Another Country Heard from ...

[blueberra]

... for me, at least.

Last week's half dollar box was a near-skunk, save for a single coin.

Like a lot of you, I unwrap the rolls and look at the rim. If I see 'not copper', then I investigate (also, if I see what appears to be a wire rim, I'll look to see if it's an impaired proof).

A bright white coin was the object of my interest and it led me down a bit of a path. See attached photos.

The coin in question was a 2001S impaired proof, but was it a clad proof that had been silver plated (I've come upon a couple of clad non-proofs that had been silver plated -- for what reason, I'm clueless) or an actual 90% silver proof?

Recall that a clad half dollar checks in at about 11.34 grams and a 90% silver one at about 12.5 grams.

The only way I thought to make that determination was to weigh it, but my kitchen scale wasn't accurate enough, so I went to my local pawn shop to find out.

Sure enough, my coin actually weighed about 12.6 grams (the clerk weighed a Walking Liberty and 1964 Kennedy half for comparison and they each checked in around 12.4 grams). There is slight variation allowed at the mint, but I would attribute this difference to wear.

I brought along a very worn (Fair - AG condition) Walking Liberty half that I got in the reject bin of a coin machine a couple of weeks ago. It checked in at 11.7 grams.

So unless someone decided to heavily silver plate a clad 2001S proof half, I got a cracked-out 90% one from a silver proof set.

BTW, I wonder if any unscrupulous characters silver plate impaired proof Kennedy halves to try to pass them off as 90% silver -- like the 1883 "No Cents" Liberty ("V") nickels that were gold plated and pawned off as a new design of the $5 gold piece.

 

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[Immy]

Nice find. Couldn't you tell from the sound?

Btw, what does "Another Country Heard from" mean?

 

[blueberra]

Nice find. Couldn't you tell from the sound?

Btw, what does "Another Country Heard from" mean?

It means it's the first 90% silver impaired proof Kennedy half I've found while CRHing. I've found a couple of silver bicentennial Kennedys and a 40% silver impaired proof.

I've found scores of impaired proof Kennedys, but they've all been clad. It takes a special kind of ignorance to crack and dump a silver proof set.

 

[MIhunter]

Don't forget that scales aren't perfect, a variation of +/- 0.1 gram may be due to the scale.

Consider picking up a electronic scale that weighs to the 0.01 gram. They aren't too expensive.

From what you have shown it looks like you have a 2001 90% silver half dollar proof, impaired, Congrats!!!

 

[Immy]

It means it's the first 90% silver impaired proof Kennedy half I've found while CRHing. I've found a couple of silver bicentennial Kennedys and a 40% silver impaired proof.

Sorry to harp on this, but could you expand on that?

How does "Another Country Heard from" translate to "this is the first 90% silver impaired roof Kennedy half I've found while CRHing"?

I could see "Another Country Heard from" meaning you found a coin from Zimbabwe in a Coinstar, and that's the first time you've found one from there, but a silver proof half? I don't get the use of that phrase. What "country" are you referring to?

 

[blueberra]

Sorry to harp on this, but could you expand on that?

How does "Another Country Heard from" translate to "this is the first 90% silver impaired roof Kennedy half I've found while CRHing"?

I could see "Another Country Heard from" meaning you found a coin from Zimbabwe in a Coinstar, and that's the first time you've found one from there, but a silver proof half? I don't get the use of that phrase. What "country" are you referring to?

Let's say I have never found a 1970D half dollar (which is true) and then I find one, I'd use this expression.

It's an idiomatic expression that you appear to be taking literally. My use is 'something different' or 'something new or unusual'.

 

[CJ9]

Nice find.