Hi all, I've been collecting silver for a month or so now, and I dug out a silver round that I was gifted about 8 years ago. It's a Walking Liberty half troy pound, with a heraldic eagle on the reverse. This is obviously a very popular pattern, so I have been looking around the internet, but I am unable to find one which matches mine exactly. The mintmark appears to be CC. The edge has a serial number? of 1518. I am a little concerned that there is no marking of the fineness. Is anyone familiar with rounds like this? Thank you.
I found Washington mint marked ones but they don't have finger prints all over them. yours is just a half pound piece of silver bullion now as far as I can see
I have several similar to this from the Washington Mint, I don't recognise those CC mintmarks though. I bought mine for scrap silver value as part of a low premium grab bag. I was pleasantly surprised because they are coaster sized and a bit more handy than normal rounds. Not sure that they are going to be very rare or valuable considering how I got hold of mine.
I don't care about the fingerprints. They have little or no effect on the premium over spot, and I don't plan to sell anyway. I don't mean to be rude, but the comments about the finger prints are not helpful in the slightest, and I would appreciate if y'all would refrain from them, and focus more on the actual content of the post.
I don't care about any premium; last time I was at the precious metals exchange I was offered a similar (but not identical) piece for little over spot. I just want to find out if this round is real silver or a base metal imposter.
... I didn't know I had a silver testicle. Will explain why it hangs lower than the other one then. Don't be worried that it doesn't state purity. None of the silver eagles do. They just state fine gold.
I think it looks plated-zoom in and look closely at the shield and the point off the bottom of the shield-looks like plate lifting. Also the bottom most sun ray-look at the blobs in between the ray and the edge. And the whole finish looks more like it cast and not stamped or was stamped and plated. Look at the bottom under the date, something peeling there. Weigh it. Run a magnet over it. Flick it and see how it sounds compared to other silver.
I saw those two, and many others while looking around the internet, but I couldn't find one which exactly matches (most seem to have the fineness marking), and I couldn't find which company uses a CC mark. The US Mint at Carson City closed a hundred years ago, and I can't find any reference to a Carson City bullion mint operating recently. Also, this piece is 6 troy ounces, not 8.
I'm not sure how much stock you guys put in the 'ice test', but an ice cube appeared to melt just as quickly as on my known silver round and not as quickly as on a quarter. I'll take it in to my metals guy today to be sure. How much damage will be caused by testing? Can a sample be taken inconspicuously, on the edge of the round? about how large a mark will it make?
These days, most decent coin stores, bullion dealers, gold buyers etc should use a xrf gun to test, they should NOT even scratch it. if they talk about assay or acid test walk out, if you ask nicely they should do it for free or minimal fee. Look up xrf gold test google or have a look on YouTube
If the fingerprints aren't etched in yet (happens over long time) you can soak the coin in some rubbing alcohol (don't rub them, just soak), then carefully rinse with really hot water. If done correctly won't hurt the coin at all and will remove the prints.
Well, my silver guy says it's real. Thanks for the answers. Still don't know what the CC mint mark is, though.
I hear that it is becoming standard practise to drill some out -remelt it and the XRF the melted button.
