Canada Junk Silver
 

There are some cheap deals on old (pre-67) Canada coins. Am I to understand that it's 80% pure?

Re: Canada Junk Silver
 

eBay guide (i wrote it, so vote for it if you like it :D)
http://reviews.ebay.com/Buying-Canad...00000001383070

The silver content is easy to determine on many circulating Canadian coins, but there are a few things to look for.

Firstly, silver coins dated before 1920 are sterling (.925%) silver.

Dollars, half dollars, quarters and dimes from 1920 - 1966 are all 80% silver by weight. The easy calculation to figure out the pure silver weight is by multiplying .6 oz per dollar of coinage. As an example, $10 of 1966 dimes would be .6 x 10 or 6 oz's of pure silver. Multiplying the total by today's price would give you "melt" value of the coins.

The tricky part comes with the 1967 and 1968 coins. In 1967 the Canadian mint shifted production from 80% to 50% on some of the coins. It is virtually impossible to test the difference as an individual. And in 1968 they moved from 50% silver to 99% nickel, removing any silver value for the post 1968's. However, that shift was made mid year as well and many 50% silver quarters and dimes were minted, as well as the nickel ones. The way to test is with a magnet. If the coins sticks, it is nickel, if not, it is silver. At 50% the "per dollar" value of the coin use a multiplier of .365. Using the example above $10 of 1968 dimes would be .365 x 10 or 3.65 oz's of pure silver. Here is the coin breakdown for 1967 and 1968 Canadian silver coins:

1967 1968

$1 80% 0%
50 80% 0%
25 50 or 80% 50 or 0%
10 50 or 80% 50 or 0%

I am willing to answer and questions to the best of my abilities, just email!

Happy hunting!

Re: Canada Junk Silver
 

http://www.starfam.us/silvercoin/Sil...io%20Chart.htm

According to this site one Canadian silver dollar is .600 Oz 1935-1967

Re: Canada Junk Silver
 

I don't believe there were any Canadian silver halves or dollar coins struck after 1966.

Re: Canada Junk Silver
 

Refineries pay 0.59 x melt/oz for the 80% silver dollars (they are 0.6 oz, the 0.59 is to take the wear into account.). Canadian silver dollars up to 1967 are 80% silver. After that, you need a book or a good memory. Silver dollars minted after 1967 were sold as collector coins, and not put into circulation. Many are 50% pure, with 92.5% and 99.99% in more recent years. 50% pure silver dollars have a way of finding their way into bags of 80%, so keep a close eye.

Re: Canada Junk Silver
 

The dollars and halves are 80% in 1967 and 0% in 1968 on. Here are the 67's, beautiful coins.

Attachment 19491
Attachment 19492

Just as an FYI, I did a fair bit of research before compiling the eBay guide I wrote. I believe it to be 100% accurate. If it helped you, please click yes on the "did you find it helpful" question at the end. http://reviews.ebay.com/Buying-Canad...00000001383070

I also wrote a pretty comprehensive guide to Canadian maple privys:

http://reviews.ebay.com/Silver-maple...00000001491312

Re: Canada Junk Silver
 

Is there any premium for Canadian coins in the US?