How to distinguish silver from cupro Nickel

[DBcoins]

Hello, I'm new to your forum (and new to collecting 1 oz silver coins, I have my first 6 and like them a lot) and so am introducing myself.

I did a search but didn't find an answer. Apologies if I missed it. I just bought (on ebay...) an Isle of Man Silver Wedding 1972 25p coin described as a 'silver proof' the photo seems to show it is in a sealed bag, but it hasn't arrived yet.

I did a Google search and it seems that this coin was minted as both a proof but also as a cupro nickel version. I'm just wondering if there is a way I will be able to tell which it is when it arrives.

By the way, I'm very tempted by the forum paid membership...I've seen forum posts saying that this is definitely the way to go for buying.

Thanks for any advice.

DB

[MickD]

Hi and welcome from Edinburgh.

It can be difficult to tell cupro nickel from silver sometimes as they can be the same weight and will perform similarly on a slide test.  You could do a specific gravity test.  No idea why mints issue them like that, kind of plays into the bad guys' hands.  I don't touch commemoratives now, largely for that reason.  A Certificate Of Authenticity will offer some comfort.

Cheers

Mick

[DBcoins]

Many thanks for the quick reply Mick. Good to know.

DB

[Zhorro]

Differentiating between identical silver and cupro-nickel coins is not easy. 

Here the first coin is a silver piedfort whereas the second one is cupro-nickel.  I suppose you could say that the silver coin is “whiter” (more silvery!) than the cupro-nickel one.

On the internet I have seen that putting tissue paper over the coins results in the silver coin showing through as white whereas the cupro-nickel coin is dull (but I suppose here it all depends on the thickness of the tissue paper and how toned the silver coin is!).