollars are likely authentic or not.
Our first recommendation is that he take a strong magnet, preferably an earth magnet, to determine if the coins are magnetic. Coins composed of precious metals are not magnetic, so this is an easy test that you can conduct in the comfort of your home.
If your silver dollar passes this test, the next step you should take is to determine if the weight of your coin is correct. Uncirculated Morgan and silver dollars weigh 26.73 grams. Circulated condition silver dollars may weigh a bit less, depending on the extent of wear. A standard kitchen scale should help to determine if your coin weighs as it should.
Lastly, we recommend that you measure the diameter of your silver dollars. Silver dollars should measure out at 38.1 millimeters. The best way to measure the diameter is with a caliper, but if you don’t have one available, a ruler should do the trick.
We hope that you found today’s tip of the week helpful and encourage you to subscribe to our tip of the week newsletter to receive future helpful articles.
